Suggestions on 1st leg of lamb

twothphry · Jul 2, 2010

'm planning on firing up my MES for the holidays. The wife bought a nice leg of lamb at the local farmer's market and suggested I smoke it. Never done lamb before so I'm looking for suggestions for a rub and also on how to smoke it. Any and all help would be appreciated.

justpassingthru · Jul 2, 2010

Lamb, YES!

Here is how I smoke them, I pierce them with a filleting knife 3/4 inch deep and insert thin slices of 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic, season with salt and pepper, then lay fresh rosemary and thym on it, wrap the leg in plastic wrap and place in fridge for overnight.

I smoke them at 215°-220° until they reach an internal temp of 138° pull it and wrap in foil and let it rest for an hour in a cooler. This gives me different slices of meat from medium rare to medium well, they take about 2 hours to cook.

Ronp taught me to place an aluminum pan with 3 cups of beef boullion and onion slices to catch the juices for an au jus, after the smoke I pour the au jus into a bowl and hit it with my immersion blender, strain it and pour the au jus over the lamb, a mint sauce using fresh mint is a good compliment.

I hope this helps and enjoy your lamb,

Gene

ronp · Jul 2, 2010

JustPassingThru said:
Lamb, YES!

Here is how I smoke them, I pierce them with a filleting knife 3/4 inch deep and insert thin slices of 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic, season with salt and pepper, then lay fresh rosemary and thym on it, wrap the leg in plastic wrap and place in fridge for overnight.

I smoke them at 215°-220° until they reach an internal temp of 138° pull it and wrap in foil and let it rest for an hour in a cooler. This gives me different slices of meat from medium rare to medium well, they take about 2 hours to cook.

Ronp taught me to place an aluminum pan with 3 cups of beef boullion and onion slices to catch the juices for an au jus, after the smoke I pour the au jus into a bowl and hit it with my immersion blender, strain it and pour the au jus over the lamb, a mint sauce using fresh mint is a good compliment.

I hope this helps and enjoy your lamb,

Gene

You were a good learner Gene! Right on.

mballi3011 · Jul 3, 2010

It sounds like Gene has given you some good advise on your lamb.

venture · Jul 3, 2010

That sounds like a great method! You can never go wrong with garlic and rosemary for lamb. Also, wine or lemon juice depending on the direction you are heading. I like the addition of some thyme on this one. Very interesting.

twothphry · Jul 6, 2010

I followed your suggestions to a tee. The lamb came out so tender it was like butter. It almost melted in your mouth. I did exactly as Passin Through and RonP suggested. I pierced the meat and poke garlic into the holes. We had a Greek rub from the market that we used along with fresh Rosemary. Sooooo tasty.

We gave some of the meat to friends for dinner. About an hour later I got a call that said I should quit my day job as a dentist and open a BBQ joint. The friends said they never have had lamb so delicious and tender as what we gave them. Sorry I dindn't take pictures but pictures wouldn't show tenderness and flavor. The lamb was just as good the next day when we made sandwiches.

justpassingthru · Jul 6, 2010

Congratulations on your first leg of lamb, we're glad to be of help, that's what makes this board so awesome.

Pops said that any temp over 212° is technically boiling the moisture in the meat, I took that to heart and lowered my cooking temps and now you too testify as to how tender the results are.

Now that you have a leg of lamb under your belt you might want to think about smoking some veal, it's good too.

Gene

twothphry · Jul 6, 2010

Every Saturday, during the summer, we visit the local Farmer's market. We've made friends with a local rancher who sells meat every week. Her meats are all grass fed, free range. What ever she has in we've been buying so we never know what we'll be buying, except that it is so tender and tasty.

When I first tasted the lamb I thought Hannah's lamb is so tender and tasty. Then my wife said that lamb came from Safeway. That's when I knew it had to be the smoking and how it was prepared not the meat itself.

