Leg of Lamb Reconstructed

So I had an impromptu thought as I passed the lonesome Leg of Lamb sitting in the QFC meat section. The rumination that endued was gut wrenching. You see, I just finished creating a Reconstructed Rib Roast and it turned out very well. I wondered to myself if I could do the same thing with the Lamb. I must have circled that Lamb in the case several times. i was like a vulture. I walked over to produce section and pondered.....What if? Then I walked over to the deli case.....Maybe? So I deliberated just a little while longer and took the plunge and swaddled that Lamb into my my arms and place carefully in my cart like a proud pappa....I did it. I will say right off that I knew going into this it would be challenging. Lets face it a Leg of Lamb is very different than a Rib Roast. With a Rib-Roast you only have to deal with the Backbone and one or two interwoven muscles. The Leg of Lamb is a dang leg and reconstructing it will be difficult.......Why? because it's a dang leg. Yea I said it again. I did something similar last year and it turned out very well. I called it Lamstrami!!!!! With the Lamstrami there were many different steps and I bought it boneless. I have made Boneless Leg of Lamb before but leg in will be a first for me.  

This was not easy to break down. I removed the bones and thick gamy hard fat and silver-skin. 

All broken down and bones removed. I roasted the bone and gave it to the dog.

Initially I thought after tasting the rub it was overpowering. But after I cooked everything all the flavors married and it turned out pretty darn good. Just needs a few tweaks. Anyhow I combined everything together in a bowl and applied it to the reconstructed Lamb. 

Transglutaminase was sprinkled on the lamb then I sprinkled on the spice mixture. Trying to figure out how to reassemble this now boneless Leg of Lamb was not easy. 

Rolled up and Vacuumed sealed. 

I Sous-Vide the Lamb at 131 degrees for 24 hours. After the 24 hour water bath I submerge the vacuumed sealed lamb into ice bath to cool off then I refrigerated overnight. 

Apple Smoked for 90 minutes at 200 degrees. I didn't want the meats internal temp to go beyond 131-degrees so refrigerating the meat overnight mitigated this concern.

Using the Searzall to brown the outside a bit. I am not sure this was really necessary and probably will not do this in the future. 


Here are my thoughts on this little project. Overall somewhat satisfied with the way it turned out. The spice rub could be tweaked little but but not bad at all. The searzall was not necessary. The smoke at the end was all that was really needed. Will I do it again.....yes. Oh and by the way 24 hrs in the SV was not necessary either. I think 18-20 hrs would have sufficed. 

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