Chunk-o-chest, Ribs adventure....Boneless leg-o-lamb

Nature Boy · October 2000

Howdy. Hope everyone had a great weekend. I had an adventure this weekend! Put on a brisket on friday nite, at about 10:00. Got a group of coals going, put on my smoking wood, and set up my indirect setup, put on a 6 pound chunk-o-chest, and confidenty went right to bed. Woke up at 5:30 to a 300 degree egg, and when I anxiously stuck in the polder probe, it slid in very easily. Internal temp was 190 after only 7 hours. Expecting the worst, I removed it, wrapped in foil and stuck it in the fridge to reheat later for dinner. Needless to say, it was by far the least moist/tender chunk-o-chest yet. Disappointing to say the least. To make up for it I cooked 2 big slabs of spare ribs for 6 hours, expecting great results...but those too were disappointing, and the meat did not pull cleanly from the bone. My family was looking forward to some killer Q, but everything was mediocre at best. Dang. Just bad ribs I suppose.[p]Anyway, my sister brought me a boneless leg-o-lamb for a bday present, and I plan on cooking it today or tomorrow. I think I will remove it from the net sack, season it, and shove it back in to cook. Any suggestions for seasonings??? How about cooking temps and internal temps?? I have never done a leg of lamb, and really don't think I can handle another failure.[p]Thanks for any ideas! Have a great day.
NB

Tim M · October 2000

<p />Nature Boy,[p]You must have been in bad form -- I can understand the brisket problem - high heat - but what happened to the ribs?? How did you cook them?[p]Can't help with lamb - the only lamb I have ever had off the Egg was done by JJ last Eggtoberfest, and here he is with it.[p]Tim

Nature Boy · October 2000

Tim M,
I was definitely in bad form!! I cooked the ribs like I usually do..indirect over a drip pan. I started at 200 and worked up to 300 dome. I think they could have gone another hour. The polder read 165 when I pulled them....so basically they were still plateauing I think. Next time I'll make everyone wait, and go to 180 like I did last week...those were perfect. Maybe I'll stick with 300 all the way thru...especially since there was water in the drip pan. Oh well. The meat had begun pulling back from the bones, and I thought they would be fine. They did get eaten...but looking around on peoples plates, you could see that they could not get all the meat off easily. Last week I did not use water in the drip pan....and they were fabulous. The fact that the water sucks up all the heat hurt me here...with the dome temp being 250 or less for the first couple hours, I don't think much cooking was happening. Next time![p]Cheers!
NB

djm5x9 · October 2000

Nature Boy:[p]Regarding the lamb, let it sit overnight in the refrigerator in a mix of olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper, garlic slivers inserted in the meat and crushed for the exterior, and oregano. Grill at between 375º to 425º. I forget the internal . . . 140º to 145º? JJ?

Tim M · October 2000

Nature Boy,
I have become a fan of taking the rib meat temp to see if its 180+ or more before I serve. I have had to serve early when the ribs were not done to my satisfaction and I checked the temps and they would be 175 or under. Like you found, they are good and eatable but not as good as they can be. Maybe start out higher than 200 next time, like 250 since you're indirect it won't hurt.[p]
Tim

Tim M · October 2000

djm5x9,
I have a chart on the wall that shows suggested temps for meats - it lists a rare leg-o-lamb at 181 deg. That sounds high but maybe not. It also lists chicken and turkey at 185 so it seems like this chart is on the high side of everything.[p]Tim

Nature Boy · October 2000

Tim M,
Sounds like your chart needs replacing! Where did you get that chart?? 185 degree chicken breast meat is on the verge of turning to powder![p]Maybe JJ will pop in and enlighten us on the lamb temps.[p]djm's seasoning idea sounds good. [p]Enjoy the sunshine today.
NB

Mike Oelrich · October 2000

Tim M,[p] Yikes! Sounds too high to me too. Try this chart instead:[p]Internal Temperatures[p]MikeO

char buddy · October 2000

djm5x9,[p]I did one of these over the weekend. I'd wine to that marinade on a 1/1 ratio with the olive oil. In my case I used a cup of good red wine and a cup of olive oil. Also I just crushed the garlic and left in the marinade. [p]I more or less followed the recipe on the bge recipe board for lamb and keep the dome temp between 350 and 400. The board recommends 11 minutes a side. I had a small leg, so I did 11 minutes one side and five minutes the other. [p]The chart I use said 140-45 was rare, and 150 was medium.[p]I went for 150 and missed by a little bit because I checked the meat at a thin part. The thick parts were nice and rare - very juicy, lots of flavor. The thin parts were medium with a nice crust. [p]Good luck.

Fireball · October 2000

Nature Boy,
The internal temp should be 145° to 150° for medium rare and 160° for medium.
Fireball

Chunk-o-chest, Ribs adventure....Boneless leg-o-lamb

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