BBQ76/17: Smoked Lamb Shoulder

BBQ76/17 – Hang Fire Smoked Lamb Shoulder:

Smoked Lamb Shoulder: I was having another read of the awesome Hang Fire cookbook and spotted “Smoked Lamb Shoulder” -I haven’t cooked lamb for a while and certainly haven’t done it on the smoker for even longer. I liked the sound of the recipe so ordered a whole lamb shoulder from Martin’s Meats. I actually got 2 half shoulders delivered instead of a whole shoulder so I wasn’t too sure how it would impact the suggested cooking times but as I would be monitoring the internal temperature I wasn’t too worried plus it meant I had another lamb joint to cook at a later date!

The Hang Fire Cookbook is currently £14.99 on Amazon.

In a bowl I mixed together the overnight lamb rub: Mustard powder, garlic powder, oregano, rosemary, celery salt, ground coriander, mixed spice and sea salt.

I then trimmed the hard fat off the lamb leaving a thin layer before rubbing olive oil all over and applying the rub. I used my trusty spice shaker and patted the rub in as I went. The recipe says to put it in a non-reactive container or a ziplock bag but I didn’t have a bag big enough so I used my Foodsaver then put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day I took the meat out – The rub had really mixed well into the meat. 

lamb shoulder

I took it out the bag, sprinkled with salt and pepper then left it to warm to room temperature whilst I got the smoker ready.

lamb shoulder

I put a bag of heat beads in the base, hollowed the centre out then poured a half chimney of lit lumpwood into the centre. I had some big lumps at the top of a new bag of charcoal so I put a few to the edge of the heat beads as well. Once the temperature had settled at 250F I put the meat in (fat side up).

I have been using a lot of Oak and Cherry lately so wanted to use some of the other smoking woods I have. The recipe suggests Beech which I don’t think I have cooked with so I put some chunks in.

lamb shoulder

lamb shoulder

Once the meat was in I made a Mop Sauce: White vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soft light brown sugar, sea salt, garlic powder, chilli powder, dried oregano and dried rosemary. I put it to one side for later.

3 hours in:

lamb shoulder

lamb shoulder

After 5 hours I started basting the meat every half hour

lamb shoulder

7 hours in:

lamb shoulder

The recipe says it will take between 6 and 8 hours but to take it off once the internal temperature hits 90C/195F. For whatever reason it took 9 hours for me to get there:

lamb shoulder

The meat was looking and smelling fantastic, I was looking forward to eating this!

lamb shoulder

I took the meat off and wrapped it loosely in a foil tent for 20 minutes.

lamb shoulder

lamb shoulder

lamb shoulder

The lamb was feeling very soft. I wanted to pull it rather than slice it. I always prefer to pull by hand and aim for chunks rather than shreds so it retains it’s moisture. The meat was still hot so my latex gloves didn’t shield me from the heat much but I managed! The meat was so juicy and really did smell and taste brilliant. Some good bark in the mix and colour from the beech wood.

lamb shoulder

lamb shoulder

lamb shoulder

This looks like a previous photo but I added in the remaining mop sauce and mixed it together, that added even more flavour to the meat. I was blown away by how good this tasted!

lamb shoulder

I also made Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread from the same cookbook. I didn’t have enough polenta and I had no cornmeal flour so I improvised! It didn’t come out quite as it would with the right ingredients but it was still really tasty. I will make this again in future, it was pretty easy to make but tasted great.

lamb shoulder

lamb shoulder

lamb shoulder

I really enjoyed this, it’s going on to my hitlist as it was so good I will need to make it more often!

The meat was very juicy but had a great taste from the beech smoke plus the rub and baste mix as well. Every mouthful was an absolute joy – I thoroughly recommend making this, it’s brilliant!

Nothing to change next time, it was spot on – make it and tag me on your photos!

Cook Equipment: Weber Smokey Mountain
Cook Method: Low and Slow
Charcoal: 1x4KG Heat Beads plus half a chimney of Lump
Smoking Wood: Smokewood Beech
Cook temperature: 250F
Cook time: 9h plus 30m rest
Internal temperature: 190F
Notes: 1: No changes to make, it was spot on!

THE BOOK:

If you like the look of this recipe The Hang Fire Cookbook is currently £14.99 on Amazon.

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