When it comes to lamb, you either love it or hate it. You either care for it or you don't. I particularly LOVE a good lamb chop. When I started Meat N' Bone, I had very good working knowledge of beef. But lamb? No idea.
I don't eat a lot of Lamb. Turns out I am about as average as can be. I consume about 1 lb of lamb per year, which happens to be the same as the average American.
Australian & New Zealand Lamb
There are two dominant producers of lamb in the world: Australia and New Zealand. Both countries have long produced lamb for their wool industry. So lamb meat is a bi-product. That means that it's primarily raised for wool production.
Australia and New Zealand account for about 36% of the production of wool in the world which is why they can be so aggressive with their pricing of lamb meat. To paint a clearer picture of the sheer scale of their production, there are more sheep than people in New Zealand.
If you walk into a supermarket, you will usually find lamb from either Australia and New Zealand. It is relatively inexpensive (about $50 for an average quality lamb rack) and it will be a young lamb (less than 12 months old) and grass-fed.
The American Lamb Difference
While America is also a significant exporter of wool (16% of worlds exports), the lamb that is put up for sale is primarily raised to be consumed. Most American lamb comes form the US Midwest.
American lamb is usually larger and has the highest quality and consistency. It is raised eating grass and finished with high quality grain. The "grain" makes a world of a difference. It also makes raising lamb a lot more expensive (American lamb can be twice as expensive as imported lamb).
Grain finished lamb is less "gamy" than imported Lamb and it presents significant marbling (intramuscular fat) which makes it a lot more flavorful. Grain fed lamb is also more tender than grass fed lamb.
American Lamb is basically raised like beef. It is raised for taste and tenderness. It presents an exceptionally mild and buttery taste. The average American lamb is much larger than the average imported lamb. It is considered to have the highest quality and consistency.
The lamb we sell at Meat N' Bone comes from hand-selected family farmers and ranchers. Our lambs are born and humanely raised without the use of artificial growth hormones and animal bi-products.
Our lambs are USDA inspected and hand-selected to meet our standards for proper finish, weight and age. Artisan butchers hand-process our fresh lambs daily to exacting specifications.
Want to learn more about American Lamb? Checkout this page for even more information!
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