Make the most of your air fryer with this fast roasted Half Lamb Shoulder recipe. I've even included instructions to make a delicious gravy using the drippings and meat juices. Ever versatile and wonderfully succulent, shoulder of lamb is beautiful cooked quickly - it's ready to serve in just under an hour!
If your air fryer requires pre-heating, start this setting now.
Thoroughly dry a 1.1kg Half Shoulder of Lamb .
Drizzle the underside of the lamb with roughly 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil and ½ tbsp Sea Salt Flakes. Rub into the lamb so it is evenly distributed.
Turn the joint back over and repeat with a further 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil and ½ tbsp Sea Salt Flakes. Don't miss all the sides.
Place the lamb into the air fryer basket. If it is a preheated basket, use 2 forks or tongs to lower the meat in so you don't touch the hot metal with your hands.
Air fry for 20 minutes at 190℃/375℉.
Remove the lamb from the air fryer as well as the crisper tray. Pour all the juices/fat into a small bowl.
Return the crisper tray and lamb back to the air fryer basket. Place the lamb upside down to finish cooking.
Air fry for a further 20 minutes at 190℃/375℉ for medium. Add 5 minutes for medium-well and a further 5 for well done.
Take the lamb out the air fryer and wrap well in foil.
Remove the plate again and tip the rest of the juices into the bowl with the rest. Use a silicone spatula to make sure you get all the goodness. Scrape any tasty bits off the crisper plate too.
Allow the lamb to rest for at least 10, but ideally 15 minutes. Use this time to make the gravy.
Don't forget to add any juices from the resting period to the reserved juices/fat or gravy if its already made.
Carve into thick or thin slices as preferred and serve. You will have to carve around the bone to make sure you get all of the meat.
To Make The Lamb Gravy
If there is a lot of lamb fat vs juices, remove some of the fat and discard or save this for another time.
Tip all of the drained lamb juices and some fat into small saucepan and start heating over a high heat.
Add 300ml Water to the pan. Freshly boiled from the kettle will speed up the process.
Mix 3 tbsp Cornflour with roughly 3 tbsp Wateruntil all the cornflour has dissolved.
Once the juices and water have come to the boil, add the cornflour slurry with one hand while whisking with the other.
Continue to boil until the gravy is thickened. If after a few minutes, it is not thick enough for your liking, make up and add more cornflour slurry - add a little at a time. If it is thicker than you would like, add a little water at a time.
Taste the gravy and add Sea Salt Flakes a little at a time until the gravy is flavoursome. Don't be shy, salt is your friend with gravy.
Serve with the sliced lamb.
Notes
The air fryer version of this recipe is tested in my Cosori Lite 3.8L (CAF-LI401S) which has a square(ish) shaped basket of 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal. The depth of the basket is more of an important consideration in this case.
Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
For this recipe, I could easily fit a 1.1kg/2.5lb shoulder of lamb in the basket. This gives plenty of room to allow air to circulate. It did very nearly expand to be too tall for the basket so this is something to bear in mind.
As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time.
Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.