LTLT Grilled Lamb or Pork

[joesan]

The weather is hot, even here in London so I want to make a special dish for a long summer lunch.

Here's what I want to do - combine a red wine, thyme and garlic marinated piece of organic lamb or pork and cook it at a low temerature for a long time at a low temperature (based on a Heston Blumenthal recipe).

That is going to give me a deliciously succulent piece of meat. However I also want to combine this cutting edge new technique with one of the oldest - grilling it over hot charcoal - to give it an extra smoky, savoury dimension.

How would you do it? LTLT first then grill or other way round.

Would you cook the meat sous vide or in low oven? Any suggestions on any part of the process, timing, technique or marination?

[eje]

Not sure where the "Avant Garde" part comes in.

Long time, low temp is standard operating procedure for many traditional cooking methods. Confit, braising, cold smoking, etcetera.

If you have a good size covered grill or a smoker, you can do both at once.

Set up your grill for indirect cooking, get the temperature stabilized at around 250 F, add your soaked hardwood chips and meat, cover again, and smoke away.

Just did a butterflied leg of lamb like this last weekend, and it was fantastic.

My dinner had a provencal theme, so my marinade was, lemon juice, fresh bay leaves, fresh sage, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, crushed garlic cloves, salt and pepper, and Olive Oil.

[joesan]

Well I guess it's that burning meat over flames has been with us since the discovery of fire, and LTLT in a vacuum bag with marination is rather more recent. Call it poetic licence if you will.

Your lamb sounds delicious and is pretty much in the same vein as I had in mind. Ingredients sound just about perfect.

I would have trouble replicating it though because I pretty much only have access to a very simple grill - foil tray and charcoals (i.e no smoker). I have a very high good oven (Gaggenau) capable of going to 300 degrees C so I can sear at high temperatures. It also maintains low temperatures really well so could also do the LTLT part in the oven. Maybe I could experiment with charcoal part.

[eje]

I would have trouble replicating it though because I pretty much only have access to a very simple grill

That's what I was afraid of.

Sounds like a nice stove. Wish I had one like it.

Do you have an exhaust hood?

I know it is possible to smoke meats indoors in woks (Chinese tea smoking) and sealed stovetop containers. I haven't tried it and wouldn't really want to do it without a hood, though. Usually it involves setting up a sealed container with the smoke producing substance and a raised rack inside.

These folks make the one I've seen here in the US. It really doesn't seem to be anything except a stainless 9x17 pan with a stainless rack inside and a sliding lid. Surely, something similar could be rigged up.

http://www.cameronssmoker.com/index.html

[Shalmanese]

I would poach first, grill later. Poaching last would dissolve the crust and would defeat the purpose of grilling. Then again, you could grill, poach, grill. That way, you get a nice rich sauce and a crusty exterior.

I guess it would be possible to do it in the oven but you would need to take a bit of care. you need to keep the meat within a range of about 3C. Stick a digital thermometer in and keep track of the temperature at all times. I would keep a jug of cold water by the oven and give it a good splash of cold water if it looks like going over. That way, you can be a bit aggresive about the oven temperature and just rely on you cooling it to keep it stable.

[snowangel]

If you want any smoky flavor, you need to get the smoke into the meat before it reaches 140 (F).

[joesan]

Eje - well I in turn wish I had your nice smoker setup! But since we only ever get a maximum of 5 days good weather a year (!) here we don't tend to have such nice outdoor equipment as you guys have...

Good point about the tea smoke in the wok though. I made some quail this way from a recipe by Neil Perry using a wok and the wok lid. It worked really well. Might be a bit harder to do a big leg of lamb though. Thanks for reminding me of the butterflying by the way, I am going to do that since it will make an even cooking easier to achieve.

Shalmanese - You know I kindof like the idea of Grill, Poach, Grill. Hadn't thought of doing it either side of the poaching. I am always just a little wary of going from a high to low temperature or vice versa. But it seems to be the way its done in restaurants and it seems to be safe enough.

The oven is pretty precise and has an integral temperature probe with +-1 degree precision so I should be safe enough there. Its actually really easy to maintain a precise low temperature in it - best money I ever spent in my kitchen!

Do you think poaching rather than just open roasting?