# Smoked Marinated Boneless Leg of Lamb



## snorkelinggirl

Hi folks,

I have some bone-in legs of lamb in the freezer, that were cut in half by the butcher to make them a better size for my 2-person household. I normally roast these bone-in, but for fun decided to debone it and turn it into a smoked marinated boneless leg roast.

Unfortunately the half leg of lamb I pulled out of the freezer was the upper half, and it included the aitch bone. This was bit of a bugger to bone out, but it made it easier that I have a semi-flexible boning knife. See!  I _knew_ it would someday pay off to buy that knife.

Here is the deboned half roast. The roast was about 2 1/2 lbs after the bone was removed.  I threw the bone into a freezer bag and into the freezer; it will be used for stock at a later date. I could have done a better job around the aitch bone, but what the heck, it was my first time.  I always make a mess when I carve a bone-in lamb roast too.













IMG205.jpg



__ snorkelinggirl
__ Apr 14, 2013






I made up a marinade of red wine, EVOO, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and kosher salt.  I think next time I might throw some lemon zest in there too to brighten it up a bit.













IMG216.jpg



__ snorkelinggirl
__ Apr 14, 2013






I left the lamb in its butterflied state to marinate for about 6 hours.













IMG217.jpg



__ snorkelinggirl
__ Apr 14, 2013






After 6 hours I pulled it out of the marinade, patted it dry, and reformed it into a vaguely roast-like shape, with the ends tucked in as well as possible. I'm not the best at tying a roast, but it got the job done.  I let it rest in the refrigerator overnight.













IMG219.jpg



__ snorkelinggirl
__ Apr 14, 2013






This morning I smoked it at 225-250 deg using oak pellets in the AMNPS. I took it to an IT of 135 deg F, which only took about 2 1/2 hours.  I covered it in foil, and let it rest for about an hour before removing the butcher twine and slicing. Here it is after the twine was removed. It held together surprisingly well.













IMG224.jpg



__ snorkelinggirl
__ Apr 14, 2013






It sliced like a dream, holding together really well considering the hatchet job I did on it while deboning. Smoke taste was really good. Oak is becoming my favorite wood. It seems like a great all-purpose wood for a smooth strongish smoke taste, and you can sweeten it up with some fruit wood if you want it sweeter. It was great in the tri tip I smoked last week, too.  I like it better than pecan or hickory, at least with beef and lamb.













IMG226.jpg



__ snorkelinggirl
__ Apr 14, 2013


















IMG229.jpg



__ snorkelinggirl
__ Apr 14, 2013






So there it is!  A fun new way for me to prepare leg of lamb. The lamb came out very tender and juicy with good flavor from the marinade and a really good smoke taste. 

Thanks for looking!

Clarissa


----------



## moikel

Love your work
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






.Nice job tying up,looks like it turned out great.


----------



## snorkelinggirl

Thanks, Moikel!  Learning this method of preparation opens up the possibilities on marinades. I'll probably go with a greek or middle-eastern style rub or marinade next time.

Have a great day!

Clarissa


----------



## moikel

Clarissa ,

I posted my recipe for chermoula way back. Sort of a green rub used a lot inTurkish & Morrocan food. Goes very well on lamb on the grill.

If it saves you time looking for it; its equal amounts parsley,cilantro,mint like a bunch each,lemon juice & zest,garlic,then coriander,cumin,paprika,black pepper,salt,chilli  &EVO  all processed together. If you had some preserved lemon all the better.

I just keep the dry spice = so a teaspoon each ,plenty of garlic,chilli up to you.Maybe 2 lemons.

Cant see why it wouldnt work with a leg for the smoker.Good with oily fish or chicken as well.

Good luck with it. MICK


----------



## snorkelinggirl

Moikel said:


> Clarissa ,
> 
> I posted my recipe for chermoula way back. Sort of a green rub used a lot inTurkish & Morrocan food. Goes very well on lamb on the grill.
> 
> If it saves you time looking for it; its equal amounts parsley,cilantro,mint like a bunch each,lemon juice & zest,garlic,then coriander,cumin,paprika,black pepper,salt,chilli  &EVO  all processed together. If you had some preserved lemon all the better.
> 
> I just keep the dry spice = so a teaspoon each ,plenty of garlic,chilli up to you.Maybe 2 lemons.
> 
> Cant see why it wouldnt work with a leg for the smoker.Good with oily fish or chicken as well.
> 
> Good luck with it. MICK


Great!  Thanks for posting this...I'll look up your original post as well. I've been meaning to make some preserved lemon, so this is a good incentive to get that going.

