Originally posted by Mike Batsarisakis:
Kevin, Thanks so much for your advice on this one.
Here are some pictures of a successful lamb cook.
Skewering the Lamb
Preparing the Lemons
Tying up the Lamb with Lemons in cavity
Marinating Lamb
More tying with butcher twine
Cooking Lamb and appetizers
Taking Cooked Lamb off Skewer
We did have a chance to marinate the lamb over night in a mixture of olive oil infused with lemon, turkish oregeno from Penzy's, sea salt, and fresh cracked pepper. The lamb was basted using the same ingredients but much less olive oil. The lamb liver was cooked with onions in a cast iron saute pan with the basting liquid plus white wine (unbelievably good). Unfortunately, due to excessive imbibing of intoxicating liquids effecting our judgment and increasing our appetite, we did not take photos of the lamb after carving.
The lamb was about 35 lbs and we cooked it for approximately 5-5 1/2 hours. 3 1/2 bags of Kingsford and 1 bag of lump was used due to very cold weather and very high winds. While the lamb was cooking, a hole in the skin developed due to the lemons being tossed around like a clothes dryer. As a result, most of the lemons fell out or were taken out as they were falling on the hot cools. Accordingly, next time I think that I would skewer all the lemons with a bamboo skewer to allow for less movement within the cavity of the lamb. The lamb reached an internal temperature of 180, which is probably too high but it was not at all dry. In fact, it was the opposite.
Lastly, the lamb was served with tzatziki sauce (thick strained yogurt, minced garlic, sea salt, pepper, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and strained minced cucumber (seeded)).
Tzatziki is the prefect complement for lamb and you really can't have lamb without it.