Braai Life

Recipes / Meat

Butterflied lamb shoulder on the kettle braai

A boned lamb shoulder rubbed with garlic, rosemary and lemon, seared over the coals and finished under the lid until pink.

Coals
Medium coals
Prep
20 min
On the fire
1 hr 15 min
Plan ahead
2 hours to overnight marinating, 15 minutes resting
Serves
6

Ingredients

  • 1.6 kg (3.5 lb) boned and butterflied lamb shoulder (ask the butcher; a butterflied leg works the same way)
  • 3 lemons, halved, for the grid
  • 2 tablespoons sugar, for the lemons

Rub

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seed, lightly crushed, or 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper

Sticky baste (optional)

  • 125 ml (1/2 cup) plum jam or smooth apricot jam
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar

Method

  1. Mix the rub ingredients. Open the lamb out flat, rub the mixture into both sides and into every fold. Cover and keep in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
  2. Take the lamb out of the fridge an hour before cooking. If the thin end is much thinner than the rest, fold it under and hold it with a skewer so the piece is an even thickness.
  3. Light about 40 briquettes. When they are ashed over, split them into two piles on either side of the kettle with a foil drip tray between them. Pour a cup of water into the tray. Fit the grid and put the lid on for 5 minutes. You want 180 to 200°C (350 to 400°F) on the lid thermometer.
  4. Warm the jam, soy sauce and vinegar together in a small pot until the jam melts, and set it aside.
  5. Lay the lamb fat side down directly over one pile of coals. Sear for 3 to 4 minutes a side, moving it if the fat flares.
  6. Move the lamb to the centre of the grid over the drip tray, fat side up. Lid on, vents half open. Cook for 45 to 70 minutes depending on thickness. Add 6 briquettes to each side after the first hour if you are still going.
  7. In the last 15 minutes brush the baste over the top. Check the thickest part with a thermometer and pull the lamb off at 55°C (131°F) for pink.
  8. Rest the lamb on a board, loosely covered, for 15 minutes. Meanwhile dip the cut side of the lemon halves in sugar and char them over the coals for 2 to 3 minutes.
  9. Slice the lamb across the grain and serve with the lemons squeezed over.

Done when: the thickest part reads 58 to 60°C (136 to 140°F) after resting for pink; the safe minimum for a whole cut is 63°C (145°F) after resting.

Tips

  • Bone-in slow version: season a 2.2 kg (4.8 lb) bone-in shoulder with the same rub. Set up the kettle with 12 briquettes a side and a drip tray of water, aim for 120 to 140°C (250 to 285°F), and add 6 to 8 briquettes a side every hour. Cook for 4 to 5 hours until the blade bone pulls out clean and the meat reads 90°C (195°F) or more. Brush with the baste, char briefly over hot coals, and pull apart to serve. An oven at 125°C (255°F) for 4 to 5 hours does the same job before a short finish on the braai.
  • The jam baste burns. It goes on in the last 15 minutes only, never at the start.
  • Do not skip the rest. A cut this size climbs another 5°C (9°F) off the fire, and cutting it early puts the juice on the board.
  • Shoulder carries more fat than leg, so it forgives a few extra minutes. It is the better cut if this is your first big roast.
  • Keep water in the drip tray. Dry fat in the tray smokes and gives the meat an acrid taste.

A whole shoulder or leg of lamb on the kettle is the South African Sunday roast taken outside. The sticky fruit-jam baste comes from the Cape, where dried fruit and preserves have gone with meat for centuries. The method here is the quicker pink version; the slow bone-in version is in the tips.

This is a long cook under the lid, so read setting up a kettle braai first, and see salting and resting meat and safe braai temperatures for the numbers.