Here is the recipe from Malcom Reed that I've done a couple of times. Latest smoking note at the bottom. Both tries were quite successful.
Smoked Leg of Lamb - boneless
Recipe By: Killer Hogs - Malcom Reed
Serving Size: 6
Ingredients:
- 5 lbs leg of lamb, boneless
- 1 Tablespoon Thyme, fresh finely chopped
- 2 Tablespoons Rosemary, fresh finely chopped
- 4-5 clove Garlic Cloves, Chopped, minced
- 2 Tablespoons Course Sea Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Course Ground Black Pepper
- - - -
Mopping Sauce
- 1 cup Red Wine Vinegar
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Course Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Rosemary, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Thyme, chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic Cloves, Chopped, minced
Directions:
1. Once you remove the lamb from the packaging & netting, rinse it under cool water and blot dry with paper towel. Lay it out on a large platter or cutting board and brush the entire outside with Olive Oil. Liberally sprinkle the salt and pepper on all sides. With boneless cuts you can really get access to a lot of meat surface. This allows more areas to build flavor with the seasonings. If you’re doing a bone-in leg, you may want to cut slits into the meat, so the flavors can penetrate it. Combine the herbs and garlic in a small bowl and sprinkle over the outside as well. Once again, get as much as you can in the area where the bone was removed. Since the pre-pak netting was removed the roast will spread out, so you’ll need to shape it back into a roast after seasoning. I use 4 pieces of Butcher Twine to tie the leg into the shape of a roast. This will help it cook evenly while it’s on the smoker.
2. Once seasoned and shaped, let the leg of lamb hang out in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. This gives the herb mixture time to work on the meat. One hour before placing it on the smoker remove the roast from the refrigerator and let it come to room temp.
3. Fire up the smoker with cherry BBQr’s Delight pellets to 275º. Once at temp add the lamb.
With lamb you want to use a mild wood. Anything in the fruit family will work just fine, but be careful with harsher woods like hickory or oak. They can easily overpower the lamb and give it a foul taste. Remember you want the lamb flavor to be the star not the wood. Flavors used here accent the natural taste of the meat.
4. Baste every 45-60 min with mop to keep the lamb from drying out during the cooking process,
5. You’ll want to keep a close eye on the internal temperature with lamb. It’s easy to overshoot the target temp. Leg of Lamb is best served med. rare to medium 140-145º.
6. Pull at 140-143º. Should be around 2h:15m.
7. Crucial: let it rest 15 minutes on the cutting board before slicing.
Notes:
12/14/18: Only rested in fridge for 3 hours. OT 48º. Using mix of cherry & apple pellets. Smoker set to 275º. Bone in weight 5.22 lbs. I did de-bone the leg, butterfly, sprayed w/ grape seed oil, seasoned with garlic paste, finely chopped fresh thyme & rosemary plus salt & pepper. Placed in smoker with IT 50º. At 144º IT put under broiler on high ~ 4 min to brown, still other areas showing IT of 134-138º (rolled thickness was not even). Rested 20 min, cut into, a very nice rare to med-rare.
Matt
