Cooking Time For Lamb Shoulder

Asked by Chocolate888. Answered on 22nd April 2016

Full question

Nigella suggests 'overnight' cooking at 140c for the Warm Shredded Lamb Salad With Mint and Pomegranate. Please can you tell me roughly how many hours this means? Or alternatively how many hours per pound as my piece is not as big as the one that Nigella suggests in her recipe. Thanks so much, Vikki

Our answer

Nigella's Warm Shredded Lamb Salad With Mint and Pomegranate (from NIGELLA BITES) uses a slowly roasted lamb shoulder that is shredded and served with generous scatterings of pomegranate seeds and shredded mint. Nigella uses a 2.5kg/5 1/2-pound shoulder of lamb. The overnight cooking time should be 12 to 14 hours, though as a lamb shoulder contains some fat it can sit for longer than this without a risk of the meat drying out. For a smaller joint we would still allow around 12 hours cooking time.

If overnight cooking doesn't suit your timings then Nigella also suggests an alternative by cooking the lamb shoulder for 5 hours at 170c/325F. For a slightly smaller shoulder of lamb you could reduce this to 4 hours, though the meat needs to be tender enough to shred and it may be best to allow for the slightly longer cooking time then leave the lamb, covered in foil, in a warm place for up to an hour.