Lamb at Easter

ChrisK

ChrisK

Winger
Any farmers out there?

Always a great choice but how old are the lambs we are buying in supermarkets for this weekend ? are these the ones born last spring.

Out and about in Weardale last couple of weekends and lambing is well underway but these are obviously tiny, and nowhere near ready for the table.
 


ChrisK said:
Any farmers out there?

Always a great choice but how old are the lambs we are buying in supermarkets for this weekend ? are these the ones born last spring.

Out and about in Weardale last couple of weekends and lambing is well underway but these are obviously tiny, and nowhere near ready for the table.
Click to expand...

I think most supermarket lamb is from NZ. as crackers is that is. Although I could be wrong
 
In the 70s I was on a cargo ship that brought back 7000 tons of frozen lamb (different cuts all boxed) back to the UK from Bluff in No. Paid off the vessel in Liverpool and brought a box home. My mam had Arthur Kidd the butcher in Sea Road put it in his freezer. We had lamb for yonks .
 
Bloke I know farms sheep and Highland cows on the Isle of Lewis. The sheep are turned out on the land and fend for themselves, with all the local crofters getting together for an annual round up where they (and their brilliant dogs) group them all together, then sort out, by colour, which belongs to who. They select those that are for the chop, and turn the rest out again. He does his own butchering and sells the hogget to his regular customers, all over Britain, in his refrigerated trailer.
The sheep are huge, as they are usually 3 or 4 when they are ready- fully organic obviously, and nature takes care of the weaklings so the stock is incredibly strong. The meat is sooo good, tasting like strong lamb, but a little more gamey and rich as venison. Sublime!
He explained how 'mutton' is rightly regarded as cheap and nasty meat because it usually comes from old ewes that have lambed 7 or 8 times and get chopped as their last contribution to the farmer. Their meat is tough and often gristly, but properly raised hogget is a taste of heaven.
If you are interested, try Hebridean Mutton – and Highland Beef which has a pic of his lovely dogs taking a load of sheep to a little island where they will stay for a season or so, and dozens of pics showing how the sheep are raised.
 
Borgsten said:
In the 70s I was on a cargo ship that brought back 7000 tons of frozen lamb (different cuts all boxed) back to the UK from Bluff in No. Paid off the vessel in Liverpool and brought a box home. My mam had Arthur Kidd the butcher in Sea Road put it in his freezer. We had lamb for yonks .
Click to expand...
Me gouts playing up just reading that
 
ChrisK said:
Any farmers out there?

Always a great choice but how old are the lambs we are buying in supermarkets for this weekend ? are these the ones born last spring.

Out and about in Weardale last couple of weekends and lambing is well underway but these are obviously tiny, and nowhere near ready for the table.
Click to expand...
Won't be British. In laws have just started lambing this last week. Got about 18-20 so far. Will kick off properly next week and they'll be coming around the clock.
 
MickeyV said:
Bloke I know farms sheep and Highland cows on the Isle of Lewis. The sheep are turned out on the land and fend for themselves, with all the local crofters getting together for an annual round up where they (and their brilliant dogs) group them all together, then sort out, by colour, which belongs to who. They select those that are for the chop, and turn the rest out again. He does his own butchering and sells the hogget to his regular customers, all over Britain, in his refrigerated trailer.
The sheep are huge, as they are usually 3 or 4 when they are ready- fully organic obviously, and nature takes care of the weaklings so the stock is incredibly strong. The meat is sooo good, tasting like strong lamb, but a little more gamey and rich as venison. Sublime!
He explained how 'mutton' is rightly regarded as cheap and nasty meat because it usually comes from old ewes that have lambed 7 or 8 times and get chopped as their last contribution to the farmer. Their meat is tough and often gristly, but properly raised hogget is a taste of heaven.
If you are interested, try Hebridean Mutton – and Highland Beef which has a pic of his lovely dogs taking a load of sheep to a little island where they will stay for a season or so, and dozens of pics showing how the sheep are raised.
Click to expand...
I lived there as a kid for a few months and all I really remember is sheep and sheep bones.
 
Just checked ours in the fridge (picked up at Tesco’s earlier today) and it’s from New Zealand.

Does anyone know how it’s likely to have arrived here? Would it have been frozen and then shipped, or transported by air?
 

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