Dry Dutch Oven Mutton

2lumpy · May 21, 2015

In our community a gentleman has a very good recipe for dutch oven mutton. He protects it with diligence. You welcome to all the mutton in the oven but don't ask for the recipe! The unusual thing about his recipe is the mutton is dry, where as most mutton is very oily. Good but not as good as his dry dutch oven chops. Dry dutch oven mutton is entirely different in texture and flavor than "regular" dutch oven mutton.

If anyone has a recipe, they'd like to share, for dry dutch oven mutton, I would be most appreciative.

DC

rutnbuck · May 21, 2015

If you said it Lumpy I believe you. How ever I only ate mutton once it was oily and din't much care for it. Same with bear.

Rutnbuck

elkun · May 21, 2015

mutton!! good for coyote bait nothing else!!!!!!

2lumpy · May 21, 2015

RnB,
Like other meats, especially if it's the first time you've eaten it, if it's not prepared well, it will turn you off and you most likely won't go back for more.

I recall a dutch oven mutton fry we had a few years ago, for a summer work party. A couple of gentlemen from the State Office were at the party and wanted to know what kind of meat we were cooking.

We said, "mutton". They laughed, loud and long. "Good joke, what's for lunch."

I said, "it's ready, try some". They did, then they tried some more, and still more.

When they were done, they said, "okay, what kind of meat was that." We again said, "it was mutton".

They said, "you mean, lamb."

I said, "no, I mean an old, ewe. So old, her teeth were all gone, that's why they sold her to us, to eat."

Try as we might, they would not believe us.

Now, I've eaten nasty, grease dripping, fowl mutton, that I didn't like. I've eaten beef, chicken, deer and elk that were prepare poorly as well, they too were nasty.

Course, I really like pronghorn too, if I can kill and take care of it myself.

But...............that's for a different thread. I'd really like to find a dry dutch oven mutton recipe, if anyone has one.

Tks again.

DC

rutnbuck · May 21, 2015

I have to agree with prepping your own. I do like antelope. I would probably try it again but wouldn't know how to fix it.
Rutnbuck

2lumpy · May 21, 2015

Next time we're cook'en, I'll give you notice RnB.

Nothing like mutton, fried potatoes and blackberry cobbler, at 10,000 feet.

DC

DW · May 21, 2015

I've got a friend who he and his wife came from australia, she makes a crockpot mutton in a BBQ type sauce with onions that I can't get my fill of. Never had a dry dutch oven mutton but I bet the secret is the recipe. On a side note I love lamb chops, I had em in a new fancy smancy steakhouse in cheyenne the other day, was like chewin on my boots. I think in sheep and goat it's what it's fed, how it's processed and how it's prepared that makes or breaks it more so than other meats.

Trix4me · May 21, 2015

I'm with you Lumpy! I've eaten DO mutton that was delicious and I've tried to eat Mutton that would gag a maggot. I'm going to follow this thread to see what you find out. I'm sure that it is in the preparation. I did eat mutton that was deep fried (almost crisp when done) in a DO with just oil and a lot of salt that was quite good. I don't think that is what you're looking for.

Homer · May 21, 2015

jeezus....this isn't Ethiopia....don't you guys have a Costco???...they sell beef

NVBighorn · May 21, 2015

Lumpy, they didn't sell you that old ewe because she was old. They were probably worried she was learning to talk.

[font color="blue"]I don't make the soup,I just stir it.[/font]

overton · May 21, 2015

If ewes can talk it explains the absence of D13er and I thought he must have passed away

2lumpy · May 21, 2015

LAST EDITED ON May-22-15 AT 00:01AM (MST)[p]LOL. You're a pistol NVB. Didn't expect you'd draw attention to rural Nevada issues like that. Got to hand it to you though, you tell it like it is, no matter the consequence. Got to respect that in a man!

Come to think of it, I thought it was the lack of teeth, when they'd actually removed her tongue.

Must have been one of those Nevada ewes, those boys up around Minden tell me they're the cutest.

You know what they say, "Nevada, where men are men and sheep are nervous."

DC

2lumpy · May 21, 2015

LAST EDITED ON May-21-15 AT 11:59PM (MST)[p]Trix, they serve it in a DO but it's as dry a dry roast beef, that's cooked too long.

There's not a drop of liquid in that DO. I've almost got to thinking their doing something else with it and then just keeping it warm in the DO. It's so different from any kind of mutton I've ever seen, and it has amazing flavor, which is of course the seasons he's adding. It's like he's slow heating it from above and below, rending all the oils out of it, and allowing them to drain away so they aren't smoking back into the mutton.

