Southdown Sheep Society, NZ

"The sheep with an illustrious past and a very bright future"

Southdown meat is renowned worldwide for it’s taste as well as the texture and quality of the edible product.

This page will list various ways that you can cook the meat cuts (found on the Meat Cuts page). Obviously there are hundreds of different ways to cook meat, so we provide these instructions  below merely as a starting point.

You can find full recipes on our recipes page.

Slow Roasting Oven Roast

Suitable Cuts: Leg (whole or half cut), Rack, Shoulder, Mid-loin.

  • Remove meat from refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking. Trim excess fat and silverskin if necessary. Weigh meat to calculate cooking time using table below.
  • Pre-heat oven to 160 – 170°C.
  • Place meat, fat side uppermost, on a rack in a roasting dish.
  • Cook for calculated time, basting occasionally. When cooked remove from the oven and cover the meat with foil.
  • Rest in a warm place for 10 – 20 minutes before carving across the grain.

Cooking Times for Roasting:

Degree of Cooking Minutes Per 500 gm Internal Temp of Cooked Meat
Rare 20 – 25 50°
Medium 25 – 30 60°
Well Done 30 – 35 65°

To check a cooked roast for readiness, either use a meat thermometer, or pierce meat with a fine skewer and note the colour of the juices;

  • Rare = red juices
  • Medium = pink juices
  • Well Done = clear juices

Note:

  • A large piece of meat requires fewer minutes per 500gm than a smaller cut.
  • Roasts with bone in cook more quickly than boned and rolled roasts.