Kamado Joe Lamb Spare Ribs
Lamb has to be one of my favourite meats to cook, the flavour is just sensational. The “sweetness” you get from the meat then couple this with the traditional flavours of garlic and rosemary and you end up with a flavour combination that is sensational.
I have cooked a lot of lamb, from chops to bone in legs but this is my very first kamado joe lamb spare ribs. Not sure what to expect from lamb ribs, but they have been on my wishlist for a while. After looking for some inspiration from the web and being totally overwhelmed by multistep recipes, I chose just to use the K.I.S.S principle. “Keep It Simple Stupid.” My decision process took into account the fact that I had not cooked or even eaten lamb spare ribs before so I really wanted to capture the “true” taste of the lamb.
Keeping it Simple
When I say simple, I mean really simple. Like 5 steps simple.
- Add your choice of rub, my lamb favourite is Treebark from Greenwood BBQ
- Smoke indirect for around 2hrs at 122C [250F]
- Wrap and keep cooking at 122C [250F] for around another 1hr 40min
- Remove from the grill and let rest.
- Cut into individual bones and eat
Kamado Setup
- Set for indirect with the deflectors in the low position.
- The firebox was filled with around 80% fresh gidgee lump charcoal and I added in 4 good chunks of apricot wood for the smoke flavour.
- When lighting the fire for low and slow, I light the lump in the centre with 1 or 2 samba firelighters.
- With the bottom vent wide open and the lid up, I let the fire take hold, around 10-15 mins, then I close the lid (both vents wide open) and let the temperature start to register on the temperature gauge.
- Once the temperature starts to register on the gauge I close the vents, bottom vent to around the width of my finger and the top to around ½ way(slider, not daisy wheel).
- As the temps get close to the desired temperature range I make the final adjustment with the top daisy wheel. My actual cooking setting is with the top daisy wheel showing about ½ of the holes(slider closed).
- Let the temperature settle and make your final adjustments as needed.
Now every setup will be slightly different and there is a LOT of variables. My word of advice is to just practice practice practice. There is no real substitute for getting to learn your bbq and your materials. Each brand of lump will have different characteristics and you will get to know them with practice.
Don’t sweat the temperature
Don’t sweat the temperature of your pit too much. Making adjustments every 5 minutes will NOT help you enjoy your cook and will only prove to stress you out and drive you nuts. If you are +-10/20 degrees I would just run with it. At the end of the day, you are cooking to the internal temp of the meat most times.
My actual cook times for these ribs
Kamado Temp :~ 122C [250F] (ranged from 110C [230F] ~ 135C [275F])
Ribs on 12:30 pm
I wrapped the lamb spare ribs at 2:40 pm
At 4:20 pm I took the lamb ribs off the kamado and placed them into the oven ~66C [150F] just to keep them warm and in the “safe zone”
Once I realised there was more than a couple of racks ( 4 in total) in the pack I decided that I would try and find a good sauce to go with the lamb, perhaps something sweet and tangy to cut through the lamb’s natural fattiness.
Here’s what I settled on. Inspired by the recipe here:
https://www.errenskitchen.com/baked-or-barbecued-sticky-glazed-ribs/
Sweet Bourbon Sticky BBQ Sauce
Sauce
⅔ cup tomato sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
½ cup honey
5 tablespoons Jim Beam Bourbon
Method
Add all ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
Stir to combine well and simmer for 10-20 minutes
Remove from heat and let cool.
My First Sauce
For my first sauce, it was amazing. Did exactly what I hoped and was a great compliment to the richness of the lamb spare ribs. I chose to just use it as a “dipping” sauce, but you could also use this as a basting sauce before wrapping or during the cook. With the honey and sugars in the tomato sauce, I am sure the colour would be pretty awesome.
Conclusion
I love lamb, but I don’t love lamb ribs. I am glad I tried them, but if I am honest with myself I would much prefer to invest the time and effort into something else. If it was ribs that I wanted, I would definitely do beef ribs over the lamb short ribs. And if it was the lamb flavour I was looking for then I would stick to a traditional roast cut, like a bone in leg of lamb.
Definitely glad I tried them and can now tick them off the list.
Till next time Joe On!!!
Sweet Bourbon Sticky BBQ Sauce
A delicious sticky sweet tangy sauce ideal for any BBQ ribs.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup honey
- 5 tablespoons Jim Beam Bourbon
Instructions
Add all ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
Stir to combine well and simmer for 10-20 minutes
Remove from heat and let cool
Notes
Inspired from the recipe over at :
https://www.errenskitchen.com/baked-or-barbecued-sticky-glazed-ribs/
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