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Whole lamb in Egg

irishrog
irishrog Posts: 375
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Cooked 2 whole lambs for a party at the weekend, one in a fire pit in the ground, and I in the egg.
The 2 lambs were about the same size 36 pounds and 37 pounds.
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Stuffed the pit lamb with 5 chickens,
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and cooked in a fire pit
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for 16 hours, until fall off the bone cooked
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Curled the egg lamb into a ball, and tied the legs together to keep it in shape
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I wanted to put in the plate setter and raise the lamb to protect the meat, but it was too big, so I cooked direct on the grid, direct heat, for 2 and half hours.
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Turning after each hour
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Both lambs came out beautiful
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but everybody agreed that the egged lamb was much tastier, and the proof was in the amount left from each lamb.
Overall agreat party, here are just a few of the participants
Copy2ofpigbbqetc233.jpg.
Greetings from Ireland, Roger

Comments

  • NoVA Bill
    NoVA Bill Posts: 3,005
    What a wonderful set of pics and cook. Very informative for me. Thanks for sharing.

    Cooking on the egg has got to be easier on your back :laugh:
  • irishrog
    irishrog Posts: 375
    Bill, lots of things are easier on your back!!!
  • roger. ...great looking cook and pics!!!! .. . i can get a whole lamb around my area pretty easy (northern virginia) as we have a bunch of hallel markets. .. couple of questions for you

    what temps did you run the egg at? ...2 1/2 seems like a nice fast cook for 36 pounds. ..

    did you break the backbone or something to make it fit? . ..

    how did you "treat" the lamb? rubs/marinade/etc? ...

    btw. .. i know one way to make it fit in a large with plate setter ... .saw a guy do it with a whole pig last year in atlanta . ..pull the fire ring out, put the plate setter right on top of the firebox. .. and the set the lamb on a v-rack right on the plate setter down in there. . . should fit nicely that way. . .
  • lowercasebill
    lowercasebill Posts: 5,218
    wow, what a feas,t looks like it was a great time with great food
  • loco_engr
    loco_engr Posts: 5,759
    What a great post from across the pond!

    Thanks for sharing.
    aka marysvilleksegghead
    Lrg 2008
    mini 2009
    XL 2021 (sold 8/24/23)
    Henny Youngman:
    I said to my wife, 'Where do you want to go for our anniversary?' She said, 'I want to go somewhere I've never been before.' I said, 'Try the kitchen.'
    Bob Hope: When I wake up in the morning, I don’t feel anything until noon, and then it’s time for my nap
  • Photo Egg
    Photo Egg Posts: 12,110
    Very cool post.
    Thank you.
    darian
    Thank you,
    Darian

    Galveston Texas
  • Wow, great cook. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

    Faith
    Tampa
    Happily egging on my original large BGE since 1996... now the owner of 5 eggs. Call me crazy, everyone else does!
     
    3 Large, 1 Small, 1 well-used Mini
  • cookn biker
    cookn biker Posts: 13,407
    Roger, great set of pics and what a feast for the party!!
    Looks like you did not have the fire ring in the egg. Is this so? Beautiful color.
    Molly
    Colorado Springs
    "Loney Queen"
    "Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it."
    Bill Bradley; American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, former U.S. Senator from New Jersey
    LBGE, MBGE, SBGE , MiniBGE and a Mini Mini BGE
  • Fantastic! I've gotten to cook whole lamb on a spit before but the pit cook...the chickens...wow! I'm also impressed that you could fit a whole lamb on (a brand new?) large BGE. Thanks for sharing.
  • mcdraw
    mcdraw Posts: 89
    Roger,

    Great pictures and nice thatched roof. Can you just throw another one on the egg saturday and I'll swing by Sunday morning to bring some up to Donegal?
  • irishrog
    irishrog Posts: 375
    Hi Max, cooked the lamb at 300 all the way. Rubbed 1 side with a tandoori rub, and left the other side natural, for the more delicate pallets.
    I split the back bone just above the hips, and just below the shoulders, and just pushed it into shape. I also split the flank to make it easier to fold into shape.
    used plum wood chunks for light smoke, which worked great.
  • Man that is two great looking cooks. Thats my Easter plan then, whole lamb in egg.

