Country Style LAMB Ribs and Roast Chicken

[veryolddog]

Yesterday, I used the pellet grill and today it is the stick burners turn. While shopping in Wal-mart and browsing the meat department, I saw something that I have not seen before. The lamb section is so miniscule that if you blink you will walk by it. I noticed that they had a few extra items including lamb shoulder chops and country style lamb ribs. I purchased the lamb ribs to give it try. I generally like lamb especially rack o lamb and rarely see it in any quantity in the meat departments of any store. I do not know why they don't market more lamb. I guess that sweaters bring a bigger profit.

In any event, I started the Cheyenne this morning and while it was coming up to speed, I prepared the chicken and ribs.

Basic lamb ribs.



Basic yard bird: 6 lbs. Sanderson Farms from the HEB at $0.88 per lb.



Yard bird decorated with home made rub and injected with Wishbone's Buffalo Ranch Dressing and Franks hot sauce.



I made a kind of a paste rub for the lamb ribs. I don't even remember what I did. Salt, pepper, lots of minced garlic, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, chili powder, and enough olive oil to make it a paste to stick to the ribs. So I patted the paste to the ribs in hopes that this mixture will be encrusted on the surface. Hey, creative license.



When the temperature came up on the Cheyenne, I place the Chicken on the grill.





I am getting this process down pretty much. The key to managing heat, air flow and smoke is: everything in moderation and that less can be more.



I will touch back as the progress becomes more interesting.

Ed

[teesquare]

You hit the nail on the head - Ed: everything in moderation and that less can be more.


When it comes to adjusting offset smokers, a light hand will yield better results every time.

[smokeasaurus]

Who says you cant teach an old dog new tricks

[Savannahsmoker]

Sure like that pit.

[Rummm]

Interesting on the Country Style Lamb Ribs.....wonder if they just sliced the bone-in breast into strips

[veryolddog]

Dinner is over and it was good. The country style lamb ribs were satisfactory. They were tender but they had veins of tough material running through them. If you cut around that, the meat was very good. It seem that the pork country style rib was tastier.



Now the chicken was whole different story. I usually coat the chicken with some yellow mustard so that the rub will adhere to the surface. This time, I coated the chicken with mayo and then applied my rub. Then I injected the chicken with Wishbone Buffalo Ranch salad dressing which also had Frank's hot sauce in it. This was the most moist chicken that I have ever cooked including a home oven. My wife raved about the chicken.





We just served this with coleslaw. The juice flowing from the back of the plate came from a small piece of chicken breast.

I am not sure that I would purchase lamb country style ribs again but I wish that I could get a rack of lamb to smoke or maybe a leg of lamb might be nice as well.

I will definitely do the chicken again with mayo and that buffalo ranch dressing.

Couple of observations about wood smoking: first, I am using Royal Oak Lump Charcoal. It is a very good charcoal and burns hot and it burns fast. So it is gone in a couple of hours. I thought that it would last a little longer. Second, small split logs work the best. Until you really have a nice base of coals, a little larger log take longer to ignite and fire up.

Less is more. You really do not have to stack up a pile of logs in the fire box. I find that when the coals get hot to about 150 degrees, then I apply a couple of small logs. When the temperature reaches between 200 and 210 degrees, then I put another log on and move the damper to 50 per cent.

I like to do my cooking at 225 degrees. I find that it can fluctuate between 210 and 230 degrees depending how I am fussing with the damper. Movement of the damper has to be done with touches in small movements. Everything actually should be done in small movements.

The next cook will be on Sunday, when I attempt a Tri Tip for the first time. This will be cooked on the pellet smoker.

Happy smoking!

Ed

[mikecorn.1]

Man, that looks good!


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[Keymaster]

It all looks Delicious!!! Nice Post.

[hikerman]

Ed, those lamb ribs and chicken look wonderful. Great color, inside and outside. Good job!  I too am partial to lamb. Good chops or an occasional leg with some good hearty red wine, it's just biblical! I can't wait to cook a leg on the pellet pooper.

As far as "everything in moderation". Well I went thru most of my "formative years" with my father regularly telling me that "Too much is no good"! I really don't think it sunk in for quite a while .....but I finally did get it!   
good pics

[Wing Commander]

It all looks Delicious!!! Nice Post.

X2

[fishingbouchman]

 

[muebe]

Looks fantastic Ed!

[Scallywag]

Very nice! Chicken looks great!!

[sliding_billy]

Really nice cook.

[sparky]

very impressive.  nice done.