Saturday, January 25, 2025

Lamb Shoulder Roast


 This was one of those happenstance items that I probably would not have gotten had I not scored a marked down package of meat. The various bones in the lamb shoulder are intimidating to say the least--there's the shoulder itself, a big flat bone that I have no idea what it is--it looks the same as the big bone you'd pull out of a pork butt at the end of a cook, and a half dozen long ribs. There's also a bunch of cartilage and connective stuff. You get me? This is a weird chunk of meat. Originally I thought I'd braise it and just cook it til the meat fell off the bones, but it was too big for a 6.5 quart dutch oven, and too small for the 13 quart. So on to the weber kettle it went.

I seasoned it with just salt and pepper, placed a drip pan with some water below, and lit one side of the coal pile with cherry chunks on top. When the fire caught, and covered the grill and got the temp to about 250 degrees and left it alone for the next 4 hours, checking the temp periodically.

After 4 hours, I wrapped the roast in butcher paper, pouring the fat from the drip pan on the butcher paper, and over the meat before wrapping tightly and returning it to the grill. If you want the meat to be fall-apart tender, cook it to over 200 degrees internal temp. I was aiming for more chew so I choose to cook it to 185 degrees.

After another 3 hours, I pulled the roast and let it rest for 45 minutes before slicing. I sliced off 6 rib chops and did the best I could making slices of the remaining roast. There is a definite advantage to cooking it to 200+ degrees and just pulling all meat free if the bones.

Not a cut I would do again unless the markdown fairies bless me with another one. It was tasty, but a leg o' lamb is easier. The bark was delicious, and the flavor was good--just not something I'd go out of my way for. 


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