If You Can't Stand the Heat

• The color -- or lack of color -- of the pan makes a difference in the way it conducts heat to the food being cooked. Dark-colored pans, such as cast iron, absorb heat, while shiny, bright pans, such as aluminum, reflect the heat to the meat. Glass pans conduct heat well and cook the food evenly without too much browning. When cooking lamb, glass pans can cook the interior before the exterior is done. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines the safe internal temperature for lamb as 145 degrees Fahrenheit, which is medium rare. If you like your lamb more well done, cook the meat until it reaches 160 F.

Rendering the Rack

• A rack of lamb comes from the rib portion of the animal. It is a lean cut with hearty bones and is sliced into chops after cooking and before serving. It is often prepared with an herb-crumb coating that gives the lamb a crusty exterior. Roasting the rack of lamb in a metal pan helps reflect the heat to toast the crumb coating. To get a crispier coating when using a glass baking pan, brown the rack of lamb in a pan on the stove first. Covering the pan with aluminum foil can increase the heat reflected back to the meat and increase the browning.

Deglazing Delights

• As juices escape the meat during roasting, they often caramelize at the bottom of the pan. Many chefs like to remove the residue by adding a liquid and deglazing the pan. These juices can easily burn in a dark-colored pan but render a savory sauce in nonstick and glass pans. To deglaze, remove the meat, add some liquid, such as stock or wine, and scrape the bits of food off with a wooden spatula. Place the pan over medium heat briefly. The resulting glaze can be poured over the rack of lamb before serving.

You Can Without a Pan

• If you don't have a metal roasting pan or a glass baking pan, you can cook a rack of lamb directly in a metal frying pan. Called pan roasting, this method produces a grilled, smoky flavor by cooking the exterior of the lamb quickly over high heat before transferring it to the oven to finish cooking. Use an all-metal pan without nonstick coating with no rubber on the handle. Cook the meat on the stove until all sides are seared to a golden brown then transfer the entire pan to a 450- to 500-degree Fahrenheit oven for an additional five to eight minutes or until the meat has reach the desired level of doneness.