Recipes / Meat
Leg of lamb on the kettle braai
A bone-in leg of lamb studded with garlic and rosemary, roasted with the lid on over indirect medium heat and carved pink.
- Prep
- 25 min
- On the fire
- 2 hr
- Plan ahead
- 1 hour for the lamb to lose its chill, plus 20 minutes resting
- Serves
- 8
- Done at
- 145°F (63°C)
Ingredients
For the kettle
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Set up for indirect heat: light the outside burners (or one side of a two-burner grill) and leave the burner under the food off.
- Close the lid and adjust the lit burners until the lid thermometer reads the temperature in the recipe. Put a drip tray under meat.
- Gas holds a steady heat, so you can skip any step that adds fresh coals. Go by a thermometer in the food rather than the clock.
- For a smoky taste, put a handful of wood chips in a smoker box, or a foil parcel pierced with a few holes, over a lit burner while the grill preheats.
- Take the lamb out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking. Pat it dry and trim any thick, loose fat.
- Make 16 to 20 small cuts all over the meat with a thin knife. Push a sliver of garlic and a piece of rosemary into each one.
- Mix the oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, pepper and oregano and rub it all over the lamb. Salt it just before it goes on.
- Light the briquettes and, once they are covered in grey ash, put half on each side of the kettle. Set the drip tray between them and pour in the water.
- Place the lamb on the grid over the drip tray, fat side up. Close the lid with the top vent over the meat and both vents half open. Aim for about 180°C (350°F).
- Cook for 1 hour without lifting the lid. Then add 8 fresh briquettes to each side to keep the heat up.
- Cook for another 45 to 60 minutes, checking the temperature in the thickest part from the 1 3/4 hour mark.
- Lift the lamb onto a board, cover loosely with foil and rest for 20 minutes. Carve across the grain, working around the bone.
Done when: the outside is deep brown and crisp and a thermometer in the thickest part, not touching the bone, reads 63°C (145°F). That gives pink, juicy meat; cook to 70°C (158°F) if you prefer it well done.
Tips
- Allow about 40 to 45 minutes per kg (18 to 20 minutes per lb) at 180°C (350°F), but go by the thermometer, as wind and weather change the heat.
- Put a few potatoes and onions in the drip tray for the last hour. They cook in the lamb fat.
- A deboned, rolled leg cooks faster. Start checking it after 1 1/4 hours.
In South Africa a leg of lamb is the usual Sunday roast, and on a fine day it moves from the oven to the kettle braai. With the lid closed and the coals pushed to the sides, the kettle works like an outdoor oven but adds a little smoke. Garlic and rosemary are the traditional partners. If you are new to the setup, read setting up a kettle braai for indirect heat.