First boneless leg of lamb

njl

Kind of an impulse buy...I saw these recently at Sam's Club, seem not terribly expensive as meats go, so I have a 3.5lb boneless leg of lamb that appears to already be tied up in cotton netting.  I'd like to do something simple...probably just kosher salt, maybe some black pepper, and probably a bunch of Italian herb seasoning (oregano, marjoram, savory, thyme, basil, rosemary, and sage).

The packaging says to roast at 425F for 30min, and then reduce temp to 350F and continue cooking til the pop-up pops (about 10-15min per pound) for 155F IT.  That sounds a little "overdone" to me.  I'd be inclined to pull it at no more than 145F.  Sounds like the entire cook should take about 1-1.5 hours.  

Any reason to think this won't go well?  I've cooked lots of lamb, and like it...but it's nearly all been frenched rack of lamb...and this one time on vacation, I found lamb steaks and cooked them just like beef and was happy with the result.

dmchicago

Bump.
Following.

bgebrent

Yup. Cook to 140 and carryover will take you to 145-50 during the rest.  Argument for 135 is legit, preference.  Don’t trust the pop up thermo, use your own.  Season it generously and personally I’d tuck in garlic slices.  The high heat then low heat is fine but not easy on the egg.  I’d run it at 375 until IT.  Report back and good luck.

Sea2Ski

Take netting off. Open up meat as it is already cut. Sprinkle some fresh diced garlic, rosemary salt and pepper. Roll back up and loosely tie with butcher string to keep shape. Add same mix to outside.  Cook at 250 indirect to 100 internal and then open the vents to about 400 and bring meat to 120  rolling 90 degrees every 3-4 mins  then remove and rest for 15 mins (for rare - med-rare)

OR

Use same rub as above and cook at raised direct without tieing back up at about 350-375F to target temp - 8F and pull and rest (carryover will take it to target temp)

OR

I like dizzy pig red eye express on Lamb. Rub lamb and cook the same as either method above.

Personally I like my lamb rare. Never served warmer than 135 and usually 125-128 ‘ish. 

Photo Egg

Lots of great advice above.
I would take it out of netting to open up and season. I would also trim off extra fat and grissel then tie back up.

njl

So much for simple. I was talked into butterflying it and it’s marinating now in a mix of eevo, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, and kosher salt. I also split it into two butterflied sections. 

Hans61

Buy or make a mint sauce to dip. 

JohnEggGio

njl said:

So much for simple. I was talked into butterflying it and it’s marinating now in a mix of eevo, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, and kosher salt. I also split it into two butterflied sections. 

I did 2 this way back on Easter.  Grilled raised direct.  Multiple flips, temp around 350.  Enjoy!

I also made a dipping sauce that we really enjoyed - about 1/2 jar of mint jelly, about 1/2 as much apple cider vinegar, as much crushed red pepper as you like.  Let it simmer a little while.  I found it was even better days later on leftovers.

njl

I've never understood why you'd want to cover up the flavor of meat with mint sauce/jelly.  Some googling suggested this custom originated in England for use with mutton, which was apparently much gamier tasting than sweet little lambs.  

Sea2Ski

njl said:

I've never understood why you'd want to cover up the flavor of meat with mint sauce/jelly.  Some googling suggested this custom originated in England for use with mutton, which was apparently much gamier tasting than sweet little lambs.  

I agree on not using mint with Lamb or any meat.  I can not stand the taste of it.  

Hans61

come on guys its not like putting ketchup on steak 

Hans61

When I was a kid my grandmother always served leg of lamb on Christmas eve - I suppose thats just my happy memory of what was good

njl

This turned out pretty good.  The kids never like stuff like this.  One of them ate one little slice.  Split mostly just two ways, even this little 3.4lb one was quite a bit of meat.  When I butterflied it, I ended up deciding it'd be much more manageable if I split it into two pieces.  I think we ate a little more than a quarter of it.  Wife likes meat more cooked than I do, so I got these both up to about 130F and pulled them.  I'd cooked at 400-420F raised direct, flipping them every 5min.  When I pulled them, I opened the vents and gave it a moment to rise from just over 400F to about 600F, then seared both for about 15s per side on the lower grid.

Here's my horrible attempt (first time) butterflying.  After fighting with the right side, I realized "this is really hard because my boning knife is totally dull".  I washed up, sharpened it, and the left side was like a hot knife through warm butter.



Here they are after marinating about 20 hours.

5 minutes into the cook:

Done.  It took about 30 minutes:

Photo Egg

Sea2Ski said:

njl said:

I've never understood why you'd want to cover up the flavor of meat with mint sauce/jelly.  Some googling suggested this custom originated in England for use with mutton, which was apparently much gamier tasting than sweet little lambs.  

I agree on not using mint with Lamb or any meat.  I can not stand the taste of it.  

Mint should be saved for Mojitos.lol

JohnEggGio

njl said:

I've never understood why you'd want to cover up the flavor of meat with mint sauce/jelly.  Some googling suggested this custom originated in England for use with mutton, which was apparently much gamier tasting than sweet little lambs.  

Same reason you might put Carolina red on pulled pork.  Don’t like it, don’t eat it.  I like it.