What kind of lamb to take for barbecue. Lamb for barbecue! How to Make the Perfect Lamb Skewers Without Swallowing Your Fingers

Lamb shish kebab is the most proper kebab, the real one, because traditionally this dish is prepared from lamb meat.

Lamb - meat for barbecue is expensive, and also has a specific smell. Therefore, it is important to choose the right one.

It is important to know that lamb meat is not particularly tasty when it is cold, so it should be eaten immediately after cooking. And don't cook too many kebabs at once.

How to choose lamb meat for barbecue

When choosing lamb meat for barbecue, you need to pay attention to its age. Be sure to buy young lamb meat for this dish. It is more juicy and tender.

For fast frying coals will do only lamb meat, the age of which does not exceed 1 year - in appearance, such meat has a light red color. As a rule, young lamb is devoid of a specific smell, because of which many do not like this meat.

most delicious and tender barbecue with a minimum specific smell is obtained from the meat of milk lambs (up to 2 months). You can make such a barbecue only at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, since lambs are born at the beginning of the year.

The darker the color of the meat, the older the animal, and the denser its muscle fibers. Shashlik from such meat will turn out tough.

The color of the meat should be uniform, natural - red with layers of white, not yellow fat. Too dark color of the meat is a sign that the animal is old, and minced meat should be made from it.

Good lamb has about 15% fat and 85% meat (everything else indicates a not very healthy state of the animal - either it was overfed, including with chemical additives, or underfed). The more fat a sheep has, the more pronounced the specific taste and smell inherent in lamb will be, but you can’t do without fat either, so choose something in between.

The meat should be soft, but elastic, not slippery, not oozing blood, and its smell should be pleasant.

Whenever possible, you should choose chilled meat rather than frozen meat for cooking lamb skewers. Its taste is much higher.

Chilled meat is elastic, meat juice is transparent. Thawed meat has a more intense color, meat juice is red, it is characterized by the smell of dampness, the consistency loses its elasticity.

Frozen with modern technologies meat preserves almost everything beneficial features fresh. You should only avoid frozen meat packed in plastic wrap.

You should never buy thawed and re-frozen meat. To distinguish frozen meat from re-frozen, you need to touch it. When heated, a dark spot will remain on frozen meat, and re-frozen meat will not change color.

The surface of the cut of frozen meat is dark red, while that of re-frozen meat is pinkish-gray.

What part of lamb to take for barbecue

Usually, the pulp of the back, ribs, tenderloin or loin is used to make barbecue. young lamb but not a spatula. It is believed that the best and - from the spinal part, meat from the back of the lamb around the spine.

The most valuable part lamb carcasses in culinary terms are tender meat with ribs from the front of the loin.

The ham is the most popular part for cooking lamb skewers. But if the leg is too large, then this is already a big old ram. If the leg is almost lean, then it is possible that the seller is trying to slip you goat meat.

Fat tail fat can be cut into neat rectangles 1 cm thick and alternated when mounted on skewers with meat. Very tasty in this way.

One of the main stages - how to choose meat for lamb barbecue, has been completed. Now it's time for a delicious marinade. Try it and choose the one you like best!

For tasty and full, real caucasian barbecue, you will need knowledge of the intricacies of choosing the meat itself (lamb or sheep carcasses), patience and attention. As a rule, all Muslims living in the Caucasus schematically prepare barbecue in the same way. In general, there are a lot of variations in the preparation of lamb kebabs, the history of frying lamb on open fire goes back to biblical times. And along the milestones left by Islam in Central Asia and in the East, in Transcaucasia and in the North Caucasus, one can judge the diversity of barbecue. In Central Asia, to this day, they prefer to cook whole lamb (carcasses) in a closed tandoor, in Armenia they prefer “karsi khorovats” - pieces of meat are fried on a vertical rack, in a closed tonir or a metal container.

What part of the lamb goes to the barbecue

Let's decide on the choice of meat. Few know that kebabs is coming not every carcass (read - and breed) of a ram, even fewer people know exactly which parts of the carcass are preferred for barbecue. Without knowing what part of the lamb goes to the barbecue, it is difficult to get tasty and juicy meat at the exit. The fact is that classic cutting lamb carcasses often leave room for the chef's imagination, and mixed parts of the carcass are used for barbecue and other dishes. But it is necessary to cut the carcass of a ram correctly like this:

The most suitable places for barbecues are highlighted in red. By dividing the carcass into such sections, it is possible to form blanks. For good and juicy barbecue it is worth buying either a young lamb (total weight of the carcass - no more than 8-10 kg), or - a fat-tailed breed of sheep, as shown in the diagram. Cannot be used for traditional barbecue a carcass with visible fatty deposits of a waxy (like beef) type - this is a film and crust of dense and hard fat.

