Mustard on Lamb???


 
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Davo

TVWBB Super Fan
Hi Folks,
I have some friends coming over for BBQ this Sunday and I kinda promised him I'd do a lamb leg roast on the Performer Grill and do a slow smoking cook-up using local Australian hardwood which is mostly eucalyptus variety that is native here.
I've seen on videos where some folk rub a layer of Mild American yellow mustard on Pork Shoulders(butts) and Beef briskets before the dry rub, so I thought perhaps it may go well with Lamb also.
Has anyone used Mustard on Lamb or would another product be better?
Appreciate any hints and suggestions.

Thanks a million

Davo

Sydney, Australia
 
Mustard is used on meat to help the rub stick. With low/slow cooking it loses its flavor (especially yellow mustard which has little in the way of flavor depth or breadth). There are other ways to help rub stick so it isn't necessary unless you want to use it. If you're looking for a flavor addition you'll want a better mustard than American yellow--you need something that includes brown or black mustard powder. Dijon, or something Dijon-like, would do it but do expect the flavor to mellow substantially during cooking.

I don't make rubs with salt in them. Instead, I salt the meat first, allow it to site several minutes for the salt to draw moisture to the surface, then apply the rub over the now-moist meat. If I want more rub on, I wait a few minutes for the meat to get moist again then apply more; if not, then the meat is good to go after the firat application. Salting first, separately, allows me to use as little or as much rub as I want without affecting salt levels either way, since there is no salt in the rub.

Mustard is fine with lamb (I use it in some sauces for it) but I don't see an advantage to applying mustard to it before cooking. I'd either do the salt/rub thing just mentioned, or I would make the rub with dry ingredients and use fresh garlic, say, mashed in with them, to turn the dry rub into a paste rub.
 
Thanks a million Kev, even for a novice like myself,your method of rubbing in salt first and waiting for the moisture to show on the surface then applying the rub makes perfect sense. I will actually go this way myself and not make the dry rub with salt in it.I do have a tendency to go a bit overboard with salt when i cook and my wife complains that it's too salty so I might knock it down a few pegs. I just like the great crust that a good dry rub makes on the outside of the meat.

I will be cooking this on my Performer low & slow using the Minion method which I've done only once before and it worked a treat.I got about 5-6 hours cooking a 2.2kilo (5lbs)pork shoulder at around 250F but it sometimes spiked up to over 300F and it's very hard to bring down again in a kettle but it'll have to do untill i can afford a WSM.

It will be the first time I've actually cooked lamb on the Weber Kettles as the Mrs doesn't like lamb so I'm usually outvoted but my guests have requested this time so who am I to argue LOL.
 
Salting first, separately, means you can rub as little or as much as you want, imo a huge benefit, because sometimes you want to rub lightly and sometimes you really want to lay it on. The salt level remains unaffected. Though some salt is (generally) necessary for bark creation, one does not nee to go over-the-top with salt for bark-y bark. As long as some salt is present the bark will form well, additional rub (without the salt in it) will only add to the flavor of the crust and its crustiness. Give it a shot.
 
Davo,

if you want something that will still give a mustardy flavo(u)r you could make a rub that includes ground and/or cracked mustard seeds.

If you go the paste/wet rub route you might want to consider a pretty sharp mustard -- I've used sinus-rupturing homemade, as it tends to tone down with cooking -- and that should work as well. Consider tucking in tiny bits of rosemary, too.

Kevin's spot-on regarding the salt-first procedure. The moisture drawn to the surface tends to drag water-soluble flavo(u)rs back into the meat and as such you get a better penetration. Also you control how salty the whole thing is and your wife isn't tempted to sling heavy objects at you.
 
If you really want mustard flavor make a sauce containing it. If you want to include it in a rub you need a lot and the seeds should be of the brown or black variety primarily.

I've never understood the inclusion of small quantities of ground yellow mustard in barbecue rubs. Unless one is using it for color its inclusion makes no sense. Mustard needs pH netrality to activate its pungency. The water that salt draws to the surface is enough to activate mustard's pungency and flavor but the heat of cooking seriously diminishes it, as Joe notes. To get around this one needs a substantial quantity and, as noted, the darker seeds should be used or included as the primary part of the ground mustard mix. Yellow mustard lacks the volatiles which give black and nrown mustards their depth and breadth of flavor.
 
Another thing is that prepared mustards (I should have distinguished between this and mustard seeds, et al.) also tend to lose their sharpness over time, and heat accelerates this.

I generally use mustard seeds in a rub, and usually only when it's something that will be cooked hard and fast. A sauce, or sometimes a final glaze, is a better way to convey mustard flavor. (You'll note mustard-intensive sauces don't call for being simmered, etc.)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">(You'll note mustard-intensive sauces don't call for being simmered, etc </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Precisely.
 
Thanks guys for your help and advice and I've decided to forgo the mustard and do what Kev suggested and salt the lamb first then add a non salted dry rub when the juices start flowing.
Sounds like more a natural process to me.

If i'm not too inebriated during the end of the cook, i'll try and take a few pics of how it ended up.No guarantee though...hope you all understand because knowing my friends,it'll be devoured before i take the lens cap off.

cheers

Davo
 
Hi there Kev & Joe,

Well the Lamb BBQ was successful and better than I expected.

I did what was suggested and salted the lamb first and waited for about 10-15 minutes when i seen some moisture appearing on the outside and so then I applied the rest of the dry rub.

The rub wasn't sophisticated really but used mostly dry herb and seasoning ingredients that are normally associated with Lamb roasts.
I had a store bought lamb seasoning mixture plus I added some Garlic powder,onion powder,a little chilli powder,cracked black pepper.

Ok, the fire was ready in the chimney and heat beads placed on one side of the performer charcoal grate with a pan of water beside it, on with the grill grate and the Lamb placed opposite the coals over the water pan.

The lid temp was around 350F (177C) for about 2 and a half hours untill inside meat temp was 70C foiled it and placed in the oven inside the house at a low temp about 80C untill i needed to carve it. I then topped up some new charcoal beads and cooked a Portuguese Spatchcock chicken, crispy roasted potatoes and pumpkin and some grilled pork ribs.

With my very hungry friends and my wife hangin around,nothing lasted long but i did save some lamb for my work sandwiches for the next 2 days.

Everything tasted great,ribs a lttle dry but the lamb was very moist with a nice smokey taste from the redgum wood I used.


How do i put photos on this forum?

cheers

Davo
 
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