A tender, boneless smoked leg of lamb is one of the best cuts of meat for entertaining, and something everyone should know how to make. It’s an easy recipe, but does take a little preparation if you’ll be removing the bones yourself. But, if your lamb leg came boneless and wrapped in butchers twine it’s incredibly easy. Read on and I’ll explain everything you need to know to smoke boneless legs of lamb at home like a chef.
Dry-brining the meat, applying a dry-rub and allowing it to rest overnight ensures even seasoning. Slow smoking until the perfect internal temperature is reached and resting the meat before slicing means the leg of lamb will be perfectly tender and juicy every time. If you have New Zealand lamb, which has a stronger gamey flavor, smoking also helps mellow the taste, making it into something everyone will enjoy. Everyone likes smoked meat.
Your lamb might have come already boneless, if it did, it’s probably wrapped in butchers twine or netting too. If if is, feel free to skip down to how to smoke a leg of lamb.
If your lamb leg still has bones in it you can remove them for easy slicing, or the leg can be cooked whole, bone-in. After the bones are removed I also like to remove as much fat as possible from the leg, which can vary depending on the age of your animal. Pictured is a larger lamb leg, around 1 year old, known as hogget. The images below illustrate the process, and I also go over it in the video.
After the bones are removed, depending on your lamb and where it came from, you may want to remove some of the fat. After the fat has been trimmed, one of the most important things is seasoning the meat with a dry-brine and allowing it to rest overnight wrapped in cling film. This allows the outside of the meat to dry out and absorb the smoke as it cooks, making the delicious, smoky bark everyone loves. I use the process here with a boneless leg, but it will also work with a bone in leg of lamb.
After the meat is seasoned, it’s tied with butchers twine. Large legs can be unevenly-sized after removing the bone, so you may find it helpful to cut the leg into two evenly-sized roasts. Tying the leg helps it cook evenly, but the knots don’t have to be perfect. All you need is for the leg to hold its shape.
To smoke the leg, you preheat the smoker or pellet grill like a Traeger to 225 F. The meat is rubbed with a little olive oil and cooked for 2.5-3 hours depending on size. Once the desired internal temperature is reached, the lamb is removed from the smoker and allowed to rest in a warm place for at least 10 minutes per pound before slicing. You can warm the leg of lamb up in the oven for a few minutes before slicing to make sure it’s hot.
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