Phillip Hume's colleague found the pants-packing method was not the most efficient way of stealing lamb from the Balclutha freezing works they were supposed to be cleaning.
After a couple of trips with the frozen, export-quality goods hidden ''on his person'', he and Hume found a better way.
The pair put their work aprons on the ground and loaded them with cartons of the meat, before wrapping them up and taking them to the car.
By the end of their shift on June 3, Hume (21) and his mate had 46kg of stolen lamb - worth more than $1700 - in the vehicle.
When police went to the flat the men shared, they found $1114 of the meat, ''with the remainder being consumed in a social gathering'', a summary said.
Defence counsel David McCaskill said his client ''just went along with what was happening'' and had lost his job as a cleaner when his employer found out what had happened.
''He is a young man. He's easily led and it seems there's still some maturing to do,'' Mr McCaskill said.
Since the incident, Hume had moved to his parents' home in Cromwell and had found a new job.
Judge Dominic Flatley called the offending ''relatively unsophisticated'' but noted the defendant had a relevant previous conviction.
Hume was sentenced to home detention for receiving stolen goods in 2014, the court heard.
He had numerous convictions for breaching sentences of community work too, which Judge Flatley said made that sentencing option inappropriate.
He sentenced Hume to four months' community detention with a 7pm-6am curfew, seven days a week.
The defendant was ordered to repay $590 for the lamb that was eaten.
His 22-year-old co-defendant has been offered diversion by police and is scheduled to be back before the court next year.
