Smoked lamb shoulder is slow-cooked to perfection in a smoker before being pulled, creating moist and flavorful meat finished with a subtle BBQ mint sauce.

The lamb shoulder has a lot of muscles and connective tissue making it typically a difficult cut of meat to work with. Smoking it low and slow over a long period of time helps to break this down and make it soft and moist and easy to handle with the meat literally falling off the bone. 

Served in a BBQ sauce, the pulled lamb can be served on top of dinner rolls as a sandwich, or on a plate with vegetables/salad on the side.

Recipe Directions

1. Heat the smoker to 125 degrees C (260 degrees F). Add a chunk or two of hickory to create a steady stream of smoke.

2. Rub

3. Lay the lamb shoulder out and trim any excess fat or uneven parts.

4. Give a gentle coat of mustard over the whole lamb shoulder. Sprinkle with the herb rub, then sprinkle with a lighter coat of the pork rub.

5. Place the lamb shoulder on the smoker and smoke for 3 hours.

6. Wrapping

7. Lay our two large sheets of foil. in the foil place the brown sugar and honey, start to fold the first sheet of foil around the lamb, just before closing, add the apple juice. Wrap the lamb a second time with the second sheet of foil.

8. Return the lamb to the smoker for 3 hours.

9. Check the lamb, it should be soft and falling off the bone, if not return to the smoker to cook for longer. When cooked, let the lamb rest in the foil for 30 to 60 minutes while you prepare the sauce.

10. Sauce

11. Combine the BBQ sauce and mint sauce. If to thick you can add some additional apple juice to thin out. Taste and adjust to your preferred flavoring.

12. Heat the sauce over a stove so it isn’t added to the meat cold.

13. To Serve

14. Pull the lamb apart gently with two forks to create small strips of meat. Stir the BBQ mint sauce through, then serve immediately while still hot. If the lamb looks a little dry, add some of the liquid from the foil to moisten.