After cutting the meat into pieces of 40-80 grams, you should mix the meat with chopped onion rings at the rate of 1 kg of meat: 1 kg of onion. This is done not only to eliminate the unpleasant (sometimes) smell of grass, but also to marinate meat. Within 5-10 hours, the marinade should stand in a cool dark place, after which you can start the process of frying the kebab.

The readiness of the barbecue is very easy to determine even for a non-professional - fat stops oozing from the meat, hissing on the coals stops. With firewood, the situation is simple. At this point - who is good for anything, but still - you should not use any kind of firewood for barbecue. fruit tree wood and vine, oak and beech roots, ready-made coal - the best solution. It is best to salt and pepper the kebab before serving.

Ingredients: lamb, onion, pepper, soy sauce, wine, coffee, tea, wine, apple, wine

Lamb is considered one of the least common types of meat in the production and sale, which significantly affects the volume of its consumption by the population. In addition to this, due to widespread rumors about the presence of a specific aroma and unpleasant taste in cooked lamb meat, residents, even in the presence of lamb, increasingly prefer the more familiar types of meat - poultry, beef and pork.

Eating lamb is definitely worth it, especially for the elderly and children, - representatives of the Caucasian and Asian peoples, who traditionally eat lamb skewers and other dishes from this meat (and famous for their longevity), and even doctors. A delicious marinade for barbecue, prepared according to the traditions of the aforementioned peoples or simply taking into account the characteristics of lamb, can forever fall in love with even the most sophisticated gourmets.

How to choose the right lamb for barbecue

In order for lamb skewers to be a success, priority should be given to the quality of the meat used. The ham, loin and upper shoulder of young lambs (they should be no more than 1 year old) are perfect - their light red soft meat has absolutely no bad smell, veins and fatty layers.

An ideal option for barbecue is milk lamb meat, whose age does not exceed 2 months, but treat yourself to such gourmet delicacy succeed only in the spring. It is important to remember that the younger the lamb, sheep and lamb were, the more tender and tastier the barbecue from their meat will be.

It is not recommended to marinate the fresh meat of a freshly slaughtered lamb, lamb or sheep - in order to avoid the rigidity of the kebab, it is worth giving the meat the opportunity to lie down a bit (so that the muscles of the slaughtered animal relax).

In the case of buying lamb in a store, where in most cases it is impossible to find out the real age of the butchered carcass, you should already be guided by the color and smell of the meat, as well as by the degree of its freezing. The meat of an old sheep or an old ram has a dark red hue and a smell that will only intensify during frying (it is with this sign that meat is unsuitable for eating that people like to scare people).

Barbecue prepared from such meat is unlikely to be to your taste because of its dryness and stiffness. Yellow fat and large joints of the same color are also signs of old lamb.

Repeatedly frozen meat is not suitable for barbecue and will fit only for minced meat or soups. It will not be difficult to determine it - the recess formed as a result of pressing a finger on the meat will not disappear and may even fill with blood.
Having finally made sure that the lamb for the future barbecue was purchased in accordance with the indicated recommendations, you can finally start marinating it.

Preparing lamb for marinating

Marinade is a mixture of vegetable oils, aromatic spices and natural substances containing acids, used to give the meat a soft texture and extra taste or for conservation.

For lamb, along with beef and pork, saturated marinades are more suitable. Lamb skewers need to be kept in such marinades for an average of 1 to 12 hours, depending on the degree of stiffness of the meat and its old age. A large number of at the same time, it is better not to add salts or acids to the marinade so that the kebab does not turn out dry during frying.

Before marinating, lamb does not need to be washed in cold water - just wipe a piece of meat with a napkin or paper towel. Having removed all films, tendons and excess fat, the future barbecue should be cut into triangles or cubes and placed in a glass or enamelware fat (fat) down - so when frying lamb skewers, the meat will become much more tender.

The specific smell of meat can be easily beaten off with pre-soak in vodka or adding cinnamon and pine nuts to the marinade.
A frozen piece of lamb requires prior defrosting at room temperature.

Marinade for lamb - recipes for tender and tasty shish kebab

Lamb is very fond of marinades, a significant part of which can be used as salad dressings or sauces for meat dishes.
The most famous and widespread the following types marinades:

classical;
With sea salt;
traditional peoples Caucasus and Asia;
lemon (lime can be used instead of lemon);
mustard;
wine (cognac);
pomegranate;
soy;
beer;
vegetable (including tomato);
coffee;
tea;
marinade based on vinegar (including apple, wine, etc.);
marinade based mineral water;
exotic (for example, from kiwi or avocado).

