Why My First Cook STILL Hasn’t Taken Place AND What I’m now Thinking of Doing for It…

[Nicolaus]

When I ordered my Big Joe III just prior to Christmas, I was planning on its arriving mid-January at the earliest. In fact, that’s why I placed the order just prior to Christmas—because I wanted to be able to set up the grill at the beginning of February. KJ had a message in red, which appeared whenever I viewed the shopping cart, warning that owing to extremely high demand shipping would be delayed until at least mid-January.

Imagine my surprise then when the grill was delivered on 12/28!

Unfortunately, owing to travel and other commitments, I was unable to even think about doing anything with the grill until today—finally.

I’m now thinking of taking the piece of meat in this video:

and cooking it this way in my Big Joe III:

The only changes I’m contemplating are as follows:

-using my Fireboard 5” Food Probe instead of a Meater (I don’t currently have one)
-applying all of the seasonings to the meat the night before

Any advice or comments would be much appreciated. You can even try to talk me out of this…

P.S. We have seven legs of lamb in our freezer right now.

[Johnny Booth]

Go for it! Nothing happens until somebody lights a fire. 😋

[hoovarmin]

Why not? The worst that can happen is you learn something new, and that's always grand. Don't forget to check the Alan screws holding those bands for tightness once a month!

[Troutman]

My only comment is lamb shoulder is a different cut then leg of lamb. I love leg of lamb and cook it with slicing in mind like a roast. What you do with shoulder is to render and breakdown all the connective tissue like you do with pork and thus shred it. Shredding a leg of lamb would probably be okay but doesn't seem like the best application. Just saying.

Let us know how it turns out.

[hoovarmin]

Yeah, I missed the part about it being a leg. That's not going to work the same way as a shoulder.

[Stuey1515]

This 👍

[Nicolaus]

My only comment is lamb shoulder is a different cut then leg of lamb. I love leg of lamb and cook it with slicing in mind like a roast. What you do with shoulder is to render and breakdown all the connective tissue like you do with pork and thus shred it. Shredding a leg of lamb would probably be okay but doesn't seem like the best application. Just saying.

Let us know how it turns out.

How might you adjust the cook for the leg of lamb?

[Troutman]

The first video he cooks a leg-o-lamb like a brisket but takes it too far in my opinion. Letting it crumble when slicing is a sign of overcooking. I cook lamb at about 250*F, or low and slow, until it reaches about 135-140*F IT. Season with something herbaceous like a harissa sauce and you have juicy and delicious sliced lamb.

[hoovarmin]

+1 with Troutman, leg will not produce the results that shoulder will. Not saying don't cook a leg for your first cook, just don't expect it to pull the way a shoulder will. It will likely end up quite dry.

[Troutman]

Here's a log-o-lamb I cooked to medium rare, probably around 132-135*F IT. If that's not your thing let it go a little longer. The longer you cook it, like a good beef rib roast, the drier its going to get.

[ecowper]

I'd eat that

[MsTwiggy]

Alexander the great would agree Troutman knows lamb 🐑!!! 🔥🔥🐿️

[Nicolaus]

I see your point about the lamb’s drying out. I have always preferred lamb to be medium-rare.

Here is another possibility:

[ecowper]

steak, reverse sear, bourbon .... what's not to like?

[hoovarmin]

A reverse seared steak is always good.

[Draznnl]

Reverse seared steak makes perfect sense.

[ecowper]

Personally, I always do a chuck roast for my first cook. it's inexpensive, it's easy to cook low and slow. It gives you a chance to learn a lot about your new cooker without worrying about ruining an expensive hunk o'meat. And you get beefy goodness close to brisket.

[Troutman]

Yea or a chicken

[Nicolaus]

Personally, I always do a chuck roast for my first cook. it's inexpensive, it's easy to cook low and slow. It gives you a chance to learn a lot about your new cooker without worrying about ruining an expensive hunk o'meat. And you get beefy goodness close to brisket.

How would you season and cook the chuck roast?

[ecowper]

season it like a brisket ..... dry brine 24 hours ahead, then pepper and garlic powder just as you put it on to smoke. If you want pulled beef for tacos or sammiches, set your cooker for 250F and cook until 205F internal, beyond probe tender. Then wrap and hold for 2 hours at 170F in a faux cambro oven. If you want sliced roast beef, cook until probe tender, pull and hold for at least 1 hour as above. This gives you a similar to brisket outcome.

[Nicolaus]

ecowper, what exactly do you mean by “probe tender?”

[jfmorris]

Since ecowper is traveling, I will chime in.

Probe Tender means that you can insert something pointy, like an instant read thermometer, and if feels like sliding a warm knife through butter. I.e. you should feel little resistance. For chuck roast (or brisket), this temp could be anywhere from 195 to 205.

I haven't done chuck this way in quite some time myself, as chuck roast currently costs about twice per pound what brisket costs.

[Nicolaus]

jfmorris, I might as well just do a brisket then, right?

[ecowper]

yeah, chuck is more expensive per pound. But you are only buying 2.5 to 3 lbs, not 15

[jfmorris]

Right!

If a brisket is too large, what I've done recently, since I am more often cooking for 2, is take say a 12-15 pound full packer brisket that I bought for $1.99 or $2.99 on sale at Kroger, and subdivide it into three 4-5 pound hunks of beef, and freeze those for future cooks. A 4-5 pound hunk of brisket smoked yields maybe 2.5-3 pounds of meat that will feed the wife and I for a couple of days.

[Nicolaus]

ecowper and jfmorris, as it turns out, we already have six 3-5 pound briskets in the freezer, so I think I’m going to do one of those. I’m leaning toward doing this with it:

[jfmorris]

Haha. A 3-5 pound brisket won't look like that! . But it can be very good. Do you know if those are flats or points? Probably flat if it doesn't say. With flat, I smoke until about 170, then wrap tightly in foil to finish, as the goal is to not dry out the flat. Points have much more intramuscular fat and are much like a Boston butt, and stay moist no matter what you do to them.

[jfmorris]

FYI, if you haven't done it yet, I would do a burn in on that new kamado and learn the vent settings to reach various temps, before trusting meat to it. It will take several hours, but is well worth it. And the burn in part is usually recommended by the grill manufacturers anyway.