Leg of Lamb (boneless) Success!

[Indy]

I was looking for a recipe for a 5 1/2 pound boneless New Zealand Leg of Lamb that I had bought at Costco or Sam's Club, I don't remember which. I checked the forum, and came up with a tip or two, and I also checked Jamison's S&S for recipes. I also checked a third source and it was one of Wolfgang Puck's cookbooks (yep, the Hollywood guy). In a nutshell, I combined the tips, and a couple of different recipes and came up with something that was the best lamb either myself, my wife or some friends that we had over for dinner, had ever had. What I did is the following:

Marinade:
1 Cup Olive Oil
10 Cloves of Garlic Chopped(I use the preshelled kind from Sam's Club)
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Cup Apple Cider (Old Wolfgang recommends Pomegranate juice, but said to use cider as a backup if you don't have a bunch of pomegranate juice drinking liberals running around loose in your city and thus you can't find it at the store!)
3 Tablespoons of Sea Salt
A few shakes of ground pepper

Mix the above ingredients together and rub it into the leg of lamb, including using a baster to get the marinade into the cavities, but don't cut the string holding the roast together. Place the lamb in a gallon size ziplock bag, or equivalent, pour in the rest of the marinade and throw it in the fridge at least overnight.

The next day, pre-heat the smoker to about 200 degrees, and put in 2 hours of pecan and 1 hour apple pucks. Take the lamb out of the bag and put it, with the marinade particles still stuck to it, into the smoker and smoke the lamb until the internal temp is 140 degrees (about 3 - 3 1/2 hours).

Note: I put a round metal cake pan (like the kind you'd use two of to make a birthday cake) under the lamb to catch drippings for gravy, and it worked like a charm. I put the lamb on the second rack space from the top, and put the pan 2 rack spaces down. The flow of the smoke did not seem to be affected in the least.

When the temp hit 140 degrees, I took the lamb out, took it off the rack, and dutifully wrapped it in foil, then a towel, and put it in a cooler. (I actually put the whole thing in the microwave, <b>not</b> while it's running of course, it works just like a cooler).

I took the drippings from the pan in the smoker and put them in a sauce pan, added chopped onions and cooked until they were soft, added a bit of milk with corn starch in it to make a gravy.

When I served the lamb it honestly was the best any of us had ever had, and I've cooked lamb more than a few times! I served the gravy too, and it was also a hit as it had a perfect (not too strong) smokey flavor.

Good luck with this if you try it, and let me know if anyone has any suggestions for variations.

Indy

[manxman]

Hi Indy,

Thanks for this recipe, lamb is a favourite of mine and I am always on the lookout for different things to try.

This is next on the list![:D]

Manxman.

[Indy]

I hope that you like it as much as we did. My wife said that this was her favorite thing that I've ever smoked on the bradley, and we use it quite a bit. The meat was so good by itself, that we never even used the drippings that I went to so much trouble to collect!

Enjoy, and happy smoking in the UK

Indy

[JJC]

Thanks for the ideas, Indy--smoked lamb is definitely high on my list to try now!

John
Newton MA

[Chez Bubba]

SMOKED LAMB ROCKS!!![:p]

Just make sure you get a good cut with minimal fat, or trim it. That's where the flavor comes from that people that don't like lamb have decided that they don't like lamb. Bacon drip it to keep it moist & "It's a mouf full a joy"![;)]

I highly recommend you give it a go. You can also temper the gaminess with some chiles.[:p][:p]

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[seabjorn]

Yo Indy,
Thanks for the heads up on the lamb, will definitely try it.  I am new to the BS world and any help/advice like you have given is really appreciated.  Will let you know how it works out.
Seabjorn

[psdubl07]

A-Ha!  I thought we might hear from Seabjorn soon.
Now you all listen to me and be nice to Seabjorn.  He is a wonderful cook who will add value to the already awesome info on this board.

OK....he's also my cousin.  [:D]

[Oldman]

I'm not a lamb eater, but I'm glad it all was good for you~~ [:D]

Olds

[Brabus]

Hot dang... I love lamb and this sounds like a great recipe!! I like how you used to more "fruity" smoke chips. I think that's a good balance in the flavor. I'm going to try that next week! I'll let you know how it goes :)

[Indy]

You won't be dissappointed. Be sure to keep an eye on the internal temperature. 140 degrees is just about right, and then foil, towel, cooler (or microwave -turned off of course) worked great for me.

Those New Zealand Boneless Legs of Lamb that they sell at Costco and Sam's Club are perfect and very easy to work with.

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

Indy

[KARENCOOKS]

Reviving this with an additional question, how long in the cooler (micro)? Have a 4 lb bonless marinating for smoking tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

[Jezziebella]

Hey!
   We drink pomegranate juice and we're not liberals.  If you've never tried it thought it's kind of thick and really tangy. (Great for margaritas or martinis)  Has anybody tried it in a marinade?  I think it's often used in Moroccan cooking.   :-*

[KARENCOOKS]

Jezziebella, I use Pomegranite molasas in marinades and salad dressings. Its a little thicker and perhaps a little more tart than pom juice. Adds a great dimension to anything you put it in.

[KARENCOOKS]

Well, this turned out absolutley terrific! Used pom molasas instead of the cider because its what I had, smoked for about 4 hrs until 140 internal, wrapped in foil in 150 deg oven for additional 2 hrs. It was perfect medium to med rare, very juicy and tasted fantastic. Leftovers going on soft buns with some aioli and cambazola cheese, mmmmmm

[car54]

I also did a boneless leg this way on Sunday using the pomegranate juice.
I only did 2 hours of smoke because I did not want to over power the lamb taste. Cooked to 140 and FTCed for 20 minutes while the corn on the cob was cooking on the grill. It turned out a nice pink color, juicy and very good. I had it for left overs the next day and I think it was better. It seems to be a nice blend of smoke a lamb flavor, it seemed to compliment each other. I will be making it again.

This is the 1st smoke that I have done in a month due to a very busy work schedule. In a week I plan on smoking about 40 lbs of pork butt for all the people at work.

Brad