smoked lamb oyster blade, a richer flavour than the full lamb shoulder

Having some of the best lamb in the world at our doorstep means it regularly finds it’s way onto our plates. When it comes to pulled lamb a shoulder is the way to go. Within the shoulder is the oyster blade. The cut, which can be a little difficult to source on it’s own, weighs somewhere in the vicinity of 1.5kg to 1.8kg. Despite cooking plenty of lamb shoulders in the past and obviously having eaten the oyster blade section, on it’s own we noticed it has a richer and stronger flavour than when combined with the other parts of the shoulder. The extra flavour is really pronounced and very tasty.

You can treat oyster blade as you would a shoulder but the good news is that the cooking time is about half, somewhere around the 4 to 5 hour mark.

This serving of pulled lamb was served with bacon wrapped asparagus, honey and hot sauce. It’s great alongside veggies, in tacos, pies, on pizzas, in rolls and sandwiches… there’s plenty of options.

ingredients

• lamb oyster blade
• your favourite lamb rub or a 50-50 mix of salt and pepper.

directions

1. Trim the blade of excess fat leaving just a thin layer of it over the surface of the blade.
2. Lightly brush the blade with a thin layer of mayonnaise* or mustard and add the rub or salt and pepper mix. If time permits do this the night before to let the salt penetrate into the meat.
3. Setup your barbecue for indirect grilling and preheat to 280f/138c.
4. Add the blade to the cooker along with 2 chunks of nut or fruit wood if using a charcoal barbecue.
5. Check the blade after 3 hours. The bark should be well formed at this point.
6. Cook until the internal temperature of the meat reads around the 205f/96c or probes with little resistance.
7. Allow the meat to rest for a minimum of half an hour before pulling. The bones should slide right out.
8. Enjoy your lamb oyster blade! Add a little honey after pulling to kick that flavour along even more.

For other lamb ideas click here.

*Grilling with mayo helps to avoid the meat sticking to the grill, it encourages the Maillard reaction that brings the golden brown colour to the meat, it helps rubs and seasonings to stick and potentially helps to retain moisture in the meat. You can read the full article and more scientific explanation here – http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-fo-grilling-with-mayonnaise-recipes-20170610-htmlstory.html