Costco leg of lamb, 4.6 lbs, $5.49 per lb. Slathering it in, per lb:
2 cloves garlic
.25 Tbsp salt (this is a change from the past, when it was too salty)
.25 Tbsp pepper (to match the salt now)
.5 tsp oregano
.5 Tbsp rosemary (my current recipe says .5 tsp but I don't believe it, so I'm trying Tbsp)
.5 tsp thyme
1 Tbsp olive oil
Today I’m smoking brisket, salmon, and lamb. Last night I brined the fish, then got it drying around 10, and started the smoker at 1250. I’ll smoke it until about 1700, then do the lamb to 160℉, then do the brisket overnight. The lamb is 5.7 lbs at $7.99 per lb, brisket 14.2 at $4.99 per lb. Unfortunately the brisket has a ton of fat on it - this was a bad buy. Doing these all at the same time means I only have to clean the smoker once.
We got 4.2 lbs of lamb chops from Costco because they were out of lamb legs. I plan to just try the regular recipe with a little less salt than last time.
Rub is:
8 cloves of garlic
3 Tbsp sea salt
2 Tbsp pepper
1.5 tsp oregano
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp rosemary (from the garden!)
4 Tbsp olive oil
Put it all in the food processor then paint it on the lamb, then put it on the smoker at 275℉ (was supposed to be 250℉ but I screwed up) until it hits 160℉.
I’ll use almost the same setup as last time but .5 Tbsp less salt (only 3.5 Tbsp), I only have 6 cloves of garlic, and I don’t have fresh rosemary so I’m using the dry stuff. Plus, I’m using apple wood.
1120: started smoking!
1420: meat is at 157℉ according to the probe, and Thermapen says that’s my lowest temperature in the meat… Time to come off! Only 3 hours. Now I’m planning to do salmon so I set the temperature to 120℉ and try to cool the smoker off.
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.
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.
Well, I’ve got a couple cooking projects going on today. I’m planning to be home all day, so I’ve started up a lamb leg in the Sous Vide. It’s a 5 lbs New Zealand lamb leg from Costco, all tied up.
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tbsp (actually, a bit more) fresh rosemary
1 tsp pepper (or so)
6 big cloves of garlic
14 Kalmata olives
I put all that in the food processor and went until the garlic and rosemary were minced. Then, I dropped the lamb and the paste into a Sous Vide bag, spread the paste over the lamb somewhat (I didn’t do a great job with this), pulled out the air, and dropped it in the Sous Vide at 140℉ for 6 hours. Really - it should be done after 2 or 3. I started it cooking at 1400.