I've not eaten it cold so I can't say how tallowy it is after it cools off but there certainly isn't any greasy, tallowy texture in it when it's hot/warm.

Hoping some old herder out there knows what he's doing and comes across this thread.

I'd just love to cook up a batch and invite my neighbor over for dinner, just to see his neck get red and his eye's bug out. He'd think I'd set up a trail cam in his mutton shack!

Hmmmmm, I wonder.......................... naw, that would be cheat'en

DC

Runnoft · May 22, 2015

All of the teeth were gone on the old ewe? Doesn't that provides additional opportunities for the herder?

eelgrass · May 22, 2015

2Lumpy, I know I've heard of DO lamb, so I did a search. A local guy popped up on YouTube. Note the Redwood trees.

Anyhow, check it out. He used leg of lamb but I suppose you could use mutton, or an old Doug Fir 4X4. It's up to you.

Zeke · May 22, 2015

>Lumpy, they didn't sell you that
>old ewe because she was
>old. They were probably worried
>she was learning to talk.
>

OMG! That's funny!
Zeke

2lumpy · May 22, 2015

That was creepy eel. That long haired gray woman looked way to pleased with herself.

Legs, ribs, ground lamb................ya think that old gal might be getting even with the competition?

He's not so sure............and they never did show him eat'en any of it....just saying. :-(

But................thanks for looking for me, there's got to be more than one guy in the world that knows how he's drying this mutton out, during the cooking process.

Maybe I need to look for an Australian cooking forum. Someone mentioned Australians fixing mutton earlier in the thread, Could be the secret is "down under".

DC

2_Point · May 22, 2015

Pan fry in a hot cast iron skillet, drain grease and finish in an oven. You'll end up with it dry and wonderful. Time to finish depends on the cut. Do it with steaks/chops and partial leg. I prefer the steaks, like shoulder and leg steaks. Tried cooking it in a dutch oven once, but it ended up burned. Can't see why a guy couldn't fry in the dutch oven and then rest the meat in the oven at a lower temp and do the same as a kitchen oven.

2lumpy · May 22, 2015

2_point, I think your process may be the path to nirvana. Pre-fry then slow roasting, at a low heat, should produce what I'm thinking he's doing. I wonder if putting a rack under the mutton, in the roaster/oven, that will hold the meat out of the grease that comes off (after you've drained the bulk of it off from the frying process) during the roasting/finishing process.

What kind of seasoning/dry rub are you using?

Did your Dad cook mutton with "the gentleman"? If so, he may have first hand knowledge of the formula! :7 .

Thanks a lot 2_point, I'm going to give it a try this week end. One way or another, it'll be a great way to celebrate the Memorial Day festivities.

Hot DO mutton with cheddar/corn biscuits, doesn't get much better than that, in our neighborhood!

DC

elkassassin · May 22, 2015

That's sounding kinda like there might be a Party taking place?

We laugh, we cry, we love
Go hard when the going's tough
Push back, come push and shove
Knock us down, we'll get back up again and again
We are Members of the Huntin Crowd!

rutnbuck · May 22, 2015

sounds like a plan lumpy Thanks buddy
I can bring the blackberries they are just coming on
Rutnbuck

2lumpy · May 22, 2015

Hi BC, where'd you find that old picture of me an the Atla Mont Prom Queen?

You know that's why us cow "punchers" wear boots with high tops.....there's a good reason for every innovation.

You sure you and NVBIG"Horn" aren't twin brothers, from a different father?

,

!

DC

2lumpy · May 25, 2015

Here's my attempt at dry mutton. It was okay but not great. I needed to roast it longer. It was very tender but not yet as dry as "the gentleman's". I slow roasted it at 225 degrees for 3 hours, next time I'll give it five hours, maybe six.

Seasoned with All Season salt, parsley, and rosemary. Let it absorb in the fridge for 2 hours after applying the seasons.

Browning and cooking the tallow out. I drained off all the oil before putting it in the oven, to slow roast.

After 3 hours of roasting at 225 degrees. You can see, there was very little oil in the bottom of the dutch oven, after the roasting process. Getting the oil out during the browning process is key to keeping it from being oily.

Dry.......but not dry enough. Still, good, I'll do better next time. Needs some more onion powder and more garlic powder too.

Thanks for the help 2_point. Trix, it's not there yet but I'll get there!

DC