whole lamb rotisserie

[D Mirza]

I'm going to rotisserie a 40 lb lamb this weekend and have a few questions. I would like to cook the lamb medium rare but I'm not sure what internal temperature needs to be. I would think 135 would be good but a lot of sites are saying 145 which seems a little high to me. Any advice?

I plan on it taking about 5 hours to cook.

 

[Marc]

Can't wait for the pictures!

 

[Dave/G]

In the reference articles in the cooking section, Chris A says, for a lamb roast, medium rare is 130 and medium is 140.

 

[Geir Widar]

If people are afraid of pink meat, 160 degrees. If not, and with a jucier meat as a result, 150 degrees.

Remember that the temps will rise during resting, these are temps that you'll want after a rest. I usually foil.
I'd pull the lamb when the temps are between 130 and 150 degrees, but this varies a bit with the temperature you are using when grilling the lamb.

 

[D Mirza]

mps that you'll want after a rest. I usually foil.
I'd pull the lamb when the temps are between 130 and 150 degrees, but this varies a bit with the

I do like the meat pink. I think what I will do is take out the coals at 130 and let the meat spin on the rotisserie without coals for 1/2 hour to rest.

 

[Stuart S]

The difficulty with roasting a whole lamb is that it won't cook evenly...I hate to say it, but you either have to hack the chunks that cook faster (like the ribs and loin area) off first, or cook your thickest cuts (whole legs and shoulders) until desired temp and hope the other parts aren't over done.

I had a customer, and friend, from Greece years ago who used to cook a whole lamb in his backyard for just about every celebration you could think of and watching him tend to the lamb and take the cooked parts off at the right time so they were perfectly done was like watching a surgeon. He passed away years ago, but I will never forget the first taste of that lamb as it came off...and I've never had anything that comes close to it since.

 

[D Mirza]

I might be ok with parts cooking faster than others since the people coming to the party all like their meat done to varying degrees of doneness. Maybe if I shoot for 130 in the butt and shoulders the meat would range from well done to medium rare and everybody can be happy. Fingers crossed, it's my first whole beast rotisserie.