You can marinate lamb skewers in any of the following ways, focusing on your taste.
Sometimes the type of marinade can already be predetermined in advance - for example, any barbecue recipe according to Caucasian traditions does not allow the use of vinegar and mayonnaise in the marinade (only lemon juice, salt, spices and onions).

Classic marinade

Recipe classic marinade- one of the simplest. That is why it is most common in shop counters. For cooking, you will need coarsely chopped onions, peppercorns, vinegar and salt. Cons of this pickling option - bad taste and the smell of the finished barbecue, the cause of which is vinegar.

Sea salt marinade is very common. Any spices to taste are added to the lamb, and before frying the meat is sprinkled with sea salt. This will give the kebab unusual taste and pleasant aroma.

Traditional marinade of the peoples of the Caucasus and Asia

These marinades differ from all others in the presence of seasonings and spices that are unique to the cuisine of these peoples. Adding vinegar, mayonnaise is prohibited. Most popular species herbs used are cilantro and marjoram. Vinegar is replaced with citrus juice, which also contains an "acidic" component.

mustard marinade

The marinade is made from mustard powder, vinegar, vegetable oil, salt. Can also be used regular mustard pre-diluted with water. french mustard also suitable - unlike the usual, it is not so sharp. Sometimes mustard is substituted peanut butter, which does not adversely affect taste features barbecue.

Wine (cognac) marinade

The most delicious marinade of all presented, as the wine goes well with this type of meat. Lamb is poured with dry or semi-dry wine with the addition of oils, herbs and spices. It is possible to replace wine with cognac.

pomegranate marinade

Requires freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, packaged purchased in this case not suitable due to great content Sahara. With the help of a mortar, herbs, salt, spices and spices (for example, paprika) are rubbed, after which the finished pieces of lamb are rubbed with the resulting powder. At the very end, pomegranate juice is added.

soy marinade

Ingredients: soy sauce, tarragon, peppercorns, sea (or regular) salt, Provencal herbs. All components are pre-mixed and then added to the meat. You can add onions (including shallots) to taste.

beer marinade

Salt and spices are added to the meat, after which the lamb should lie down for 20-30 minutes. Next, light or dark grade beer (you can non-alcoholic). Due to the beer, the meat acquires a delicate taste.

Vegetable (including tomato)

Ingredients: tomatoes, Bulgarian red or Green pepper, chilli, pine nuts(to taste), a couple of spoons olive oil, salt. All ingredients are passed in a blender until smooth and then mixed with meat. Garlic can also be added to the marinade if needed.

coffee marinade

Weak freshly brewed coffee cools down to room temperature. Then salt, spices and herbs are added to the coffee. Everything is mixed and poured into the meat, after which it is left to marinate for 20-60 minutes.

tea marinade

Leaf black tea is brewed and cooled. 1 teaspoon is added per liter of tea granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt, spices and spices. The mixture should stand for 10-15 minutes, after which it can be added to the meat.

Vinegar-based marinade (including apple, wine, etc.)

In essence, it is similar traditional marinade to which you can add any other type of vinegar. Most original version marinade - based apple cider vinegar which imparts sourness to the meat. If you want a sweetish barbecue flavor, you can add cherry vinegar. Be sure to add vegetable oil.

Marinade based on mineral water

Any mineral medicinal water enriched with a mixture of seasonings, herbs and spices. Simple onions or shallots are added to taste. The meat is infused in this marinade for 1-2 hours.

Exotic (like kiwi or avocado)

For 1 kg of lamb, 200 g of peeled kiwi or avocado is taken, which are rubbed through a sieve or in a blender. In the resulting puree 2 tablespoons of olive oil, spices and salt. In no case should onions be added to this marinade - it is better to cook it separately as a side dish along with olive or vegetable oil, salt and spices.

Marinade for lamb skewers can have a very different and, sometimes, unusual composition, dictated by taste preferences and the desired result from frying the meat marinated in it. Grilled vegetables are ideal for lamb skewers. Regarding sauces for barbecue, you can discuss for a long time - connoisseurs say that good barbecue does not require any additional sauces to it, while people no longer imagine barbecue without ketchups and sauces.

It is only important to remember that the best and most delicious marinade is not store-bought, but made with your own hands, with soul and health care. By experimenting with different ingredients, you can create your own unique marinade, according to taste properties not inferior to restaurants.

