The Biggest Mistake Beginners Make With Lamb Chops 

Lamb chops are the perfect centerpiece for an elegant spring dinner. Done right, they're rich, tender, and packed with flavor. However, lamb is a less common meat in the United States and lamb chops almost always come with a hefty price tag (although lamb is one of the best meats to buy at Costco). This means they can be a bit intimidating for beginner chefs. If you'd like to try your hand at cooking lamb chops but you're scared of messing them up, don't worry. We spoke with two lamb experts to determine the most common mistake people make when cooking with lamb chops (and how to avoid it). The verdict is clear: Overcooking lamb is the most common mistake.

"You don't want to overcook them," said Megan Wortman, executive director of the American Lamb Board. James Beard Award-nominated chef and American Lamb Board ambassador Kareem El-Ghayesh from Austin's KG BBQ agreed that overcooking lamb chops is the most common error beginners make. Luckily, this fate is easily avoidable with the help of an extremely useful kitchen gadget. "Get a good thermometer," Wortman advised, "because [lamb chops] are expensive." 

Aside from using a thermometer, The American Lamb Board recommends pulling lamb chops from the oven or grill when the internal temperature is about 10 degrees Fahrenheit less than the desired final temperature. This means 135 degrees Fahrenheit for medium rare, 150 degrees Fahrenheit for medium, and 160 degrees Fahrenheit for well done. This will give your meat a final temperature of 145, 160, and 170 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.

With the help of a handy meat thermometer like this ThermoMaven Professional Digital Meat Thermometer, avoiding overcooked lamb chops is much easier. But, if those chops do end up a little bit too well done for your taste (it happens to the best of us), don't worry. "Even if you overcook it, it's still tender honestly," said Kareem El-Ghayesh. What's more, there are plenty of delicious ways to save dry lamb chops. "You can chop them up and make something with a sauce," El-Ghayesh suggested. "This is the best way to rehydrate overcooked meat [...] especially if it's a thin sauce, it will end up drinking all that sauce and it will go in the fibers and it will rehydrate all of it."

As for how to cook up your lamb chops, this versatile cut of meat can be prepared in a multitude of diverse and delicious ways. "In Egypt, we cut the chops and we heavily marinate them and grill them," said El-Ghayesh. "They're definitely more on the well-done side, but you get so much flavor, char on all the sides." If you like your meat a little more rare, El-Ghayesh recommends a Texan approach. "I like to dry rub and smoke the whole rack, so you get that nice pink medium-rare inside [...] it also picks up the smoke flavor really, really well." No matter how you prepare your lamb chops, remember to carefully monitor them with a meat thermometer (which is not the same as a candy thermometer) to help limit the chances of you overcooking them.