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Lamb Lessons Learned

HeSmellsLikeSmoke

HeSmellsLikeSmoke

somebody shut me the fark up.
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I de-boned and butterflied a nice leg of lamb yesterday. First time for that as well as tying with butcher's string. All that went well.

I lightly smoked it somewhat like the "Thrill of the Grill" grilling recipe. It was rubbed with kosher salt, black pepper, garlic, sage, basil, and rosemary. I used use the TRex method of searing very hot at first, then take it off to rest while I cool down the egg, then planned to put it back on until it hit 140 internal at 250 degrees. Ended up taking it off at 145 or so.

Here it is on the BGE with the uncut side up on direct heat -- I should have left more fat on and cooked it cut side up so the juices would have been retained better.
LambOntheBGE.jpg


After Resting for 20 minutes
LambAfterResting.jpg


Sliced -- Notice that it was overcooked. It cooked to 145 in 2 1/2 hours which was about an hour earlier than I had calculated.
LambSliced.jpg


Braised winter veggies -- also over-cooked. :frown:
WInterVeggies.jpg


The flavor was excellent and the smell while cooking was out of this world.
Unfortunately, I had dinner guests and had to try to slow down the cook and hold it until they arrived.

I will do this again soon, cook with more fat, with the uncut side down and serve it when it is more rare.
 
All said and done it looks great and as you stated it tasted great as well. Next time it will even be better. Great Eats!
 
I take mine off at 137 then let rest. Like it was said next time you'll nail it. Does look good though and I'm sure it was. Lamb is our favorite around here.
 
It looks good, that timing thing is the trick, first time cooks always have that element of the unkown.
 
I personally think this was an excellent cook. Not so much because of the end result, but because of the things you learned. You now have a baseline to work from....

First off, grilling lamb is the best way (in my opinion) to serve it. Now you know the boundaries of doneness on that.

Lamb fat contains flavors, much stronger flavors than fat on other things, so realizing that you trimmed it a little close is a good thing. Leaving too much fat on can be overwhelming, so watch that too. Certain cuts, or older lamb have stronger fat. The most important thing is that you liked the flavor. Too many folks try to hide it.

Your seasonings are the same that I use. I do oil the meat before adding them. And I go heavy on garlic, even so far as studding it with slivers of garlic.

Since you are very close to the perfect lamb, I don't want to mention marinades, and I would recommend you stay off those for your next couple of cooks. Work with pulling the natural flavors out and enhancing them with a basic foundation of seasonings.
 
I've got to concur with Thirdeye. Being able to recognize what mistakes you made is what it's all about.
 
last time I had lamb it just knocked my socks off and I dream about it almost everynight and now this...chit, I gots to get me some mo lamb.
 
thirdeye said:
I personally think this was an excellent cook. Not so much because of the end result, but because of the things you learned. You now have a baseline to work from....

First off, grilling lamb is the best way (in my opinion) to serve it. Now you know the boundaries of doneness on that.

Lamb fat contains flavors, much stronger flavors than fat on other things, so realizing that you trimmed it a little close is a good thing. Leaving too much fat on can be overwhelming, so watch that too. Certain cuts, or older lamb have stronger fat. The most important thing is that you liked the flavor. Too many folks try to hide it.

Your seasonings are the same that I use. I do oil the meat before adding them. And I go heavy on garlic, even so far as studding it with slivers of garlic.

Since you are very close to the perfect lamb, I don't want to mention marinades, and I would recommend you stay off those for your next couple of cooks. Work with pulling the natural flavors out and enhancing them with a basic foundation of seasonings.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Wayne - very helpful.
 
I cook a LOT of lamb on my offset smoker. We've got a LOT of lamb Downunder.

My advice for getting a good strong gamey flavour.... ask your butcher for older lamb if he can get it...something 2-4 years old, which we call Mutton, not lamb.

Do a light marinade overnight with a dry white wine, rosemary, garlic, oregano, lemon etc. When putting on the smoker, season with Celery Salt and Pepper... nothing else. Cook it slow at 200 / 225 for 4 hours nearly foiled the whole time to avoid too much smoke, then you whack it in your inside oven for 20 mins on a high temp to get some colour / crispiness up. Let it rest and serve with the reduced marinade as a sauce... Oh, this would be for a Large Lamb leg and saddle, bone in.

If you have not tried just a plain celery salt seasoning, I recommend you do this as soon as possible. You'll be amazed by the resulting flavour.

Delicious.
 
SmokinAussie said:
I cook a LOT of lamb on my offset smoker. We've got a LOT of lamb Downunder.

My advice for getting a good strong gamey flavour.... ask your butcher for older lamb if he can get it...something 2-4 years old, which we call Mutton, not lamb.

Do a light marinade overnight with a dry white wine, rosemary, garlic, oregano, lemon etc. When putting on the smoker, season with Celery Salt and Pepper... nothing else. Cook it slow at 200 / 225 for 4 hours nearly foiled the whole time to avoid too much smoke, then you whack it in your inside oven for 20 mins on a high temp to get some colour / crispiness up. Let it rest and serve with the reduced marinade as a sauce... Oh, this would be for a Large Lamb leg and saddle, bone in.

If you have not tried just a plain celery salt seasoning, I recommend you do this as soon as possible. You'll be amazed by the resulting flavour.

Delicious.[/QUOT

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Even though I used to live in Perth, I never found out any good Aussie lamb cooking secrets.
Click to expand...
 
HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us. Even though I used to live in Perth, I never found out any good Aussie lamb cooking secrets.
Click to expand...
Perth.... there's your problem. :)
There are no secrets with lamb, the classic leg given a rub with EVOO and good dose of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, then studded with garlic slivers and rosemary leaves cooked to medium is common knowledge and probably the best of the lot.
I did a leg the other night smoked with peach and plum, cooked on a weber with a slow start and finishing at almost 400F over about 3 hrs and that was a treat too.
 
justjack said:
Perth.... there's your problem. :)
There are no secrets with lamb, the classic leg given a rub with EVOO and good dose of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, then studded with garlic slivers and rosemary leaves cooked to medium is common knowledge and probably the best of the lot.
I did a leg the other night smoked with peach and plum, cooked on a weber with a slow start and finishing at almost 400F over about 3 hrs and that was a treat too.
Click to expand...

Did you cook it with bone in? What temp at the start? How long at hight heat at the finish?
 
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