Ed Giobbi's Whole-Lamb Barbecue

Name: Ed Giobbi's Whole-Lamb Barbecue
Total time: 6 h 30 min
Yield: About 4 1/4 cups
Cuisine: barbecue
Ingredients: Select a whole lamb weighing about 25 pounds, dressed, ready-tocook weight; Salt, to taste, if desired; Freshly ground black pepper; 20 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed; 1/2 cup chopped fresh or dried rosemary; 4 cups redwine vinegar; 1/4 cup coarsely chopped garlic; 1/4 cup chopped fresh or dried rosemary leaves; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

By Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey

Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes, plus pit digging time
Rating: (0)
Comments: Read comments

Featured in: VARIATIONS ON THE BARBECUE

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Ingredients

Yield:About 4¼ cups

Select a whole lamb weighing about 25 pounds, dressed, ready-tocook weight
Salt, to taste, if desired
Freshly ground black pepper
20cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
½cup chopped fresh or dried rosemary

The Basting Sauce

4cups redwine vinegar
¼cup coarsely chopped garlic
¼cup chopped fresh or dried rosemary leaves
1teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Put three cups of the vinegar, the chopped garlic, rosemary and pepper into the container of a food processor or electric blender. Blend well.
Step 2
Add the remaining vinegar and blend as thoroughly as possible.

Tips

The technique: Rub the lamb inside and out with salt, if desired, freshly ground black pepper, garlic and rosemary.
Dig a pit 14 inches deep and 3 feet long. The pit should be about 14 inches wide or slightly wider.
Surround the pit with four metal upright fence posts. Situate the posts in a rectangular pattern, surrounding the pit. Let the rectangle measure about three and one-half feet long and sixteen inches wide. Pound the posts firmly into the earth.
Run a sturdy and firm but not-too-thick metal or wooden skewer (Giobbi prefers a long solid hickory stick) through the body of the lamb, including the head and tail. The skewer must be long enough so that each end protrudes enough to lie flat on metal or wooden crosspieces.
There should be two of these crosspieces for each pair of posts. Place them horizontally on the posts at each end of the pit. The bottom crosspiece should be about 17 inches from the top of the pit on each side; the other, about 14 inches above that. Fasten securely with wire.
Cook the lamb on the bottom crosspiece, but, if at any point you find that the heat is too intense and the lamb is cooking too rapidly or starting to burn, you may raise the lamb to the upper horizontal cross piece. You may also douse a little water on the coals to cool them as desired.
Start a fire inside the pit using paper, kindling and a nonoily hardwood such as oak or hickory. Do not use pine. It will impart the flavor of turpentine to the meat. Let this fire burn until the wood develops a white ash. At this point, start adding charcoal, preferably genuine lump charcoal rather than briquettes. Let the charcoal burn, offering moderate but steady heat, as the lamb roasts. The total roasting time will be from five to six hours.
As the lamb roasts, baste it fairly often all over with the basting sauce.
Cut up and carve the lamb while it is still hot and serve it with the dipping sauce spooned over (see recipe).