To prepare a soft lamb kebab, fry the kebab on maximum coals, turning often, for 10-15 minutes.

How to grill lamb skewers

Products
Lamb - loin or hind leg- 1 kg
Coriander, black pepper - 1 teaspoon each.
Salt - 2 teaspoons.

How to cook soft barbecue lamb
1. Wash the meat under running water cold water and dry with a paper towel.
2. Cut boneless lamb into pieces with a side of 3 centimeters, bone - into equal pieces.
3. Add salt, pepper and coriander, marinate for 20 minutes.
4. Decompose different types pieces on 2 wire racks.
To make lamb skewers as soft as possible, you should fry it quickly, on very strong coals, turning over as often as possible.
Because lamb loin- very soft, you can marinate lamb for barbecue for 20 minutes.

Fkusnofakty

Medallions, ribs and lamb thighs are suitable for barbecue.

The price of meat for lamb barbecue is from 500 rubles / 1 kilogram (on average in Moscow as of June 2017). Ready barbecue lamb is practically not sold in stores, because. this meat is too tender for long-term storage.

Spices for lamb barbecue - coriander, nutmeg and zira.

Marinades for lamb

For 1 kilogram of lamb
Classic lamb skewers:

3 onions, vinegar 9% - a teaspoon, tomatoes - 2 pieces, barberry - 10 grams, juice of 1 lemon. Marinate for 2-3 hours, serve with tomatoes, green onions and Tkemali sauce.

Muscat marinade for lamb skewers:
1-2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, black pepper, grated nutmeg, onion. Marinate 2-3 hours.

Spicy lamb skewers marinade:
5 goals onion, salt, black and red ground peppers - a teaspoonful, juice of 1 lemon, 3 garlic cloves. Marinate 3-4 hours.

Choose your lamb skewers recipe for better holiday Outdoors. Classic, with mint, ginger or onion - 8 recipes for you!

1.5 kg boneless lamb (better - back)
300 g tail fat

For marinade:

4 bulbs
small bunch of cilantro
small bunch of parsley
50 ml cognac
1 tbsp wine vinegar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

For submission:

fresh herbs
2 onions
pita

Cut the meat into medium pieces fat tail fat- into smaller ones, put everything in a bowl.

Prepare the marinade. Peel and cut the onion into arbitrary pieces, put in a blender bowl, add herbs, cognac, vinegar and oil, chop until smooth and pour over the meat. Add salt and pepper, stir and marinate the meat in the refrigerator for 3-5 hours.

Thread the meat onto skewers and grill the skewers on charcoal until cooked through, about 15-20 minutes - if you pierce the meat, the juice flowing out should be clear. Serve with herbs, onions and pita bread.

Recipe 2: lamb skewers with ginger (with photo)

Lamb neck 3 pcs.
Ginger - 10 gr.
Kiwi - 1 pc.
Salt - 1 teaspoon
Coriander - 2 teaspoons
Cumin - 0.5 tsp
Pepper - 1 teaspoon
Basil - 1 teaspoon
Bay leaf - 3 pcs.

Peel the onion and chop coarsely. To prepare 1 kg., the pulp needs one teaspoon of salt, you need to add a teaspoon of salt and mix thoroughly with pressure, onion juice should stand out.

For some reason, many people cut meat quite finely, but this is the first and biggest mistake. The pulp should be cut into about 7×5 pieces. Peel the ginger root and grate it on a fine grater.

Now about kiwi. Kiwi gives a very piquant and fragrant taste meat, many having tried it once, as a seasoning for marinade, begin to use it constantly.

Kiwi should be added to marinated kebab only an hour before frying. In no case do not add kiwi in the evening or several hours earlier! Meat, if overexposed in kiwi, it will become like porridge, and this will not add much good taste barbecue.

Mix all remaining spices with onions and meat. Add peeled and grated kiwi to the marinade, an hour before frying the kebab.

Fire up the coals. At this time, place the meat on skewers, trying to get rid of all the stuck onion to the meat, as it burns when frying and will not pleasantly affect the future. palatability meat.

Roast the meat on the coals, turning often, if a fire ignites, immediately extinguish with water so that the kebab does not burn. Cook until light brown.

The finished dish, as usual, serve with pickled onion sliced \u200b\u200brings.

Recipe 3: Caucasian lamb skewers with vegetables

We are preparing a recipe for lamb shashlya in Caucasian style, stringing vegetables between pieces of meat. True, the meat is cooked in about 25 minutes, and the vegetables are ready in 15 minutes. However, vegetables are soaked in meat juice and, although they are boiled, it comes out very tasty. Caucasian lamb shish kebab should be served with several sauces and fresh vegetables.

