Cooking multiple lamb shoulders for a wedding reception

[Boz]

I am looking forward  to giving my daughter away in marriage on June 24th. She loves my lamb shoulder from previous kamado cooks. So I have committed to cooking  8 Square cut lamb shoulders for her wedding reception on my recently purchased 23" Komodo (boz-lo). I would like to start cooking all 8 shoulders the evening before the wedding. My question to you great & helpful Komodo chefs is how many 9 lb. shoulders  can I fit on the 23"Komodo  at the same time and still cook them efficiently and timely for a lo & slow cook?My goal is to have warm  lamb ready for the wedding reception Friday evening & still be able to walk my daughter down the isle early Friday evening. I have a fantastic lamb recipie which I will share with you all later. So I would soo appreciate anyone's  tips & suggestions to pull this cook off. Including how to best set   The Komodo  up for along 225-250 lo& slow cook.

[Boz]

I forgot to mention I have 2  smaller kamados to fill in for any extra meat  boz-lo  can't  handle.

[tinyfish]

What size do you think the shoulder are?

 If you can use both the main and upper grate you should be able to quite a few on.

I wonder if you can use the lower grate at the same time too and just sit a deflector right on the charcoal basket. 

[CeramicChef]

I would think that you might could fit 2-3 lamb shoulders on the main and a couple on the elevated rack without much problem. (I live in Oklahoam and we seldome see mutton of any stripe around these parts, so size is an unknown to me.) you don't want the shoulders touching … leave about an inch between them so they cook independently.  I'm assuming you'll be employing a drip pan below the main rack.  

Congrats to your whole family on the pending nuptials.  It's always a bittersweet moment walking a daughter down the aisle.  Here's to a wonderful time and give my best wishes to your daughter and her soon to be husband!

[tony b]

 

@Boz - are they de - boned?  If not, see if the butcher will do it for you (or do it yourself if you have time). But either way, see if the butcher will give you some of those elastic mesh bags for holding them together (better than twine). You will be able to get more on the grill and they will cook faster if de-boned. The mesh bags will allow you to slater the insides with tasty seasonings before bagging them up. Best guess - de-boned, 5 on the main, 3 on the upper. Bone in - probably 3 on the main and 2 on the upper. I wouldn't recommend using the lower grate, as those will cook faster than the rest, which means completely unloading the whole, very hot, grill to swap/rotate them mid-cook (or to just pull them off when done) - PITA!

[Boz]

Thanks forum members for your input. If my memory is  correct the 9lb shoulders(yearling lamb, not mutton)  are approx. 9-10" square give or take an inch.- Don't  believe I'll  use the lower grate, except for drip  pan. Should I set the ceramic  heat deflector on the lower grill with the drip pan on top ? CC-  I believe you made a good estimate of 4-5 shoulders on the main & upper grills. Thank you for your wedding blessings, she has waited 32 years for this moment! (Off subject- I camped last year in Chandler, Ok.& shared my kamado BBQ  lamb with fellow campers,did not last long. Anyone out there done much with lamb  shoulder Q ?.  Tony, I've  done several dozen lamb shoulders over the last 5 years, & have never  deboned because they  have always turned out delicious, but it would allow me to cook more shoulders at 1 time. Does anyone have an approximation of cooking time for 5 shoulders on the 23" Komodo ? I normally  cook my single shoulders for 10-14 hours, try to pull at205 deg. IT, cooking at a grill temp of 225-250.

[tinyfish]

I would make sure your KK is nice and heat soaked before you added the meat.

[Syzygies]

I've done six large pork butts (two layers of three). Seven (three over four) certainly, and it looked like eight (smaller four over larger four) would work. I'll know in July, as one such cook has become an annual event. Lamb shoulders are smaller, I'd be stunned if eight didn't work somehow.

Keep an airspace all around between the KK shell and the meat. Between the different shoulders, not so much. Do what you can and don't sweat it. One loses bark where the meat touches, but it still cooks. One could preheat or allow a couple of hours more than usual for a cold start, which will give more familiar smoke.

Something remarkable happens when a ceramic cooker is actually full of meat. I first learned this, meeting "David" at an off-brand cooker event in Sacramento in 2003.

[Boz]

I would make sure your KK is nice and heat soaked before you added the meat.

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[Boz]

By heat soaked do you mean let it heat up to 225_250 for how long before I put the meat on? Also after heatsoak do I replenish basket with charcoal & wood chunks to get a long lo& slow so I won't have to add charcoal ?

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[ckreef]

By heat soaked do you mean let it heat up to 225_250 for how long before I put the meat on? Also after heatsoak do I replenish basket with charcoal & wood chunks to get a long lo& slow so I won't have to add charcoal ?

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Fill the basket completely full (all the way to the handles) you'll have more than enough lump to do an extra long low-n-slow. Still some left for the next day.

.

Get the temperature settled in at whatever your looking for. With that much meat on I would go for 250*-275*. After it's settled in at that temperature let it ride for another 30-60 minutes. This allows for the complete interior of the KK to get to temp so it takes less time to recover after putting the meat on. When you put the meat on and your temp drops don't touch the vents it will work it's way back to where you had it stable at.

Reef's Bistro

[Boz]

Thank you  Charles, sounds like a good  plan! Any  ideas on  cooking times for 5  shoulders at approximately 9lbs each ?

[ckreef]

Thank you  Charles, sounds like a good  plan! Any  ideas on  cooking times for 5  shoulders at approximately 9lbs each ?

Once the meat is on and the temp has recovered having 5 on compared to 2 shouldn't take a lot more time as they are all cooking together. At 250*-275* I think you could plan for 12 hours give or take a little. At 275* they will push through the stall a lot faster than at 225* and you won't notice the difference in the end product.

That's just my quess as I normally cook for 3 but that is how I would plan it anyway.

Reef's Bistro

[CeramicChef]

@Boz - I think you'll find heat soaking your KK before each and every low-n-slow cook really works well.  I"ve done it for quite some time and it really gets rid of heat transients.  I also heat soak my KK and its baking stone every time I use that ... pizzas, deserts, etc.  I even let my small stone get heat soaked last evening on a simply chicken cook and it really sped things up.  For my money, heat soaking is really the way to go.

[MacKenzie]

Totally agree with CC if you don't heat soak until the baking stone is up to temperature the KK may read 500F and the stone 350F, etc. not what you want. It should all be at the same temp. or nearly so. That's my 2 cents.:)

Edited June 8, 2016 by MacKenzie

[tinyfish]

Heat soaking as explained by the best KK cookers.

[tony b]

Second that, Tony.