How long can a lamb shoulder sit out on the counter?
I have a 3.5 lb lamb shoulder that I let marinate in a brine in the refrigerator overnight. It will take 3 hours to cook and needs to come to room temp before it is roasted. Is two hours too long to leave it out on the counter to come to room temp?
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So long as it's not frozen in the middle, I would have no problem slinging it straight from fridge to oven. Then again, rather than brining (which I find pointless and wasteful) I'd have salt rubbed it and left it uncovered in the fridge to dry the surface out and thus get a better Maillard on it.
If you're unwilling to go fridge to oven in one fell swoop, and want to leave the shoulder out, it might be interesting to check with a probe thermometer the temperature of the shoulder (in the centre of the thickest part) when it gets out of the fridge, after an hour, and just before it goes in the oven. After all, all I've write above is from an experiment conducted upon a steak. The shoulder bone could make a difference.