This spring, why not try doing a low-n-slow bbq roast in a smoker. LOOK: IT'S AWESOME.
This summer I'm getting married, and as part of the meal I'm serving bbq home-smoked bacon. So I thought whilst getting invites, RSVPs and other wedding related stuff sorted, it was high time I got my bacon game on form. So enters the Weber Smokey Mountain - a little gem of a smoker, not too massive or expensive as some, and easy to use too. So what did I do with a spare joint of lamb? Smoke it of course! This time I chose to go mexican with a lovely warm rich dark mole sauce - a mexican classic! I've not seen many lamb recipes, and to be honest I'd have usually done pork but this one worked out really well. Here's my step by step no nonsense guide.
Easiest to get the briquettes started in the weber starter (seriously, I had not realised just how much this helped - I've been wasting so much time before!)
This was all the fuel needed for 4 hours of smoking, and it was only 1/2 used. 4 medium/small blocks of Apple wood. Smoke mainly enters the meat in the first hour so no need to keep topping it up.
I would usually do a brisket in about 10 hours, but this was lamb, and the internet seemed to say it didn't need so long. I kept the smoker at about 100 for 4 hours, although good to note that the thermometer at the top, doesn't measure the temp where the meat is. Thankfully I had a remote meat thermometer so I could tell how hot the meat got. Took it up to 75deg C.
Obviously to go with it, I'd need some kind of accompaniment, I really recommend Pico de gallo! See my recipe here
After about 3 hours, the meal was looking awesome, and I was wishing the time away - low-n-slow certainly is just that, you need patience! Even more patience will be needed once cooked, as it'll need to rest for at least 20 mins before you carve.
So, aftr 4 hours in a smoker do you get dry meat. I'll let this picture tell you all you need to know...
Keeping the bone in, certainly made slicing it tricky, next time I'll go for boneless! Still, it was so juicy and tender it was a dream to cut, and tasted superb!
Here, the final result was full of smoky mole flavour, rich lamb and fresh pico. Certainly something I'll be doing again and a great start to the Weber smokey mountain adventures
Send suggestions of what I should cook next to http://www.twitter.com/smokebark