I'm a newbie at smoking but so far we've had the best beef ribs, pork ribs, smoked chicken and salmon. Each time I've used a recipe that I've garnered from the Board. You guys have made me look like a smoking genius. Keep up the good work!

venture · Jul 6, 2010

Good job! Glad to hear you are making lamb converts out there. I think lamb is a nearly forgotten meat in this country. A shame. Such good meat, and we have some very good lamb growers, but very little demand.

peixegato · Jul 23, 2010

twothphry said:
Every Saturday, during the summer, we visit the local Farmer's market. We've made friends with a local rancher who sells meat every week. Her meats are all grass fed, free range. What ever she has in we've been buying so we never know what we'll be buying, except that it is so tender and tasty.

When I first tasted the lamb I thought Hannah's lamb is so tender and tasty. Then my wife said that lamb came from Safeway. That's when I knew it had to be the smoking and how it was prepared not the meat itself.

I'm a newbie at smoking but so far we've had the best beef ribs, pork ribs, smoked chicken and salmon. Each time I've used a recipe that I've garnered from the Board. You guys have made me look like a smoking genius. Keep up the good work!

Where in No. Cal? I'm in Berkeley. Gotta love the farmer's market meats. You can get meat the way it used to be done at butcher shops back before I was shopping for meat.

peixegato · Jul 23, 2010

JustPassingThru said:
Ronp taught me to place an aluminum pan with 3 cups of beef boullion and onion slices to catch the juices for an au jus, after the smoke I pour the au jus into a bowl and hit it with my immersion blender, strain it and pour the au jus over the lamb, a mint sauce using fresh mint is a good compliment.

I hope this helps and enjoy your lamb,

Gene

I wonder how it would taste with veal stock instead of beef.

coffee_junkie · Jul 23, 2010

JustPassingThru said:
Lamb, YES!

Here is how I smoke them, I pierce them with a filleting knife 3/4 inch deep and insert thin slices of 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic, season with salt and pepper, then lay fresh rosemary and thym on it, wrap the leg in plastic wrap and place in fridge for overnight.

I smoke them at 215°-220° until they reach an internal temp of 138° pull it and wrap in foil and let it rest for an hour in a cooler. This gives me different slices of meat from medium rare to medium well, they take about 2 hours to cook.

Ronp taught me to place an aluminum pan with 3 cups of beef boullion and onion slices to catch the juices for an au jus, after the smoke I pour the au jus into a bowl and hit it with my immersion blender, strain it and pour the au jus over the lamb, a mint sauce using fresh mint is a good compliment.

I hope this helps and enjoy your lamb,

Gene

I happened to be doing a Leg O Lamb last weekend too, I followed these directions, except I also marinaded in a red wine with some EVOO, Sea Salt, Fresh Rosemary, and CBP over night. It turned out Awesome. The meat was from the local farmers market, grass fed hormone free. I smoked it for my Mother in Laws birthday and they where all impressed. I however do not have too much of a liking for the flavor of lamb, I would rather eat elk or moose, but will smoke another again if SHE wants me too.

Thanks all for the great advice, I would suggest any body else looking to smoke a lamb shank to follow these instructions, you will not be disappointed, it took mine three hours to reach 140* internal temp, Don't forget to rest the meat for at least 30-45 minutes before serving, mine took a nap in a dry cooler for 1.5 hours and it was just fine. Good luck to all, look for my Lamb qview in the future. Smoke on friends!

jerseyhunter · Jul 24, 2010

My wife and I love lamb and always do it on the grill , on the rotisserie . I use the same prep work but will now be putting it in the smoker. As soon as this heat wave passes. Don't know how you guys do it out west, I hate the heat and I'm a roofer. Maybe that's why.LOL.

twothphry · Jul 27, 2010

peixegato said:
Where in No. Cal? I'm in Berkeley. Gotta love the farmer's market meats. You can get meat the way it used to be done at butcher shops back before I was shopping for meat.

We live in Susanville.

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Suggestions on 1st leg of lamb

twothphry

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justpassingthru

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ronp

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

mballi3011

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

venture

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twothphry

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justpassingthru

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twothphry

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venture

Smoking Guru

peixegato

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peixegato

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coffee_junkie

Master of the Pit

jerseyhunter

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twothphry

Newbie

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