I have half a lamb in the fridge, and am about to start this weekend's experiment in smoking.
I have purchased lamb carcass from the halal guys before, but in the past, I've braised the ribs and shank for a stew/curry and only smoked the leg. The halal guys usually sell stuff that's yearling at best, mutton at worst, as lamb, which I like just fine. mutton leg takes to a long slow smoke better than lean lamb.
This time, I got a tiny little thing that looks like real lamb. It was the only one that they had. half the carcass didn't even make 9 pounds. In the past, when I've done grocery store lamb, even for bone-in, I've jacked the temperature up to around 300 and didn't really BBQ it so much as grill with some wood smoke.
I'm determined to put at least 10 hours of smoke on this one. I wasn't planning on brining, but with it being so lean, I'm going to do that, then wrap it in bacon for extra external fat.
I had them cut it into leg, ribs, and shank. I'm tempted to put the shank into the crockpot and make up some curried lentils as a side dish. I have this lamb and beef stock in the freezer.
If I don't do the lentils thing, I'll smoke the shank with bacon wrap for 4 hours or so, and I'm thinking the ribs will need 8. I'm looking into ways to trim. I'm going to go with Alder wood and a garlic oil marinade after taking them out of brine.
Since this all is for the superbowl, that means an early morning or late night.
I have purchased lamb carcass from the halal guys before, but in the past, I've braised the ribs and shank for a stew/curry and only smoked the leg. The halal guys usually sell stuff that's yearling at best, mutton at worst, as lamb, which I like just fine. mutton leg takes to a long slow smoke better than lean lamb.
This time, I got a tiny little thing that looks like real lamb. It was the only one that they had. half the carcass didn't even make 9 pounds. In the past, when I've done grocery store lamb, even for bone-in, I've jacked the temperature up to around 300 and didn't really BBQ it so much as grill with some wood smoke.
I'm determined to put at least 10 hours of smoke on this one. I wasn't planning on brining, but with it being so lean, I'm going to do that, then wrap it in bacon for extra external fat.
I had them cut it into leg, ribs, and shank. I'm tempted to put the shank into the crockpot and make up some curried lentils as a side dish. I have this lamb and beef stock in the freezer.
If I don't do the lentils thing, I'll smoke the shank with bacon wrap for 4 hours or so, and I'm thinking the ribs will need 8. I'm looking into ways to trim. I'm going to go with Alder wood and a garlic oil marinade after taking them out of brine.
Since this all is for the superbowl, that means an early morning or late night.