    Doug
  • Gator Bait
    Gator Bait Posts: 5,244
     
    Great looking lamb Roger, thanks for sharing. I don't have the experience others do around here but I was trying to think of a way to get a pizza stone in there for your indirect heat in the egg with out adding the elevation of the plate setter. Just a thought.

    Gator

     
  • irishrog
    irishrog Posts: 375
    The base was new, first cook, as my old base had developed a crack, but the rest of the egg is about 8 years old, and very well used.
  • irishrog
    irishrog Posts: 375
    I had the fire ring in and filled the lump just above the top of the bowl. Cooked the lamd on the grid in standard position.
  • irishrog
    irishrog Posts: 375
    I'll use a chunk of turf to give it a real smokey flavour. Dont leave it until Sunday, I wil be gone to Spain for some sunshine
  • irishrog
    irishrog Posts: 375
    I could put a pizza stone on the grid, but the lamb sitting on the stone would scorch from the conducted heat. This was my issue with the plate setter, I could get the lamb to sit on it, but I couldnt raise it off the stone to prevent the scorching. It worked great with the direct heat, and on hind sight was probably a better option.
  • mcdraw
    mcdraw Posts: 89
    Enjoy the sun!
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Roger,

    Just briliant!

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • James MB
    James MB Posts: 359
    Excellent looking cooks - I bet you enjoyed it!
    It's surprising how you managed to fit it on, well done.
    Lamb is my out and out favourite over fire.
  • mojo
    mojo Posts: 220
    Just two words for this ... AWE SOME!!

    How did the chickens turn out, and did you manage to stuff any into the Egged lamb? I would assume not due to space concerns.

    Brilliant cook!
  • irishrog
    irishrog Posts: 375
    I didnt put anything into the egged lamb except whole bulbs of garlic, and sprigs of rosemary, but there would have been room for a chicken or 2 in there. Probably a duck would have been best, as it would have basted the lamb from the inside.
  • GirlyEgg
    GirlyEgg Posts: 622
    OMG! I LOVE LAMB!!! I've been wondering how to possibly do a whole one... next time, can you do a video of how you wrapped it? I'd love to figure it out and wow the friends! Nice job!
  • Big'un
    Big'un Posts: 5,909
    Ah, they both look so good! If you ever get on this side of the sphere, I'd be happy to host a party for you!
  • Big'un
    Big'un Posts: 5,909
    You could always hang an upside down foil tent attached to the bottom of the grid. It would still deflect most of the heat and stop the grease from fouling the coals. Just my 2 cents.
  • Misippi Egger
    Misippi Egger Posts: 5,095
    Great pics. There is no way everybody could not have had a great time!
  • irishrog
    irishrog Posts: 375
    Hi Lynn, the lamb in the egg was very easy. I split the back just above the legs, and just below the shoulders. to do this I used a boning knife and from the outside cut the membrane between 2 vertabrea, which gave enough leway for the back to move. I then pushed the neck around between the legs, and tied the legs together, so that the legs were around the neck, and this kept the shape.
    The lamb in the pit was a bigger job. I first wrapped the whole animal in cooking foil. I then wrapped it in empty peanut sacks, and then wrapped it in chicken wire to keep everything together. I soaked the sacks in water before putting the whole thing in the fire pit. The water kept the temperature down while there was strong heat in the fire, and stopped the sacks from burning.
    The pit had about 12 inched of wood embers built up over 4 hours of burning. We put some soil on top of the embers, and then put in a sheet of metal, and then put the parcelled up lamb on top of the sheet, and covered the whole lot with the remaining soil. The hole was about 4 feet deep so there was a considerable amount of labour involved. Even to get the thing out at the end involved 20 minutes digging, so it was quite an experience.
    Overall, cooking the lamb in the egg was much easier, and as I said earlier gave a much better end product
  • irishrog
    irishrog Posts: 375
    I look forward to that. I hope in the next year or 2, to organise a trip to America to take in 2 or 3 eggfests, and see a little of your wonderful country during the same trip.
    You never know, it will happen, but not sure when.