General Safety and Handling Guidelines for Lamb

Lamb is perishable; therefore should be handled and stored properly to avoid spoilage and food-borne illness. The basic rules of food safety are: keep cold foods cold, keep hot foods hot and keep foods clean.

When handling lamb, please make sure to follow these general guidelines:

• Refrigerate or freeze lamb immediately after purchase. Use an ice chest to transport meat if you will not be able to refrigerate the meat within an hour.
  
  
• Utilize the following guidelines when defrosting lamb:
  
  
  • Defrost in the refrigerator. Never defrost on the counter or in other locations. Once the raw product defrosts, it will be safe in the refrigerator 3 to 5 days (for roasts and chops) and 1 to 2 days for ground lamb before cooking. During this time, if you decide not to use the lamb, you can safely refreeze it without cooking it first.
    
    
  • Defrost in cold water. To defrost lamb in cold water, do not remove packaging. Be sure the package is airtight or put it into a leakproof bag.
    
    
  • Defrost in microwave. When microwave defrosting lamb, plan to cook it immediately after thawing because some areas of the food may become warm and begin to cook during microwaving. Holding partially-cooked food is not recommended because any bacteria present wouldn't have been destroyed.
    
    Foods defrosted in the microwave or by the cold water method should be cooked before refreezing because they may potentially have been held at temperatures above 40 °F.
  
  
• Use separate cutting bards for lamb meats and a different one for vegetables and fruits.
  
  
• Make sure that any raw lamb and juices do not come in contact with any other food when preparing lamb.
  
  
• Frozen cuts of lamb should always be thawed in the refrigerator and never on the countertop.
  
  
• Raw lamb that has been thawed should be used as soon as possible.
  
  
• Raw lamb should ever be refrozen after being thawed because this increases the risk of food poisoning when the lamb meat is finally used.
  
  
• If lamb has been marinated, the marinade should be discarded because of its contact with the raw meat.
  
  
• Cook lamb as soon as possible after its removal from refrigeration. Do not allow lamb to reach room temperature before it is cooked, as this can promote the growth of harmful bacteria.
  
  
• Lamb that has been ground, cut into chunks for lamb stew or lamb kabobs, or cut into strips for lamb stir-fry is much more perishable than larger cuts of lamb. This is because there is more exposed surface area, which increases the risk for bacterial growth.
  
  
• Use a meat thermometer to make sure lamb is cooked to the desired doneness.
  
  
• Refrigerate leftovers promptly after serving. Lamb should not be away from refrigeration longer than 2 hours after cooking. Cooked food left at room temperature for more than two hours should be discarded.
  
  
• When eating outdoors, make sure you have a cooler with ice handy to transport meat if you will not be able to refrigerate for more than one hour.
  
  

• Frozen ground lamb should be defrosted in the refrigerator and never at room temperature.
  
  
• Ground lamb should be cooked as soon as possible after it is defrosted.
  
  
• Ground lamb patties should not be cooked unless they have fully thawed. A frozen or partially frozen lamb patty will not cook evenly and the center will not cook to the proper temperature even though the outside may be completely cooked.
  
  
• Ground lamb should be used within purchased before or on the "sell by" date or "last date of sale" and then used within 2 days of purchasing.
  
  
• It is recommended that ground lamb dishes such as lamb meatloaf or other ground lamb dishes be checked for doneness with a meat thermometer. This is especially important when the lamb has been blended with dark sauces that can mask the color of the lamb meat, making it difficult to determine if any pink color remains, which would indicate that the lamb meat is not fully cooked.