Boneless leg of lamb--direct heat--cooking time and temp?

smokeyturkey

How long and what temperature should I grill a boneless leg of lamb on direct heat?

Richard Fl

This works for me.  Also I like to stuff them sometimes:

http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=626840&catid=1

Ragtop99

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1138469/boneless-leg-of-lamb#latest

killborn

I have not yet tried a leg of lamb on the egg, but have made many over the years over the coals on my pit. Love some good lamb, and gotta say it also depends a lot on the quality of the meat. I never ever buy the stuff from Australia or New Zeland as that has a very wild/gamey taste. I am used to a milder flavor like the lamb found here domestic. I like to buy from a farmer who farms a South African breed of sheep out in Fredericksburg, Texas. They sell at the local farmers market in Austin.

There are many ways to go about it, but raised grid I normally cook mine for about 2 hours on a direct heat. Be sure to get it in a marinade in the fridge for a couple days before. Have never tried it stuffed, but normally go for something as simple as popping some garlic in the meat and adding some olive oil and rosemary twigs to a bag before I fridge it.

Remember to cut off the excess fat! 

Another way, which I have not tried in a while was to marinade it in freshly squeezed in lemon juice for about 5 days and then do get it on direct for 2 hours. Don't try and cheat with juice out of a bottle, it is horrible. 

Richard Fl

I used lemon juice fresh for some on a rack of ribs a few years back and did not do the cook on the first day-3 days later they got cooked and were tuff.  I believe that it was the lemon juice that precooked the meat like seviche and seafood.

Little Steven

I go 250* at about 25 minutes a pound. Rub with garlic, olive oil, rosemary and salt

njl

I have not yet tried a leg of lamb on the egg, but have made many over the years over the coals on my pit. Love some good lamb, and gotta say it also depends a lot on the quality of the meat. I never ever buy the stuff from Australia or New Zeland as that has a very wild/gamey taste. I am used to a milder flavor like the lamb found here domestic.

Interesting.  I frequently buy the Australian frenched rack of lamb from Costco and haven't found it to be gamey at all.  I haven't egged it yet...but should probably give that a try.  I just sprinkle it with kosher salt, put it in the oven at 425F meat side down for about 10 minutes, flip, cover the meat side with a mix of dijon mustard and crushed garlic, and cook another ~10 minutes.

I can't explain why, but it doesn't seem worth the hassle of rolling the egg out for this...but it makes perfect sense to do so for steaks.  Of course, after having steaks T-Rex'd with hickory smoke, steaks from the oven are a such a let down.  I wonder if doing the rack of lamb on the egg would similarly spoil me?

stike

don't wanna start anything... but i find a lot of us americans have been trained to like bland meats.  low fat, chicken, pork, factory-raised beef, etc.

first encounters with anything the least bit 'typical' (like lamb, for example) usually leaves us fumbling for descriptors... "gamey" seems to be the default for anything that isn't pork loin.

don't mean it as a slam, i just find it is sort of a catch-all phrase

i actually don't even think that something which truly IS gamey, is necessarily bad.  game SHOULD taste like game (venison, etc.)

i've heard folks talking about feral hogs having yellowish fat, and that it can be foul tasting. dunno

but i find taste usually has more to do with what it ATE than where it lived.  grass fed beef, for example is much different than grain finished

Little Steven

The rack is the least lamby tasting of any cut. Leg is stronger for sure. That said, I have mutton or goat a couple of times a week

stike

i just find it tastes like lamb, though. not game.
>-

Little Steven

I agree. Mutton is an acquired taste

smokeyturkey

I cooked a 4 lb. leg of lamb for a little over an hour @ 350, and it came out perfectly.  I chopped pieces of garlic, cut lits in the meat, and place the garlic pieces in the slits.  I rubbed the meat inside and out with a mixture of olive oil and a Mideastern spice.  I highly recommend trying this.

killborn

i just find it tastes like lamb, though. not game.
>-

Yep, you would think it tastes like lamb because the US has imported lamb from Australia and New Zealand for years and only more recently has domestic sheep farming increased. I grew up with South African lamb, which has a milder flavor similar to the domestic lamb found here. I grew up eating a lot of lamb and after spending almost 6 years in Afghanistan, sure got to eat my share of lamb there as well as in many other parts of the world where they prefer lamb.

It is my opinion ( and mine only I guess) that the meat imported from Australia/New Zealand is more "gamey" as I put it. 

A number of people I have spoken to have said it is the stronger/gamey/wilder call it what you want flavor of lamb which has put them off eating it regularly. I always try to inroduce domestic and they prefer it.

Might be a subtle difference, but there is to me...

cowman

I raise sheep and  butcher  a few for myself.  I have found that the age at slaughter has the most influence on the flavor. Less than 11 months and they are considered lamb and don't have the strong flavor.  After 11 months it is mutton and can have a strong gamey taste. Whether they are castrated makes a difference after 11 months. Going to do some lamb ribs, a loin roast and some kabobs on the egg today.  From a 6 month old lamb. Hope I do it right.

Aviator

I dont think the above is true, ie: less than 1yr it is lamb and more than 1 yr its mutton.

 

)

Lamb is lamb, and mutton is goat meat. Entirely different animals.

Little Steven

Mutton is sheep and lamb is widdle baby sheep. Goat is called mutton in India

balliardi

Widdle Steven is right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_and_mutton

Little Steven

I should have said the terms goat and mutton can be interchangeable in Indian cooking

Greygoose

Depends on the size. I do these boneless lambs all the time and they always come out great. Marinate it over night with:

2 cups soy sauce

2 cups peanut oil

1 cup dijon mustard

2 cloves crushed garlic. 

Key is to get that lamb off the egg when the internal temp is between 130-135. wrap and let rest for 1 hour.  so the time will vary depending on the size of the hunk of meat. cook at temps between 230 and 270 and plan on 3-4 hours hours of cook time.  follow that , and you'll be the hit of the household when it goes on the table.