I'm a fan of shoulder cuts of meat, like beef chuck and pork butt. Lamb shoulder is another of my favorites, but it can be harder to find in my local grocery stores. It is worth the effort to hunt down. Lamb shoulder gives you all the advantages of shoulder cuts; it is tough to overcook, well marbled with fat, and has lots of connective tissue that melts into tender gelatin, if it is cooked long enough As a bonus, lamb shoulder is cheaper than the "better" cuts from the loin and leg, but still gives you the distinctive flavor of lamb.
Luckily, I have a source for my lamb shoulder. I put in a special order for a boned and tied lamb shoulder roast from the Great American Lamb company, and picked it up at the Cuyahoga Valley Winter Farmer's Market last month.
*Don't be afraid to talk to your butcher! They are happy to special order cuts like this, as long as they have some advance notice. It will also show your butcher that you have a seriousness of purpose, and will probably get you better service next time.
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📖 Recipe Card
Rotisserie Lamb Shoulder
- Total Time: 25 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings 1x
Description
A boneless lamb shoulder roast dry brined with salt, garlic, rosemary and lemon zest, then spit-roasted until tender and basted with rosemary olive oil.
Ingredients
Lamb
- 3 to 4 pound boneless lamb shoulder roast
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Rosemary olive oil baste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, tied together to make a brush
Instructions
- Dry brine the lamb: 1 to 2 days before cooking, unwrap the lamb, remove any netting, rinse, and pat dry. Trim the exterior fat. Unroll the lamb so the inside faces up, sprinkle evenly with the salt, then sprinkle the inside with the garlic, minced rosemary and lemon zest. Cover and refrigerate. (No time? Do this just before cooking.)
- Truss and skewer: 2 hours before cooking, take the lamb out of the refrigerator. Roll it into an even tube and tie it with butcher's twine every 2 inches. Skewer it lengthwise on the rotisserie spit, and let it rest at room temperature.
- Prepare the grill: Set up your grill for rotisserie cooking at medium heat, with a drip pan in the middle. On my grill, I remove the grates, turn the two outer burners and the infrared rotisserie burner to medium, and preheat for 10 to 15 minutes. (See my rotisserie basic technique for more setup details.)
- Cook the lamb: Put the spit on the grill, start the motor, and cook with the lid closed. After 1 hour, turn off the infrared burner if you have one, and baste the lamb with the olive oil using the rosemary brush. Keep basting every 15 to 30 minutes until the thickest part of the roast reaches 180°F, 1 hour 15 minutes to 2 hours total. Start checking after 30 minutes, and keep the thermometer away from the spit.
- Rest and serve: Remove the lamb from the spit and cut off the twine. Baste once more, let rest for 15 minutes, then slice ½ inch thick and serve.
Notes
Equipment: A grill with a rotisserie (I use a Weber Summit 650 with an infrared rotisserie burner), a foil drip pan, and butcher's twine.
Shoulder cuts need to be cooked well done so the connective tissue melts. If you want medium-rare lamb, use a leg of lamb instead.
Truss the roast into an even shape. A thin end will overcook before the thickest part is done.
Lamb shoulder can be hard to find - ask your butcher to special order a boned and tied shoulder roast.
Serve with a Greek salad and tzatziki sauce. Use leftovers for gyros, with pita, tzatziki and thin-sliced red onion.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Dry brine: 1 day
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Rotisserie Boneless Leg of Lamb, Greek Style
Rotisserie Leg of Lamb Provencal
Rotisserie Beef Chuck Roast Barbacoa
Click here for my other rotisserie recipes.
Inspired by:
Boned and tied lamb shoulder from the Great American Lamb company at the Cuyahoga Valley Winter Farmer's Market
 Check out my cookbook, Rotisserie Grilling.
Everything you could ask about the rotisserie, It's a Kindle e-book, so you can download it and start reading immediately! |
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Race View B&B says
Amazing. Thanks! I had a small roast (2.5 lb) and, with a low heat (325º) on the BBQ, and, a longer cooking time (several hours), it was amazing. No worry about flare ups. Perfect. Our local lamb is smaller than many recipes call for, so I appreciate this recipe. To be honest, I didn't do the long brine. Wish I'd taken pictures of it! Will do this again. Might try the brine next time instead of a 1 hour wait.
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@Lisa S:
Wow - deer and antelope? I thought I was lucky finding lamb at my local farmer's market.
@Pam:
Great! I'm glad I could give you some inspiration.
Pam Anderson says
Maggy and Sharon have both requested lamb for our upcoming holiday feast, so I think this is it!
Lisa S. says
I was too lazy to go outside this cold wet weekend. I did, however, go for shoulders.
1 deer shoulder and 1 antelope shoulder roast. Dutch oven with carmelized onions and dark dark beer. They will be supper tonight. Your lamb looks fabulous.
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says
@AYOTG:
No grill? How can that be possible? I'm assuming you can get charcoal somewhere on the US Virgin Islands, yes?
A Year on the Grill says
what a wonderful meal... I am dieing here without my grill
Love the look of that/ great photos