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Whole Lamb BBQ

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Whole Lamb inside a smoker
     Holy Grail. Mount Everest. Superbowl. There are many metaphors that pitmasters use to describe cooking a whole animal.  The challenge of cooking a large carcass is the pinnacle for many.  Personally, I find the endeavor a demanding and rewarding experience.  With so many different muscles of varying thicknesses and degrees of toughness, your skills are put to the test.  It’s easy to become overwhelmed when you are a beginner.  Cooking something that can weigh more than you isn’t a routine task for most people. Hopefully, this recipe for Whole Lamb BBQ will demystify the process.  Finding a cooker large enough will likely be your biggest hurdle.
A whole lamb carcass is split open and rubbed with mustard and bbq seasoning.
    Why cook whole lamb bbq?  Why not?  There are a host of great reasons.  Connecting with my food is one of the most important aspects of cooking for me.  Knowing where my food comes from, knowing the farmer who raised the animal, and whether the animal had been raised humanely are all things you discover when cooking a whole animal.  You can’t waltz down to the corner grocery and toss an entire lamb in your cart.  You have to put in the effort to source it from a local butcher, slaughterhouse, or farmer.  For me, the extra work is worth it.  Your food and its sourcing are staring you in the face.
Nothing tastes quite like whole lamb BBQ.  The different muscles, fat content, and textures add up to an incredible bite.  You can’t replicate it if you don’t have all the parts at your disposal.  So how do we go about creating this summit of smoked meat?

The Cooker

    First things first, do you have a cooker big enough?  For a lamb, you will need about a minimum of a 48 x 36-inch cooking chamber.  If you don’t have a pit that big, you can always break the animal down into smaller pieces to fit and mix all the meat at the end.  I’m a proponent of getting a  smoker that’s adequately sized and then going one size up if you can afford it.  You’ve done it correctly if you second guess your purchase.  Common sense says having adequate space for one is ideal, but I’ve had multiple cookers over the years that did not fit in my garage.  When it comes to purchasing a new smoker, remember, It’s always better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
A large trailer mounted smoker sits in a driveway.

Land the Lamb

    Next, you need to source your lamb.  Get in touch with a local farmer, butcher shop, or slaughterhouse.  You won’t be able to pick this up at the supermarket.  If you are in the Louisville, Kentucky area, I recommend Freedom Run Farm.  They did not sponsor this post; I happen to like their lamb.  My preference is an 80-100 pound lamb.  I can maneuver this size around myself if I can’t find any help.
    Before we prep, let’s get the fire going.  I like cooking whole lamb bbq at 275-300 degrees.
A large thermometer reads 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is a little hotter than I would cook a pig.  For a pig, I would go lower and slower so the skin wouldn’t split open.  You don’t have to worry about this with a lamb.  If your lamb still has the skin on it, something has gone horribly wrong at the slaughterhouse.  While the cooker is coming up to temp, I also like placing foil over the whole grill grate.  Fat dripping down and causes flare-ups that could burn the bark we create.  The foil will act as a barrier.

Cut on dotted Line

    Now we need to prep the lamb.  Using a cleaver, hatchet, or even a saws-all, cut the vertebrae between the shoulders on the inside of the carcass just enough so that you can split the lamb open flat.  We aren’t trying to split the animal in half completely.  We are doing just enough, so it lays flat and won’t fall over on its side during the cook.  Repeat this process with the hip bones in the rear.
A lamb carcass is split open on a prep table.
A close up of the ribs and spine of the lamb
The rear legs of the lamb trimmed and rubbed with mustard
    I use mustard as a binder for the rub.  Take a few cups of mustard and slather the whole lamb inside and out. A whole lamb lays on a stainless steel prep table.Next, take your favorite rub and coat the entire lamb.  The mustard should act as glue, but you won’t taste it in the final product.  I personally like using my Classic BBQ Rub recipe but feel free to use whatever floats your boat.
A lamb carcass is heavily seasoned with BBQ rub

Smoke ’em if you got ’em

Let’s get the lamb in the smoker.  It should be up to temp by now.  We will cook at 275-300 for 7-8 hours, depending on how consistent the temperatures are and the size of the lamb.  I like to cook the lamb on its back, so the carcass acts as a bowl to catch all the melting fat.  This will help keep the meat moist and juicy.
A whole lamb is placed inside a bbq smoker
After an hour or so, I start checking the lamb.  You may notice the exterior starting to dry out.  To combat this, I like using a spray bottle with water to mist the exterior lightly.  I check back about every 30-45 minutes and apply more as needed.  Try and get in and out quickly so as not to lose all the heat.  Remember, if you’re lookin you ain’t cookin.
A spray bottle gently mists the cooking lamb to keep it moist.
Around the 3 hour mark, I like to take some foil and tent over the whole lamb.  This will help speed up the cooking process and will help keep the lamb from becoming over smoked.
The lamb is wrapped in aluminum foil to speed the cooking process.

The Payoff

Finally, after 7-8 hours, the lamb should be finished.  It should be moist, tender, and juicy.  I like to apply a healthy splash of my Kentucky Black BBQ sauce when pulling and mixing the meat together.  This sauce is a classic Kentucky Style sauce.  It pairs excellently with the tangy meat of the lamb.
Whole Lamb inside a smoker is finished and ready to be eaten. Soft an tender lamb bbq ready to be picked from the bones delicious lamb meat ready to be eaten a bone is pulled away from the bbq lamb meat.
Enjoy the spoils of your hard work!  If you have any questions or comments, leave them below.  Check out this video for a step-by-step guide!

Whole Lamb inside a smoker
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Whole Lamb BBQ

Moist, Juicy, Tender whole lamb bbq is like nothing you've ever had. Flavors from all the different sections of the lamb combine into something amazing.

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 8 hours
Servings 80 people

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Heat pit to 275-300 degrees

  2. Wrap one cooking grate with aluminum foil

  3. Using a cleaver, hatchet, or even a saws-all, cut the vertebrae between the shoulders on the inside of the carcass just enough so that you can split the lamb open flat.

  4. Repeat this process with the hip bones in the rear.

  5. Rub the entire carcass with yellow mustard

  6. Coat the entire carcass with Classic BBQ Rub

  7. Place the lamb in the cooker on the foil

  8. After an hour spritz the outside with water as needed to keep it from drying out

  9. After 3 hours wrap the lamb in foil and continue cooking

  10. At 8 hours the lamb should be done. Time to pull the meat and toss in a little Kentucky Style Black BBQ Sauce

  11. Amaze your guests with this ingredible bbq

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Andrew Armstrong

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