Planning Leg o' Lamb for 10

tazcrash · March 2012

I did some looking in the recipes, and saw a few Leg of Lamb recipes, but they are all bone out, or stuffed and rolled. Does anyone have a good recipe for a leg of Lamb bone in, or at least give me a good reason to why I should de-bone it?

I have some fond childhood memories of gnawing on that bone, and working out some marrow, and want to pass that on.

Doc_Eggerton · March 2012

Whatever you do, please give us a report and some pic :-) I've been thinking about a leg o' lamb for awhile now.

stike · March 2012

i do bone-in leg of lamb every easter. it always gets wiped out.

cook it around 400 or so, until 125 in the thickest part. not a long cook. could also go lower, but i am usually cooking it after taking the ham off, and need to be done quickly.

typically i do a simple traditional lamb leg. make shallow slits in the meat over the surface, and slide in garlic slivers. i thin-slice the garlic, and then make the shallow cut with the knife, put a piece of garlic on it, and slide both back into the cut, then draw out the knife.

then liberally salt and pepper, sprinkle with finely chopped rosemary and any other herbs you have. and rub with a little olive oil.

that's my favorite way.
but last year we mixed it up, and it was good. i still prefer the previous method. but here're last year's ingredients

made a paste of the garlic, mustard, rosemary, brown sugar, and a little early mint. plus S&P.

rubbed all over. roasted at 350 til done. maybe 45 to an hour.

again, pull it at 125/130 in the thickest part. those who like well-done will have it from the thinner parts. those with any brains will have it at better rarer temps. hahaha

everyone in my extended family/friends eats it at 125 amazingly. i could not serve anything else to them that rare.

tazcrash · March 2012

Stike, you are the man!

this was exactly what I was looking for: Even an estimated time!!!!!

And to 125 will be perfect, my 7 year old and I will have it the way we like, and the others can have theirs "cooked". :P

stike · March 2012

i would suggest doing it without the mustard paste as i showed in the pics. i don't have pics of the 'other' way, despite having done it for many years. i don't have any idea re: quantities in the paste, and i recall that it wasn't as good as it looked (the paste, the lamb is always good)

tazcrash · March 2012

I would have to skip the mustard anyway. One of the guests makes faces like a 5 year old the minutes they can smell it.

Correction: some 5 year olds are very open to trying first.

stike · March 2012

you don't taste 'mustard' in the end. they'd never know.

Chubbs · March 2012

Stike, do you pick up a big garlic flavor by placing the cloves in a slit in the meat? I have been thinking of trying that for a while now

stike · March 2012

you get the flavor only really when you get a piece of garlic in the slice.

you can also just grind up some garlic and cover it with that. i do the sliced deal for presentation's sake. diamond pattern all over the roast. really thought i had a pic

Baysidebob · March 2012

We do leg of lamb every Passover. Garlic inserted in slits. Rosemary on the meat. I use hickory and lots of it. Everyone loves it!

tazcrash · April 2012

OK, just as a quick update, I'm planning a trial run today.
We bought a 2.5lb leg, I finely chopped garlic, rosemary, thyme, fresh mint, and EVOO.
I made small incisions with a pairing knife, and used an espresso spoon to push the paste into the inacions. I took some rosemarry and thyme, with salt and pepper and rubbed the outside.
I rewrapped the meat put am letting it sit in the fridge until 2 hours before the cook.
When I'm ready to cook, I plan on searing the outside just a touch on the CI grid, then cooking indirect at about 400 until 125.

stike · April 2012

i would do paste on the surface, or pockets with slivers of garlic. the slivers melt because they are thin. not sure the paste will. paste on the surface will cook. wondering what it will do nestled in the pockets.

paste is generally the "hurry up" answer, and slathered on the oustide.

tazcrash · April 2012

OK, the little pockets of herbs worked really well in there. Quite the aroma coming out of that chimney.
I seared the lamb on the cast iron for 7 minutes a side, then used a raised, and indirect cook at about 325.
The lamb came out very good despite it having to be tented longer than I wanted. But the meat around the bone was also a bit under done.
We also made some rookie ABTs. Juat plain cream cheese stuffedand wrapped. My wife who is not a fan of spicy loved them. She didn't think they would be as mild as they were.
On the side we had some non egg fare including sauteed spinach, and red skinned mashed potatoes with roasted garlic (from the egg), butter, half and half, and the left over cream cheese.
All in all a great trial run.

blukat · April 2014

I was also planning on doing a leg of lamb for Easter, any recommendation on bone in or de-boning it?

Little Steven · April 2014

Freddie is gonna go nuts over this. Do what stike said. Bone in is always better.

tazcrash · April 2014

What? It's only 2 years old.

I recommend the bone in. Having flashback of this cook. Still have time to convince the Mrs.

LOL @ my old ghetto grid riser. Luv my AR

HDumptyEsq · April 2014

+1 on bone in - juicier more even cook. You can't go wrong with Stike's method but later try braising one in white wine and veggies in a DO on low (225 to 250) for about 4 hours.

Another roasting tip is to - don't laugh it's amazing - seal the leg in a vacuum bag with a jar of store bought mint sauce. Folks have made fun of this before but, trust me, it makes a sweet and tart, very complex flavor to any cut of lamb; chops (loin or chump) shoulder and neck are sweet as can be.

johnmitchell · April 2014

The Greeks are famous for low and slow bone in leg of lamb..Lots of rosemary,Coriander, ginger and a splash of vinegar,salt and pepper, garlic, They cook it in a romertopf clay pot at about 125 deg for about 5 hours....

Awesome fall off the bone, and succulent..

I think I will do Lamb this Easter..Thanks tazcrash for the reminder..

Planning Leg o' Lamb for 10

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