Description
A Whole Ryeland Hogget
The Ryeland is one of the oldest sheep breeds in England, and a Herefordshire one. It takes its name from the rye stubble it was grazed on around Leominster, where the monks were breeding it in the twelfth century. Its fleece was known as Lemster Ore and was, for several hundred years, the most valuable wool in the country. Its meat earned a quieter reputation as the sweet meat of Herefordshire, and that is still the fairest description of it.
We keep our Ryelands on Herefordshire pasture and grow most of them slowly, past a year old, to hogget. It is not the efficient way to produce lamb. It is the way to produce lamb worth eating. Hogget carries more fat, more colour and considerably more flavour than spring lamb, and it will take slow cooking without falling apart into nothing.
This is the whole animal, butchered on site and supplied as two halves, boxed for the kitchen and the freezer. It is the way to buy hogget if you cook a lot of it, if you are feeding a large household, or if you and a neighbour want to split an animal between you. It is also the best value we sell it at, and the only way to get every cut off the same carcass.
What’s in the whole hogget:
The default butchery below matches our half hogget, doubled. We are happy to adapt to your needs.
Legs. Two, approx. 5.5kg in total, on the bone. Roast one pink and carve it thin, give the other four hours with garlic and rosemary. Supplied on or off the bone, butchered to your preference.
Shoulders. Two, approx. 5.5kg in total, on the bone. The cut to put in low and leave alone. It comes out pulling apart under a spoon. Boned and rolled if you’d rather.
Chops. Approx. 5kg, loin and chump. Cut thick enough to take real colour without drying out. A hot pan, a few minutes’ rest, and very little else.
Breast. Two, approx. 3.5kg. The cheapest thing in the box and, cooked properly, close to the best. Roll it, stuff it, and let the fat do the work.
Liver and kidneys. Approx. 1.5kg. Supplied fresh and best eaten within a few days. Liver in a hot pan with onions, kidneys on toast, delicious.
Approximately 20 to 22kg in total, working out at around £17/kg. Weights vary a little from carcass to carcass. Everything is butchered on site by Jim and the team.
Butchery – please tell us what you want
A whole hogget is a much bigger commitment than a half, and it is worth a minute’s thought before it is cut. Left to us, it will come to you as the list above: two legs and two shoulders on the bone, chops from the loin and chump, breast, and the offal.
Use the notes box at checkout to tell us what you would like, or call us on the number below and we will go through it with you. Things people commonly ask for:
Legs and shoulders boned and rolled, which makes them easier to carve and easier to freeze.
One leg left whole for a roast and the other cut into leg steaks and diced meat for curry and tagine.
A rack or two French trimmed from the loin instead of chops.
Diced from the breast, neck and shoulder if you would rather have everything ready for the pot than slow-roasting joints.
None of this costs extra. If we have not heard from you by the time your carcass is due to be cut, we will call you before Jim starts.
A note on space
Twenty kilos of boxed meat takes up a decent amount of space, so it is worth clearing the room before your order arrives. Everything arrives chilled, so you have a day or two to get it packed away, and the offal should be eaten rather than frozen.
Delivery
Orders over £69.99 are delivered free of charge. Below that threshold, there is a £10 delivery charge. Delivered in insulated packaging, chilled and ready to cook or freeze on arrival.
