Lambtastic
This is lamb weekend. Some folks call it Easter weekend. I’m doing two legs of lamb - right leg and left leg. Both are about 4.7 lbs, $5.99 per pound. Today, Saturday, I’m going to smoke one based on this recipe, and tomorrow I’m going to Sous Vide one based on the same recipe I’ve used in the past. Sarah likes meat more well-done than I do, and with lamb I don’t mind that much, so my target is medium-well.
1520 Saturday: late start on marinading the lamb for the smoker.
1600: putting the lamb on at 250℉, aiming for internal temperature of 160-165℉.
1700: internal temperature is 76℉.
1800: internal temperature is 126℉. I’d really like to eat around 1900, so I’m going to crank the temperature up to 275℉ to keep this party going.
1900: temperature is at 157℉, we’re gonna make it!
1930: took the lamb off the smoker, it was at 167℉.
The result was great, the lamb was nice and smoky. It was well done, and Sarah thought that was perfect. Not the best lamb I’ve had, I thought the crust was not quite the perfect complement to the lamb and the smoke, but I’d still definitely make this again, I liked it a lot.
With the sous vide one, I used the same recipe as previously, but forgot to not add extra salt with the olives. Oh well.
1330 Sunday: meat is prepped and immersed, sous vide set to 165℉ to get a doneness that Sarah likes, like the smoked meat. I’ve set it for 10 hours, but it won’t take that long. We plan to go for a motorcycle ride and then come back. It should be done any time between 3 and 6 hours from now.
1900: took out the lamb and dropped it in a hot cast iron skillet for a few minutes, rotating it regularly. Quite a bit of water got into the bag, so I had to reduce the sauce for a good 20 minutes. No problem.
I actually liked the sous vide version a little better, Sarah preferred the smoked. I think she got a cool rubbery piece of lamb by the time she tasted the sous vide version. I warned her to heat it up, but no dice. I thought the smoked version might be better if I chose a different coating for the outside. Next time I sous vide the lamb I should take it out earlier, and use a bag that won’t get water in it.