A big fat Greek Easter dilemma

Arriving yesterday in Cleveland to spend Easter with my family, I was greeted with a near-blizzard and today we are looking outside at about 8 inches of snow on the ground and temperatures that may hit the 30's. Not at all Easter-like, but more importantly the weather has created quite a kerfluffle about our iron-clad Greek Easter tradition of roasting of the whole lamb over a spit in the yard (or the garage when it's chilly.

I myself don't like lamb at all so I could care less if we chucked the thing and just made an extra tray of spanakopita. But my parents and extended family members are very concerned. Here are the questions they are tussling with:

1. My dad brought the frozen lamb home from the butcher on Friday and it has hung in the garage since then. Will it even defrost by Sunday? The garage is a bit warmer than outside but who knows how much. Will we be facing a still frozen carcass by the time the spit is built late Sunday morning?

2. Right now, the lamb is wrapped in paper and plastic wrap. Would it defrost faster if unwrapped? My dad says yes. My cousin says no. Me, I'm not sure. Any expert opinions there?

3. In the event the lamb is still frozen on Sunday, do we have any options short of buying a leg of lamb from the grocer and just roasting it in the oven? We can't do the turkey water bath defrosting method as we don't have anything large enough to hold a whole lamb immersed in water.

As I said, I personally have no investment in whether or not we have lamb tomorrow, but for the rest of my family, it is a big deal. Any words of advice or comfort would be much appreciated.

And once my schedule calms down, I'll be posting my adventures in making my mom's homemade phyllo dough a few weeks ago. Thanks to Cathy2, there are excellent pictures to go along with. I hope to get those up in a few weeks.

Dimitra

Hellodali wrote:We can't do the turkey water bath defrosting method as we don't have anything large enough to hold a whole lamb immersed in water.

Dimitra,

No bathtub? Alternately a large plastic trash can of the type sold at any hardware store will do nicely.

Far as defrosting faster if unwrapped, my reflex answer is yes it will defrost faster if unwrapped. Think dressing in layers for the cold, but in reverse.*

Have a wonderful holiday.

Enjoy,
Gary

*Answer is based on absolutely no, none, nada, scientific fact

HI,

Is the family basement 40 degrees or less? It could defrost there in a refrigerator-ish environment. Do you have an insulated cooler to fit it into? It might act like a refrigerator cooling environment.

For people who wait to the last minute to defrost turkeys, they are told to run water over it to defrost it. If it is cryovac sealed, then time spent in the tub defrosting won't hurt the meat because the water can't reach it.

I would also call your local butcher for tips, because you cannot be alone in your dilemma.

Good luck!

Happy Easter!

Ah, I did not think of the bathtub. But the lamb isn't cryovac sealed, I don't think. Can we still defrost it in water? This of course, assumes that my super-fastidiously clean mom would be OK with that. Thanks Gary and Cathy.

HI,

GAry has more experience in dealing with large carcasses than I do. I don't go much bigger than 20+ pound turkeys. I'm sure his method is time tested.

Enjoy this most memorable of Easters!

Regards,

I can't help you with the lamb defrosting - when my aunt used to have Greek Easter for 30, my parents and I used to pick up the lamb precooked at noon from a Greek grocery (since closed) at Diversey and Austin. Now we go to one of her nieces (so not "technically" a relative of mine, but she's still a "cousin") and I have no idea what she does.

But take solace in this: even if the lamb can't be salvaged, you'll still have way more than enough food for everybody!

Think seriously about the bathtub. Even the most fastidious must admit that roasting temps will absolutely scorch anything organic remaining on the skin of the beast.

Indeed, put it in a trash sac, THEN into the bath. Pretend that no bath water will touch the skin o' the beast. (Makes no difference [see above] except in your Mom's mind [which, of course, IS a difference, but not a hygenic one! : ) ])

Have a great Pascal Lamb!

Geo

There was a Good Eats episode about the fastest defrosting method. As I recall, the item to be defrosted by various methods was a block of ice molded in the shape of a duck. The winning method (even faster than having the ice put in a pot of boiling water) was immersion under a stream of cool running water. The bathtub is probably your best bet, but keep the faucet running at the same time.

Well, my dad and cousin seem to think the lamb has defrosted as it is on the spit and roasting away in the garage. Whether it is or not, we'll know later today. Thank you all for your advice and good wishes!

Hellodali wrote:Well, my dad and cousin seem to think the lamb has defrosted as it is on the spit and roasting away in the garage. Whether it is or not, we'll know later today. Thank you all for your advice and good wishes!

Dimitra,

A $5 Taylor instant read thermometer, available at any grocery store, is your friend.

Have a wonderful holiday.

Enjoy,
Gary

yesterday was perfect weather for grillling a whole lamb for Greek Easter..we did one on our covered spit and it came out great as usual..it wa sa bit cool but no wind so to speak so the cooker ran great

Pics?

got some..just not sure how to post them here

You could use a site like flickr.com or photobucket.com and upload there and post a link or image tag within a response.

deke rivers wrote:got some..just not sure how to post them here

Have you checked this thread?

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4944

Hellodali, I was thinking of you when I read this [url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0704070122apr08,1,827959,print.column]
John Kass column[/url] in Sunday’s Trib. Read the whole thing but I liked this part:

“Weather forecasters predict freezing cold and possible flurries, and I'll be in the garage, on duty, with my lamb and loud village music, as passersby look up my driveway to see the madman. It's not as nice as being in the back yard. But I have no choice.

The lamb will turn at the edge of the garage, the overhead door open. Two box fans will blow the scent and smoke toward the sidewalk. The clarinet music will blare toward the sidewalk too.

I'm not the only one. Thousands of lamb roasters will be out in their garages, or in sheds. A few will bravely (and foolishly) try to roast in the open, but the near-freezing temperature will extend the cooking time by hours. Guests will be hungry. I'll be tempted to pile on too many coals.”