Smoked Lamb

I don’t get to cook lamb very often. So, when I do, it’s a gift. And this lamb was literally a gift, or at least half of it which was to be carved off for a good friend.

When buying boneless lamb, it arrives in a fishnet. This net holds it together because removing the bone is not an easy chore. But, it has its advantages.

Remove the netting and the roast essentially fell apart. Which was a good thing. It allowed me to apply rub into all those internal crevices.

The rub was homemade. Ellen grabbed fresh thyme and rosemary from her garden that morning. Using 2 parts rosemary to 1 part thyme and adding equal proportions of sea salt and pepper along with minced garlic created an awesome rub that was applied to both the inside and outside of the roast. Olive oil was used as a binder. The inside is shown below after which I tied it back up as best I could. Got it as tight as possible for even cooking.

I used the medium egg for this cook. I initially set the temp to 240, using the Flameboss for temperature control. I confess, I love this thing.

I started the cook around 2 PM. Pecan was the wood of choice for smoke. Not too heavy, but enough to compete with the lamb flavor.

Next, I created a baste using the same rub combining it with 2 parts red wine vinegar and 1 part cooking oil. I basted about every 45 minutes or so. Photo below is about 1 hour into the cook.

As is typical, the meat temperature starts increasing pretty quickly. Which, after 90 minutes made me nervous enough to drop the temperature from 240 to 230, very easy on my phone with the app. 30 minutes later I dropped it again to 220 where it remained.

After three hours, I pulled it when the internal temp reached 135. It was a little before dinner, so it was wrapped with foil and then a blanket. No cooler this time – it was just a short time before eating.

As the lamb rested, Ellen prepared mushroom risotto using, dare I say it, an instant pot device. Dare I say it, it turned out friggin’ awesome.

The roast warmed up to a medium rare, appropriate for lamb.

While I typically do not show whole meal photos, this meal deserved one. The lamb, risotto, arugula salad and cheddar biscuit were all excellent. Not shown is a glass of cabernet which Ellen returned with after dropping off the other half of this lamb to my friend. So, dry January was put off by one day. Oh well……

This is on the books for a repeat. Period. It was awesome. The rub came through beautifully as did the smoke flavor.