Boned Leg of Lamb

[dajamjar]

Fancied trying out smoking for a while so i picked myself up a ProQ Smoker of eBay recently. I've found my feet a little with three decent sized cuts of pork loin, every one a treat, and now that i have a feel for it i want to get a bit more adventurous.

The good lady has picked up a boned leg of lamb so i am going to give that a shot this weekend and i've got a couple of questions i was hoping you folks could help me out with. Working full time and motorbiking away the few sunny days we get in Scotland i dont expect to get as many days to experiment as i would like.

- for a strong smoked taste of your chosen wood, how much should be used? i've seen measurements ranging from 1 handful to 7 cups for a 3 hour smoke.
- is it best to debone or leave it in?
- if its bone in, would you hang it or lie it on a grill?
- if its bone out, is it necessary to turn larger cuts of meet?
- instinctively i think around 240F should see it ready for the thermometer after about 2.5 hours, aiming for a medium rare so i'll be taking it out around 130F to let it sit, i appreciate its all down to size but is this ballpark?

Thanks in advance and for all the other pieces of information i've gleaned from the forum, one of the other things i am trying out for the first time this weekend is a 36cm teracotta saucer instead of hot water.

Jamie.

[Vic.]

never smoked lamb, but i'd be afraid of oversmoking it. For my taste, I would smoke it for 30 mins-1hr, using the strong woods, like hickery. Then spend the end of your cook flavouring it with something sweet.

as for the bone, I'd take it out if you've looking for a medium rare.

[British BBQ Society]

Hi Jamie, I always leave the bone in wherever possible to allow more consistant cooking. As you are using chips rather than a lump of wood I would throw in a handful at 20 min intervals for the first hour, after this the meat will have been sealed by the cook and will not absorb much more smoke.

For lamb i now stick to a seasoned salt like lowrys, but in a former life I always smoked the leg for an hour or so, then wrapped in foil and smothered in apple and mint jelly, a reall winner.

[mowse73]

HI Jamie. I recently smokeked a curried leg of lamb(with the bone in). I put a couple of chunks of oak in at the begining and 1 more about an hour later and it came out just right for me and the family. It took about 3- 4 hours to cook and was medium rare.
cooking it again this week
Good luck

[dajamjar]

Thanks for the replies, all very helpful.

The lamb didnt go ahead for a few reasons so i went for a large toprump and a couple of chickens instead. Chicken has to be the simplest thing in the planet, can of Caffereys up the jacksie and off you go.

The toprump didnt pan out as intended and i think Dr's comments explain why, i pulled the beef aiming for medium rare and while it wasnt pink it was clearly very rare because you couldnt bite through it. Fresh cut it was brown but when the slices had sat for a few minutes the pink returned with avengance, i take it this is an attribute of the low temp's?

Anyway, I dropped it back into the smoker and pulled it at well done and though very dry its made some mighty tasty sandwiches. Since then i've tested my thermometer in some water on a rolling boil and its about 10 degrees centigrade low, time to invest.

James.

[Chris__M]

A man after my own heart - I've buried many a semi-failure between two pieces of bread with pickles, and found it surprisingly good, especially after night in the fridge. I managed to overcook the very first brisket I tried, but man was it good in sandwiches.

[Vic.]

Thanks for the replies, all very helpful.

The toprump didnt pan out as intended and i think Dr's comments explain why, i pulled the beef aiming for medium rare and while it wasnt pink it was clearly very rare because you couldnt bite through it. Fresh cut it was brown but when the slices had sat for a few minutes the pink returned with avengance, i take it this is an attribute of the low temp's?

Anyway, I dropped it back into the smoker and pulled it at well done and though very dry its made some mighty tasty sandwiches. Since then i've tested my thermometer in some water on a rolling boil and its about 10 degrees centigrade low, time to invest.

James.

To get a medium rare with the bone in is extremely hard, I'd take the bone out when trying for something like that. The blood is going to gather around the bone at those temps and the bone won't heat up at all, its going to turn out a 'blue' cut of meat near the bone