LamHam is shaking up the traditional Christmas lunch

Maree and Andrew King, “Silverwood” and “Westfield”, Longreach, have created LamHam, an alternative to smoked roast pork.

The couple had been toying with the idea of smoking lamb for the past three years.

“Our local butcher had a smoker, and I thought, ‘what would lamb taste like smoked?’” Mrs King said.

“It’s just a lot of quirky ideas that have gradually built on top of each other.”

After winning the Sheep Meat Producer of the Year Award in 2013, the couple travelled to Dubai as part of their prize. Eating the smoked beef and turkey of the region, the idea suddenly gained traction.

“I thought, ‘our LamHam is better than this’, and it was a light-bulb,” Mrs King said.

Starting as a special addition to their lamb packs for online customers at Easter and Christmas, the product has become more and more popular, sparking the need for separate distribution.

“It’s partly the name that gets people in,” Mrs King said.

“We’ll have our stands (at markets) and banners, and people look at you quizzically, wondering if it’s lamb or pork or some kind of hybrid animal!”

Mrs King describes the colour of the meat as a darker ham or a pale corned beef.

“The texture is softer than pork to bite, and sweeter than pork ham. The process the meat undergoes changes the feel of the lamb fat as well; it doesn’t coat your mouth, but turns into a buttery kind of fat.”

As it is not pork, Mrs King said people of all denominations could enjoy the product.

“It’s the closest thing for people who can’t eat pork can get to pork – except for vegetarians!” Mrs King said.

Mrs King said while there are no plans to experiment with the flavours of the lamb – which is smoked with rosemary and beechwood ironbark – she is thinking about trying some new recipes.

“I would like to play around with lamb bacon, as I hope it will go crispy,” Mrs King said.

“I have a lot of fun doing the recipes tastes, and my kids are probably the biggest fans of LamHam – they’re not sick of it yet.”