Smoking lamb shoulder?

[billg71]

A couple of years ago a friend and I made the pilgrimage to Lockhart to attend the Texas Monthly Barbecue Fest. It was a great trip, we flew into Houston, rented a little red Mustang from Hertz(Woohoo! Loving this "2nd Childhood" thing!) and drove up to Austin where we were staying. Incidentally, I finally got to visit Southside Market in Elgin, it's been on my bucket list since I'd been ordering their sausage and brisket online for years.

Anyway, the festival was great, lots of good food from TM's Top 50 list, lots of variety mixed with traditional Texas BBQ staples and everything was cooked to perfection. But one of the booths featured pulled smoked lamb shoulder and that was the highlight of the weekend for me.

Christmas is coming, the weather's turned and I've ordered a smoked turkey from Southside, lazy ass that I am. But my daughter-in-law is Muslim and observes Halal rules(similar to Kosher). I was in the local Halal market today where I get most of my beef and saw a couple of lamb shoulders in the case. Memory stirred and I thought it would be a great thing to serve along with the smoked turkey.

I looked at some recipes online and they all seemed to agree on smoking at 225 to 165-170, wrapping and finishing at 205, like brisket. Lots of rub recipes but I think I'd like to go basic Texas; salt, pepper and a little garlic powder.

If anyone has some experience with smoking lamb shoulder I'd appreciate any advice on prep, seasoning and technique. Lamb is new to me and there's time to do a practice cook before Christmas. I just don't want to FUBAR this...

TIA for your thoughts and advice!

Best,
Bill

[Draznnl]

I haven’t done a shoulder, but I smoked a leg of lamb once. You may want to rethink your seasoning choices. I did the same salt, pepper, garlic rub I use on brisket and was underwhelmed. Have you considered Meathead’s Dolly’s Rub from the free side?

https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/spice-rubs-and-pastes/dollys-lamb-rub-recipe/

[Davek8282]

+1 on the Dolly's rub, its my "go to" on lamb. Somewhere I have pics of the last boneless leg of lamb, if I find I'll come back and edit

[billg71]

Hadn't seen that one, will check it out. Thanks!

[captainlee]

We use this on lamb chops, most excellent.

https://www.loveandlemons.com/chimichurri-sauce/

[N227GB]

The rub recipe i use is geared towards gyros but I don't think that's what you're shooting for here. But i can recommend the pellets for smoke. These are great for lamb.

Posted from my phone.

https://bbqrsdelight.com/product/savory-herb-pellets-1-lb-bag/

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Really interested to see this. Never heard of 'pulled' lamb, gonna have to check it out.

I actually picked up my first ever leg of lamb roast last night (boneless) from Sam's Club. I have been hearing a lot about it lately, so I figured I'd give it a try sometime. But PULLED lamb... that's an interesting thought. Like I said, I need to do some research.

[Purc]

During the recent Texas Meat Up, we met a group at InterStellar BBQ in Austin and I had pulled lamb shoulder. It was great. I love lamb and this was my first pulled lamb. I will do this at home.

[LA Pork Butt]

I have cooked a couple of lamb shoulders, and I loved it. However, it is so expensive and difficult to find, so I don’t do it very often. I cooked it just like a Boston Butt, and if I remember correctly I used the same rub I use on a Boston Butt without sugar - equal parts of kosher salt, black pepper, granulated onion and garlic and paprika. I do Boston Butts at 225 to an internal temp of 200, then I wrap and hold for at least an hour. I only wrap in the cook if I am pressed for time. I cook on a Big Green Egg.

[Oak Smoke]

I’ve done exactly one lambs shoulder. Your description of cooking it like a brisket is the way I went about it. It was so good.

[mrteddyprincess]

I will plus one this comment.

[HawkerXP]

Oh boy. We love lamb. Going to follow this one!

[shify]

Following this one! I’ve recently had an itch to do a lamb shoulder and started looking around to try to figure out where to get one without much luck yet. At this point I’ll probably wait until the spring and reach out to local farms.

In my head I was going to go with Greek/mediterranean flavors rather than normal bbq type rubs but haven’t gotten far enough in the process to conclude yet. But your approach on smoking and taking it to 200-205 is where I also landed in my research.

can’t wait to see what you come up with.

[bbqLuv]

I have smoked only one boneless lamb shoulder on my Traeger. It turned out fantastic. I should smoke another.
Thank you for the reminder.
Mint Jelly pairs well with lamb.

[LA Pork Butt]

I just remembered that in Northwestern Kentucky they cook mutton and serve it with black sauce. If my memory serves me correctly their is a recipe for it on the free side.

[LA Pork Butt]

I found this recipe in my Paprika file. I think it is from the free side.

Sunlite Kentucky Black BBQ Sauce

BBQ
Prep Time: 25 minutes | Servings: 3

Ingredients:
The Sauce:
2 cups water
1/2 cup Lea & Perrins Worcestershire
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
7 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
1 1/4 teaspoons lemon juice
The Meat:
1 shoulder of mutton or lamb

Directions:
Prep the sauce. Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a pot.
Cook the sauce. Simmer the sauce for 10 minutes.
Prep the meat. Prepare a shoulder of mutton or lamb by removing all the surface fat and the tough silver skin hiding under it.
Coat it with a generous layer of Dolly's Lamb Rub And Paste.
Fire up. Preheat your smoker to about 225°F (107.2°C). If you are using a grill, set it up for 2-zone cooking and get the indirect zone to 225°F (107.2°C).
Cook the meat. Smoke it low and slow as you would a pork shoulder for pulled pork bringing it up to 203°F (95°C). Beware of the stall. It can make the process take hours longer. How long will it take? Depends on how thick your meat is, and whether or not you use the Texas Crutch. But it could take up to 8 hours. Start early and have a faux cambro on hand.
Serve. Cut the meat off the bone in 1/8 to 1/4" (3.2 to 6.4 mm) thick slices and douse with warm sauce just before serving.

Notes:
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
Metric conversion:

Source: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...mb-and-mutton/

[billg71]

Thanks for the recipe, I'll have to try it.