Understood. I do have a thermometer and 2 more lamb joints so I will do one of them in the air fryer and track its progress with the thermometer. Many thanks.
Air frying is basically just convection roasting in a smaller space, so I don't think that was the problem. You don't mention a temperature, and internal temperature is the most important factor for your final product. You can't roast by the clock, precisely- it's a guide. The final determination is best done the old fashioned way with the old thermometer. From the sounds of it, your lamb was mostly over-cooked, at too high a temperature possibly. . Honestly, I find roasting a lamb leg past about 145F internally will leave you with a dried up bit of lamb, which is what you describe. For some reason, a lot of folks shy away from medium rare lamb- but if you cook it more than medium at best- it's not good. You certainly won't get those "lammey" juices. I don't think the problem was your air fryer exactly. I think it was a combo of errors. First, roast/air fry meat by temperature, not the clock. The clock can guide, somewhat, but start checking early. And next, do consider how "done" you want the roast to be, and accept that well done meat isn't generally juicy or tender. If you want juicy lamb, it has to be no more than medium at the most. That's removing it at about 135F, max 140F, and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes. Don't get discouraged though. Cook up any leftovers in a nice gravy for some luscious shepherds pie, and give it another go later. It was a first time doing it in a new appliance, and very few of us can pull of a stunning result the first time at doing anything.
The recipe (which I did follow) says, bring it out of the fridge for 30mins to room temp, air fry for 10 mins at 200c then air fry for 40 mins at 180c. Unfortunately it was so very far away from being right I think I will go back to my gas oven.
I wasn't talking about the oven temperature. I was talking about the internal temperature of your leg of lamb. Since you are using metric, your lamb internal temp should be about 55-60C. 55 for medium rare, 60 for medium. No more than that. It's not always about the time in the oven or the temperature of the oven itself, but how hot your joint of meat got inside. Though I can't blame you for reverting to the old familiar gas oven method, I think you shouldn't give up on your air fryer so quickly. If you don't have a meat or roasting thermometer, I highly suggest you purchase one and use it. That's a far better way to roast meat and get the results you want each time. Too many variables to trust to a clock.
... while a tiny area in the middle was still raw. It was much like a dry over-cooked bit of pork with all the 'lammey' juices gone. I was suspicious of the instructions to air-fry it and not use the roast option. What went wrong please, should I have chosen 'roast'?
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