If I were placed midway between a perfectly cooked lamb ribeye and a perfectly cooked beef ribeye, I would starve to death trying to pick which to eat. If you love red meat and don’t love lamb, then you’ve never had it cooked properly. I’m talking to you, steak lover who was turned off lamb as a child because it was mutton and cooked to death and served with mint jelly. Well, I am here to conduct a culinary conversion.

Wood-Grilled Rack of Lamb

A rack of lamb is essentially the same thing as a beef prime rib roast: the muscle attached to the back ribs. But on a lamb it is smaller and more tender. So when you get a full 8-bone rack of lamb, it is only enough to feed two hungry people. I’ll bet you could eat one all by yourself if you’d just try it.

 

Makes 2 servings

Takes about 2 hours

1. Prep. Trim as much fat as you can. Otherwise, it will melt and cause huge flare-ups. Even if you sacrifice a little meat in the trimming, get rid of the fat and the silverskin beneath it. Sprinkle the lamb with salt and dry brine for about 2 hours before cooking. Rub the spice rub over the meat at any time.

2. Fire up. Start a wood fire as described on page 148. This can be done in a wheelbarrow, a fire pit, or an extra charcoal grill. Once you have a good glowing bed of hot coals, move them to your grill and set up a two-zone configuration and get the indirect-heat zone to 225°F.

3. Cook. Place the meat over indirect heat and close the lid. Monitor the temperature with a rapid-read thermometer and flip the meat after it reaches about 80°F. When it hits about 100°F, move the roast over direct heat to begin searing. Turn and rotate the meat frequently until there is even color on all the surfaces and the internal temperature is about 130°F.

4. Serve. Cut the rack at every other bone for 4 ­double-wide chops. You can serve the meat as is or with a simple Board Sauce (see page 188).