Late Lamb
I was ready for lamb at Easter, but we’re a couple days past that now. It really snuck up on me, so the lamb was still frozen day-of. Well, we’ll make it today. I’m using a recipe similar to last time (recipe here), because after writing that post I realized the smoked lamb was really fantastic. Maybe it just needed some time in the fridge, but it was really fantastic later. I ended up greatly preferring the smoked lamb to the sous-vide.
Well, this time I’ve got a 4.5 lbs lamb leg. Here’s what I threw in my food processor substitute (a bullet blender) before slathering it on the lamb and putting in the fridge for an hour:
- 8-ish cloves of garlic, the more the merrier
- 4-ish Tbsp sea salt (just under, actually)
- 2-ish Tbsp black pepper
- 1.5 tsp oregano (Sarah doesn’t love how much oregano I put in things, so I’m using way less than I might otherwise here)
- 2 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp rosemary
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
Last time, if there was something I didn’t love it was the crust. By cutting back on oregano and adding small amounts of some other interesting things I hope to change it, and make it closer to a more traditional smoker rub.
1300: Meat is slathered and in the fridge.
1400: Lamb is on the smoker at 250℉, going for internal temperature between 160-165℉.
1700: Lamb is at 140℉, already good to eat… Sarah likes it more well-done, so I cranked the temperature to 275℉ to speed things up a bit.
1750: I pulled the lamb off at 161℉, and let it rest.
I went for a short jog with the dog and sliced up the meat when we came back. The lamb was fantastic. Perfectly juicy, tender, and tasty. The outside was a little too salty for Sarah, but I thought it was a perfect saltiness for the outside. Next time I’ll probably tone the salt down a bit though for her.