Thanks again, and have a great day!

Clarissa


----------



## 05sprcrw

That looks great I have been trying to decide how to give lamb a try for the first time and I think this will be it.


----------



## snorkelinggirl

05sprcrw said:


> That looks great I have been trying to decide how to give lamb a try for the first time and I think this will be it.


Hi 05,

I think that the deboning (or just buying a bone-less leg of lamb) and then tying up into a roast worked really well. Smoking also worked great. I'm not crazy about the flavor of the marinade, especially today a day later. There are some other recipes for rubs and marinades for lamb here on the forum, and in retrospect I think something a little brighter and more zesty in flavor would have been more fun. Maybe give Moikel's rub (see post above) a try.

Hope it works well for you!

Clarissa


----------



## 05sprcrw

Thanks I will try that rub with this method one of these weekends when I get some time. I am sure I will like lamb just never had it growing up and didn't have the slightest clue how to prepare it.


----------



## lgreenberg

I made this for my mother yesterday.  I had a 5.5 boneless (in netting) leg from Costco.

I tweaked the marinade with A lot of fresh chopped garlic (12 cloves), tons of rosemary, the zest of a lemon, greek extra virgin olive oil, a good amound to salt ,a few good shakes of my rub, half a bottle of decent Zin (I just couldn't find it in my heart to use the pinot noir I was servering for dinner).

I marinated for 24 hours, turning 3 times.  I air dried for 24 hours on a rack.  I tweaked my rub, with 60% rub - 40% herbs de provance (very small leaves, not quite powerder) rubbed in ont moderately and let that rest for 4 hours.

I smoked at 225 for about 3.5 hours, taking it off 10 minutes after it 131 in the dead center.  I used my standard mix of oak and cherry, which (other than almond) what I can get most easily.













IMG_6541.JPG



__ lgreenberg
__ May 11, 2015






It was fantastic and suculent. I'm sorry , the hungry horde kept me from remembering to take a sliced pciture.  It almost made people forget there were ribs and mac and cheese on the table.  almost :)

I will make this again.  Next time I'll make my cilantro-jalpeno chimicurri with a bit of mint as a an accompanyment.


----------



## leah elisheva

Sounds delicious! Cheers! - Leah


----------



## gary s

Nice, Looks good to me.    

Gary


----------



## sandyut

I like this thread!  I was looking for a marinade and a combo of these is what I went with;

Had the butcher bone half a leg of lamb. came out to about 3 lbs which is perfect (just two of us here and I like be sure we run out of left overs before the next weekend so I can cook more new stuff).

Its marinating in;
Zinfandel bout 1.5 cups
EVOO ~1/4 cup
Rosemary 2 T chopped
Thyme -1 T chopped
salt 1.2 t
pepper 1/2 t
lemon zest 1 T + a little more
6 cloves o minced garlic
Smokin it up tomorrow over a cherry/hickory blend in the WSM. Very excited!

I'll let you know how it turns out and attempt to remember to shoot some pics.


----------



## sandyut

I pulled it at 133 degrees and that was perfect!

Here are the pics, in order;

1 & 2 out of marinade and covered with Jeffs Texas rub

3 & 4 off the smoker and jsut about to rest 

5 & 6 plated and center cut view.













IMG_0391(2).JPG



__ sandyut
__ Jun 15, 2015


















IMG_0392(2).JPG



__ sandyut
__ Jun 15, 2015


















IMG_0393(2).JPG



__ sandyut
__ Jun 15, 2015


















IMG_0394(2).JPG



__ sandyut
__ Jun 15, 2015


















IMG_0395(2).JPG



__ sandyut
__ Jun 15, 2015


















IMG_0396(2).JPG



__ sandyut
__ Jun 15, 2015


----------



## mr roos

Lamb is my favorite meat never had it smoked. I gotta try this! Thanks for sharing.


----------



## gary s

I have got to do some Lamb, I really like it  But I am the only one, Have to it and something else for the Wife and grandson

Gaet


----------



## bgosnell151

Mine has a fat cap on it, should I trim it?


----------



## papa t

SnorkelingGirl said:


> Great!  Thanks for posting this...I'll look up your original post as well. I've been meaning to make some preserved lemon, so this is a good incentive to get that going.
> 
> Thanks again, and have a great day!
> Clarissa


----------



## papa t

papa t said:


> [/quote do you leave the rub on for a length of time


----------

