How to Carve a Bone-In Leg of Lamb at the Table

Do not carve the leg as soon as it comes out of the oven. The juices in hot meat are still moving between the fibers, and an early cut sends them running onto the board. The recommended resting time for a whole roast is 15–20 minutes; a thick, bone-in leg should rest toward the longer end of that range. Let it rest on the board under a loose sheet of foil. Resting also makes the meat easier to carve: meat that has cooled slightly holds together under the knife and yields neat slices. The resting period is also a good time to finish preparing the other hot dishes for the table.

At one end of a bone-in leg is a thin, pointed bone protrusion; this is the shank end and serves as a handle. Wrap the end in a clean cloth or paper towel to hold it securely and keep your hand from getting burned. If it is too hot to hold, insert a carving fork into the thickest part of the meat near the bone. Set the leg on the board at a slight angle, with the thickest side facing up. A damp cloth under the board will keep it from sliding, too. If the board has a groove along its edge, turn the leg so the juices run toward the groove.

Start carving from the thickest side of the meat. Hold the knife perpendicular to the grain and cut down until the blade reaches the bone; the slices should lie side by side, touching the bone but not yet detached. After making a few cuts, angle the knife and run it along the bone with a horizontal cut; this frees all the slices from the bone in one motion. The importance of the grain direction is a separate tip; here, focus only on the angle of the knife. A long, sharp knife lets you cut each slice with one pull, leaving a smooth surface without saw marks.

When the thick side is finished, turn the leg and carve the other side the same way. This side is thinner, and its grain runs at a different angle, so adjust the knife angle to follow the grain. Leave the meat around the bone, where the knife cannot reach, until last. These pieces will not come off as slices; use the tip of the knife or two forks to scrape them from the bone and collect them on a separate plate. The tender meat next to the bone is often the juiciest part of the leg. If you are saving these pieces for a second serving, keep them in the kitchen instead of bringing them to the table; refrigerate any you are saving for the next day within 2 hours.

Arrange the slices on a warm serving platter with their edges overlapping, then spoon the juices collected on the board over them. Slice thickness is a matter of preference, but keeping all the slices the same thickness helps them cool at the same rate. If the meal will last a long time, do not carve the entire leg; leave some meat on the bone and carve it fresh for the second serving. Meat left on the bone dries out more slowly than sliced meat, so the second serving will be as juicy as the first. Do not cover the slices; steam trapped under a lid will soften the browned surface.