NC Family Lamb Fest

Ok folks, I need some support and a bit of internet magic if you can muster it.

If you love NC...or Grilling ...or BBQ...or Lamb...or have even a mild fondness for food, I'd appreciate you're consideration and vote in...

Grills Gone Wild's NATIONAL LAMB COMPETITION!!!

Vote Here: http://grillsgonewild.fansoflamb.com/states/nc/nc-family-lamb-fest/

What you're voting in is a state based LAMB COOKING CAGE MATCH that pit each state against all the others.

My family and I had the honor of submitting North Carolina's entry. A slide show of our cook & party is on the link above.

The award for first prize is $500 worth of lamb and a BIG GREEN EGG smoker.

So please, take a moment and cast your vote for North Carolina and if you would be so kind make the same request of all your friends on Facebook or other social media outlets. Pass it on, post it to forums, share it with college alumni, do whatever you can to help NC win!

Thanks!!

(EDIT!)

Here is the recipe for the lamb, they won by the way!!  Here is a video as well.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXMmWgWpL4M

Servings:

·       6  to 10 people (to scale, assume 1.5lbs of pre-cook weight per person)

Cook Time:

·       15 minutes the night before to trim and season the meat

·       15 minutes the morning of the cook to setup the smoker

·       5-6 hrs of semi-attended cooking smoker (glance at temps everything 30 min)

·       10 minutes of rest time before serving

Items Needed:

·       8-12lb Whole Lamb or Mutton Shoulder Roast

·      1/2 cup black pepper

·      2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

·      2 tablespoons kosher salt

·      2 cloves garlic, crushed

·      1/2 teaspoon allspice

·      1/4 cup of Worcestershire Sauce

·      2.5 gallon Zip Lock Bag

·      Tin Foil

·      BBQ Smoker or a Conventional Grill with a Smoke Pan

·      Smoking Wood

·       Digital Thermometer

The Night Before the Cook

1) Prepare rub:

Mix the following into a dry bowl and set aside:

·      1/2 cup black pepper

·      2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

·      2 tablespoons kosher salt

·      2 cloves garlic, crushed

·      1/2 teaspoon allspice

2) Trim meat:

·      Get a 8lb - 10 lb boneless whole shoulder lamb roast.

·      Cut off butchers string and unfold to expose interior.

·      Trim away as much visible fat as you can from the interior, but leave the fat cap on. I was able to trim away 1-2 lbs of fat from a 10 lb roast.

·      Wash whole roast under water and pat dry with a paper towel.

3) Season meat:

·      Douse the entire lamb roast with Worcestershire sauce. It takes about ¼ of a cup. The point of the sauce isn’t to season the meat, its to help the rub adhere to it.

·      Spread prepared rub liberally all over all surfaces of the meats interior and exterior.

·      Roll shoulder roast back up, and place inside a 1 or 2.5 gallon zip lock bag and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

The Morning of the Cook

4) Prepare BBQ smoker (can be charcoal, propane, pellet or other)

·      Prepare smokers fuel source (can be charcoal, propane, pellet or other)

·      Clean grates and fill water pan if your smoker has one.

·      Fill wood pan or fire box with seasoning wood. Put 4 hand-fulls of chips to get a quick smoke at startup smoke, and 3 or 4 large chunks for long-running smoke. Hickory can overpower the taste of the lamb, so I use fruit woods. In this cook, I used Cherry.

·      Prepare your temperature probes. When you smoke meat, you cook to temperature not time. You will need to keep track of both the smoker’s temperature and the meat’s temperature. To do so, invest in a dual probe digital thermometer like this one http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et732.htm . Don’t trust the analog dial thermometer that came on top of your grill. They can be up to 30 degrees off. Being off by that much will destroy your meat!

5) Start Cook

·      Remove the lamb from the zip lock bag and place on the grate.

·      Set the grill probe right next to the meat. Insert the meat probe into the roast so that the tip is in the very center of the roast from all directions.

·      Close the smoker and start the fire. Run the grill up to and keep it between 230 to 250 degrees. Within 10 minutes you should have a thin blue smoke coming out of the smoker.

6) Smoke up to 140, Cook to 201

·      The lamb will take smoke until the meat’s internal temperature reaches about 140. If the smoke stops coming out of the smoker below that point add more of your smoke wood.

·      When the meats internal temperature reaches 140 degrees remove it from the grill and wrap it  tightly in tin foil. This will prevent the lamb from drying out during the rest of the cook.

·      Be sure to re-insert the temperature probe and then put it back on the smoker.

·      When the lambs internal temperature reaches 201 degrees, remove it from the smoker, wrap it a towel, and let it rest for 10 minutes.

7) Rest, Pull, and Serve

·      After the 10 minutes is up, unwrap the foil, and slide the meat onto a serving tray or deep aluminum pan.

·      Use two forks to remove any visible exterior fat. The fat cap will often just slide right off. Throw the fat away so that it doesn’t get mixed in with the meat.

·      Use the two forks (or a set of bear claws) to pull and shred the roast. If properly cooked, the meat will break up very easily. Be sure to perform a taste test :D

·      Let folks serve themselves from the pan. The smell and spectacle of the pile of shredded meat is part of the experience.