Lamb - 1 Kilogram
Onion - 4 Pieces
Eggplant - 2 pieces
Zucchini - 1 Piece
Tomato - 4 Pieces
Bulgarian pepper - 4 Pieces
Cilantro - 1 Piece (bunch)
Parsley - 1 Piece (bunch)
Green onion - 1 piece (bunch)
Wine vinegar - 2 tbsp. spoons
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp. spoons
Spices - to taste

Meat cut into pieces.

Onion cut into rings.

Mix onion with meat, add vinegar and press well with your hands. We marinate for 12 hours.

Cooking good coals.

Grease the skewers with vegetable oil and string the meat.

Roast the meat on the coals, turning over and splashing the coals with water if the fire flares up.

Cut vegetables and string on skewers. Roast on charcoal.

The meat is ready when clear juices come out of it when pierced.

Serve with vegetables. Bon appetit!

Recipe 4: lamb kebab with mint (step by step with photo)

lamb - 1 kg
onion - 4-5 pcs
salt, pepper, spices
olive oil - 2 tbsp.
mint - 1 sprig
vinegar - 2 tbsp.
parsley - 3-5 pieces

Cut the lamb into pieces suitable for barbecue (be sure to remove all spit and tendons). Put the chopped meat in a bowl, add spices, oil and vinegar. Stir.

Add chopped onion rings and coarsely torn greens there. Mix everything thoroughly with your hands. Do not spare your strength: you need to mix, as if you were kneading dough. Leave the meat to marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

We string the marinated meat on skewers.

And fry the kebab over the coals until fully prepared. Lamb shish kebab with vinegar is ready!

Recipe 5: Lamb Skewers with Honey (Step by Step Photos)

onion - 300 gr
young lamb saddle - 2.3 kg
ground black pepper
parsley
honey - 15-25 gr
carbonated mineral water

The lamb saddle has an unpleasant feature, namely, it is covered with a subcutaneous film, which must be removed. Which, in fact, we do, armed with a knife and starting the removal from the edge of the cut.

A nice feature is that the film can be removed easily. In practice, we just pull it, helping ourselves with a knife.

The cut is cut along the intervertebral discs into portioned pieces. For greater convenience, the tips of the ribs can be cleaned.

We chop the greens, chop the onion as you like. Pepper. Salt. Enter honey. Pour the meat with a glass of highly carbonated mineral water.

It is not required to marinate the meat for a long time, 3-4 hours will be enough in our case.

Since the pieces turned out to be large for frying on one skewer, we use two.

Well, everyone determines the degree of readiness for himself. You just have to take your time and do not throw the kebab on too hot coals. Bones may turn a little black when frying, well, that's their nature.

Serving shish kebab and types of side dishes, as well as accompanying alcohol, are a personal matter for everyone.

Recipe 6, simple: lamb skewers with vinegar

lamb - 3 kg
vinegar essence 70% - 2 tbsp.
water - 400 ml
salt, spices
parsley - bunch
onion - 1-2 pcs

For shish kebab we use lamb ribs and neck. Cut everything into portions.

Place meat in large saucepan, rinse under running water.

Now add spices for barbecue, salt, black ground pepper, water, vinegar. Add the peeled garlic cloves, coarsely chopped. Cut the onion into half rings and add it also to the meat.

Mix again, cover the pan with a lid and leave the meat to marinate for 4-5 hours.

The meat is ready to cook. Light firewood on the grill. While the firewood is burning, we string the meat on skewers.

After 2-3 minutes, turn the skewers over and fry the meat on the other side. The main thing is that the coals do not burn (you can sprinkle water on them), so that the meat is baked and not burned.

Turn over again ... the skewers will be baked and browned evenly.

Recipe 7: Lamb Skewers with Onions and Tomatoes

lamb - 2 kg
onion - 1 kg
tomato - 1 pc.
salt pepper
seasoning for meat
wine vinegar - 4 tbsp.

Shashlik is best prepared from the ham and kidney part of the lamb carcass. For marinating lamb you need stainless utensils with a lid, and there must be a hole in the lid so that the meat does not “suffocate” when we put it in the refrigerator. Choose fresh meat. Pay attention to its smell and color. It should be a pale red color. The smell should not be putrid, but pleasant. To check for freshness, boil a piece of meat and pierce it with a hot knife, because. it happens that the meat smells normal on the outside, but visible changes are already taking place in the depths of the muscles. Also important is the consistency of the meat, which should be dense.