You guys are making me hungry. I was just talking about BBQ with some friends of mine. There is only one good Texas-style BBQ place around here. Maybe I'll go grab some lunch

If you ever hit San Diego, let me know and I'll fire up the smoker.
I do my pork Carolina style and my beef Texas style.
But the first thing this year will be a butterflyed leg of lamb smoked with pecan on Easter Sunday.

Hey Curt,
What do you do to the lamb prior to smoking?
I have done a butterflied leg a couple of times on the grill but marinated it beforehand with cilantro and balsamic vinegar or with garlic and rosemary.
I am going to do some more for Easter when my folks come down to visit and I'd love to know another way of doing it.
Thanks,
Andy

Yup andy that is how I do my lamb too. Next I want to try and butterfly a whole turkey and cover it in a dry rub a few days in advance. I have done this with chickens on a few occasions and they always come out awesome. My ribs are pretty darn good too considering I don't smoke em. I use a propane grill and slow cook them for about 4 hours. This is very hard unless you have a good grill. I start them in the fridge a day in advance with the dry rub. Then they get a wet mop every 15 minutes for the last 2 hours. They are so tender you can't even use tongs on them when they are done because they will slide off the bone. Dang, I'm getting hungry again.

Andy, the wife said she found a new marinade.
I'll find out what it is and post it tomorrow.

Thanks Curt. I'll be looking forward to that!

Anything cooked/smoked over mesquite is wonderful. Hell, armadillo is good!

Andy, the marinade consiststs of:
olive oil
lemon juice
pepper
thyme
rosemary
garlic

lemon juice/olive oil ratio should be about 2/1.
The amount of total liquid depends on the size of the piece to be marinaded.
Spices to your taste. I rarely measure for marinades but I would use alot of garlic.
Marinade at least 6 hours.

MMMMMM. Curt, I use one thats about the same, but with honey instead of olive oil. The honey carmelizes nicely, but ya gotta be careful or it will burn!

You guys are killing me! I need to fire up my Weber! Can't wait.

Curt,
Thanks a ton. I am buying the lamb tomorrow morning and will be marinating it for around 24 hours. That sounds like a great marinade. As for copious amounts of garlic... is there ANY other way????
Enjoy your weekend,
Andy

Hi Andy;
Sounds like I'm coming into this a bit late. I'm doing a whole leg of lamb for Easter as well, but I will be smoking it in my Chinese ceramic smoker (the original Egg..I've had it for over twenty years)....

I don't marinade anymore (unless I'm just doing some chops or shanks), I make up a "crust" using Mr. Youshida's Gourmet sauce (great stuff BTW) and some Marsala wine, reduced until it's almost like honey, mix in crushed garlic, rosemary & fresh mint leaves. I sear/braise the leg first to get rid of the "gamey" flavor, and some of the grease (important...I do it over a gas grill outdoors..be carefull, it will flare-up big-time)..coat it with the mixture & slow smoke it over Mesquite chunks for about 5-6 hours.

I serve it with Basmati rice with fresh Saffron & raisins & steamed veggies. LGC Serie R #7 for dessert. Yum....

I make this about two-three times a year & it always turns out great....

Wow! I found myself reading about all the great smoking of ribs and by the end my mouth was watering. I don't own a smoker but this is getting me really interested. Thanks for all the great input and think of the rest of us when you munch on those ribs and the lamb.

Hey MC.....Smoking is definitely the way to go!

A good smoker (stainless type) will go for about $150 on up at home depot/etc...but be aware, they can be a bear to clean up.

I was watching Alton Brown on Good Eats, and he made a ceramic smoker out of a couple of large ceramic flower pots, a thermometer,& a hot plate. It gave me an idea to do the same thing with my old Chinese Ceramic smoker (Egg), I hated digging the ashes out of it, and cleaning the grease/etc out of it every time I used it.

I bought an old hot plate, put it in the bottom of the smoker,put an old pie pan on top of it to hold the wood chunks. I line the bottom of the grill with foil to keep the drippings under control, and viola! works great! after I'm done, I just dump the ashes out of the pie pan and throw away the foil. It's also easier to control the heat.

The "Egg" ceramic smokers are great, but pretty expensive.....the big ceramic pots are basically the same thing, so you should be able to put one together for about thirty bucks.....just try to get the heaviest (thickest) one you can find to hold the heat in. Up in your neck of the woods, you might also be able to find a 'Smith that could put together a good sheet steel smoker as well....but I found that the ceramics are much more stable....
Have fun.....

quote:

Originally posted by motorcyclenut:
Wow! I found myself reading about all the great smoking of ribs and by the end my mouth was watering. I don't own a smoker but this is getting me really interested. Thanks for all the great input and think of the rest of us when you munch on those ribs and the lamb.

Nut, you live near one of the greatest BBQ places on Earth.
Pierce's off the 64 Lightfoot exit.