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Comment by hirundo | Hacker News Reader

I just got back from grocery shopping where I bought a lamb leg roast, haven't had one before. I plan to cook it sous vide at 133°F for 36 hours. Too much? A beef shank benefits from even more. I did that to some lamb ribs not long ago and they were most excellent. Nothing added but salt.

I've been trying to source a whole lamb for the freezer, to keep the cow in there company. I guess the pandemic is why it's been hard to find.

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Leg of lamb is not tough generally, I personally would cut that down to no more than 18 hours if it is bone-in and probably like 8-10 hours if boneless, depending on size.

Edit: A few websites suggest something between 5-8 for boneless.

Leg of lamb is a pretty tender cut of meat closer to steak or ribeye in my experience.

Recently I roasted a leg of lamb for maybe 2.5 hours until the core temp was 135. It was a perfect medium rare in the thickest parts.

I suspect you should target something like 2-6 hours. Kenji has a chart you can follow for cook times on Serious Eats.

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/10/sous-vide-leg-of...

You really don’t need to sous vide it for 36 hours it’s a waste of time and money.

Depending on the size 5-6 hours in a sous vide is more than enough and it’s much better if you simply roast or braise it.

I used to sous vide everything then I’ve learned to cook better and I sous vide as a mostly pointless exercise for most food perpetration other than reheating.

I haven't cooked lamb sous vide, but I'd be amazed if a "leg roast" needs so much time. Won't it end up sort of mushy?

When I do that to beef it isn't mushy, but fork-tender. With shank or ribs, the flavor is still intense. Guess I'll find out if the same is true for a lamb leg. Beef comes out of the water bath pale and unappetizing, but crisps up nicely in the air fryer.

I think that depends on the cut of beef. 36h is great for brisket or short rib. But 36h would be bad for fillet mignon.

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