BBQ Series

The Best Way to BBQ Lamb

Mark Best

Chef Mark Best shows us the 'Best' way to BBQ Australian lamb. Here, Mark chooses three cuts - forequarter chops, deboned lamb leg, and lamb ribs, and prepares them three different ways using a range of techniques and flavours. Perfect for the summer barbecue!

Forequarter Chops

Lamb forequarter chops

Murray River Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the Bay Oil

2 cups fresh bay leaves

2 cups canola oil

Blend to a fine puree then pass through a fine sieve to clarify the oil

Light the BBQ with hardwood and let burn down to hot coals. Brush the chops with the bay oil then use scissors to snip the fat every 2cm so that they don’t curl up. Season them well with salt and pepper. Cook one side for about 6-8 minutes to caramelise the presentation side then turn over to cook through to medium. Season again with salt and brush with bay oil again to serve.

BBQ Lamb Leg with Peri Peri

1 lamb leg around 3kg

50g Murray River Salt

Juice and zest of 2 lemons

50 ml olive oil

6 cloves garlic

Peri Peri Sauce

De-bone the lamb leg – remove the H bone if still attached. Use your boning knife to go down the side of the topside hard up against both sides of the bone right down to the shank. Free the top knuckle and remove the bone with your knife down to the shank. Debone the shank as well and remove the shank muscle for a slow cooked dish. You’ll be left with the topside, silverside and knuckle or round. Remove the large eye of fat and the gland near the knuckle. You can cut the leg muscles in half at this point and butterfly them separately to make sure they cook.

Grind the garlic, lemon zest and juice, olive oil and salt into a fine paste and rub into the lamb well and allow to marinade for 2-3 hours. Light your bbq and get a good bed of coals. Rub the lamb cuts with peri peri and grill fact side down to render. Turn over and baste with peri peri. Rotate and baste from time to time until cooked to around 65c. Allow to rest for 20 minutes in a warm place then carve across the muscle fibres to serve.

Lamb Ribs

2 racks of Australian lamb ribs

½ cup Dijon mustard

½ cup BBQ sauce

½ cup water

For the rub – combine all the rub ingredients in a small bowl and mix well

½ cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoon flakey salt

¼ cup smoked paprika

¼ cup ancho chili powder

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Remove the membrane from the back of the lamb ribs, apply mustard to the ribs as a binder, then generously coat with the rub. Set up your BBQ for indirect heat at around 107°C. Place the ribs on the grate, bone side down. Close the lid and cook for 4-5 hours, or until the ribs are tender and fall off the bone. Spray now and then with a mix of apple cider vinegar and water.