Anyone smoking lamb for Easter? I've never smoked lamb but I'm thinking about doing shanks, and maybe a rack or two. Found a few interesting recipes on the web.

Never smoked lamb. Let us know how it turns out.

I did a Greek smoked lamb "fatty" once out of ground lamb; obviously, it's not the same as what you're planning, but the Greek flavour profle is perfect for Easter, and you might get some ideas here:

http://foodsoftheworld.activeb...-fatty_topic105.html

Also, here's a barbecued Greek leg of lamb that a friend did once:

http://foodsoftheworld.activeb...-lamb_topic2401.html

Hope this helps ~

I did a lamb leg for Easter two years ago. Marinated it 24 hours in rosemary, wine vinegar, olive oil and garlic, as well as inserting garlic slivers in the meat.

It was OK, but nothing to rave about. The strong flavour of the lamb didn't pick up the smoke flavour very well.

In the end, roasting it would have accomplished the same thing. If I do lamb leg again I'll probably bbq it over charcoal.

WB

Sounds like you did everything you could. I'm going to buttermilk brine the shanks overnight, use a good rub, and hope for the best.

tas

I like following your tracks. Your instructions / photos are so detailed that it instills confidence from the get-go.

Something that concerns me about the shanks is that various recipes I found call for a finished internal temperature from 155 to 200 for medium-rare. That is a Hell of a range. For a rack the temps are in a tighter range of 135 to 155. I'm going to shoot for the middle in both cases, and being particularly careful with the rack.

My Argentine son-in-law is just going to have to tough-it-out. He always wants his meat cooked very-well-done. That's not happening with this meal.

Things have gotten off to a bad start. I made a buttermilk brine, placed the shanks and rack in two foil roasting pans, covered them with the brine mix and foil, and placed them in the refrigerator. My wife and I went to the movie, came back and checked on my concoction. Found both roasting pans had leaks, and had covered all shelves, drawers, and refrigerator contents with a buttermilk brine mixture.

I retired to the other end of the house and allowed my wife to vent her frustration and clean the refrigerator to her high standards.

Things have got to improve or I'M dead meat.

The Easter lamb turned-out well. I thought I was going to have a five hour cook on the shanks at 200 to 225. Instead they hit 180+ in four hours.

The color was great after 2 1/2 hours. They spent the last 1 1/2 wrapped in foil on the smoker. My wife made gravy from the drippings. The shanks were not quite fall-off-the bone tender, but tender. The flavor was excellent. No wild or lamb "whang" at all. I don't know whether to attribute that to the buttermilk brine, or the sweet (rib) rub that I covered them with overnight.

The lamb rack was only a disappointment because there is so little meat on those little devils. They must be the most expensive meat per pound in the market. (Whole Foods had a great selection of lamb cuts.)

I thought the rack would take 1 1/2 hours at the above mentioned temperature for medium rare. That proved to be exactly true. It hit 140 in 1 1/2 hours. I wrapped them in foil and put them back on the smoker to 150. They were a perfect med-rare to medium, pink in the middle, and very tender. Even the Argentine son-in-law liked them. My wife made a black-cherry-balsamic sauce for the rack of lamb.

My wife wants me to try a leg of lamb next time. (I haven't given it enough thought yet. The big decision I guess would be whether to do a bone-in, or bone-out leg.)

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:

I retired to the other end of the house and allowed my wife to vent her frustration and clean the refrigerator to her high standards.

Things have got to improve or I'M dead meat.

I feel your pain. The cats and I go into hiding during times like this.

In-laws are Greek and owned a restaurant forever. Nuff said (the roasted whole fresh lamb is spectacular).

My wife curries the leftovers.

Back in Brooklyn when we wanted lamb we went to the Greek store as their lamb was better quality.
Mix fresh rosemary and chopped garlic with lard and rub over the roast. Not too hard to take !

I feel your pain , sir . Lamb is one of the finest of meats if prepared correctly - but it is not remotely suited to smoking. Too much fat.

New Zealanders eat vast amounts of lamb ( or more appropriately mutton , which is older than a year ) , and no-one ever smokes it here. Has to be a reason for that ......