The sun’s out… time to fire up the grill!
Spring cooking & outdoor dining has arrived…
With summer showing up early (and we’re not complaining), it’s time to get outside this Easter.
Longer days. Sun on your back. That itch to take everything outdoors. Here’s how to make the most of it with a smoking spring recipe from Hang Fire BBQ:
The Ultimate Family BBQ: Hang Fire’s Kentucky Style Lamb Leg
There’s no better way to kick things off. Big cuts, slow cooking, and something that pulls everyone to the table.
Sam & Shauna from the legendary Hang Fire BBQ know live-fire cooking inside out, so we’re seriously excited to share their Kentucky-Style Lamb Leg. Perfect for the Easter long weekend and every warm day that follows…
“We used hogget backstraps and grilled over oak wood, reduced the mop sauce and called it ‘Sheep Dip’. It went down a treat, but cooking tiny backstraps over an enormous open cinder block fire was no mean feat — we’ll tell you about the moment Hang Fire Sam’s bra caught fire over a beer one day!
In the meantime, enjoy this recipe we picked up on our travels through Kentucky. It’s rich, flavour-packed and totally achievable on any BBQ — and one of our all-time favourite lamb dishes.”
What you need
1 x 2.5kg boneless lamb leg
1 tbsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
For the Marinade
250g buttermilk
2 lemons juiced, plus the zest
1 tbsp neutral-flavour oil
6 garlic cloves, sliced
1 bunch fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 tbsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp dried thyme
2 tbsp coarse ground pepper
1 tbsp sea salt flakes
For the Kentucky Mop Sauce
125ml Worcestershire sauce
150ml water
100ml white wine vinegar
5 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp tomato puree
1tsp garlic powder
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
¼ tsp ground cloves
juice of 1 lemon
Method
First, whizz the marinade ingredients in a food processor. Using a fork or sharp knife, make a few little cuts all over the outside and inside of the lamb leg and put it in a large ziplock bag. Spoon in the marinade and massage it all over the lamb for a couple of minutes, then expel any air from the bag, zip it up and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, use kitchen towels to pat as much of the marinade off your lamb as you can. Discard the marinade. Season the lamb with the salt and pepper and put it in a baking tray and leave it sit for at least 20 minutes to come to room temperature until you’re ready to cook. We’re going to grill this hunk of meat indirectly, then
directly, to finish (indirect, then direct).
Get a hot bed of coals started on one side of your grill; you’ll want it to last 1 hour at medium-high heat and maintain a temperature of about 165C. You may want to get a chimney starter ready so you can add more white hot coals if the temperature starts to dip – just throw a couple in when you need it. Carefully lay the lamb, fat side down first, on your grates. Sear for about 4 minutes, then flip it over, and sear again for a further 4 minutes. Repeat until you have built up a good Maillard reaction. Now, slide the meat over to the opposite side of the grate, away from the coals, and close the lid. Put in chunks of cherry or fruit wood. A piece of lamb that weighs 2-3kg will take about 1 hour to cook to medium.
To make the Kentucky mop sauce, heat all the ingredients with 150ml water in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Allow to simmer for around 15 minutes, until reduced by about a third.
After about 20-30 minutes, baste the lamb in some of the mop sauce. Insert an instant-read thermometer, and if it reads 60°C/140–145°F, your lamb is ready to come off and rest. Carefully remove from the heat, cover loosely in foil, for 15 minutes.
To serve, thinly slice the lamb and arrange on a serving plate or tray. Drizzle some sauce over the slices of lamb and serve the rest of the sauce on the side for extra dipping.
If this is getting the taste buds going, make sure to book in those tickets to Meatopia Glasgow in June, or London in September, for a whole weekend of incredible dishes from some of the best live-fire chefs in the world…
The great outdoors
This is what it’s really about. Good people, good food, no rush, all enjoyed outside in the sun.
If you’re already thinking ahead, Meatopia is your excuse to lock something in. Whether you’re in London or Glasgow, expect days filled with live fire cooking, music, drinks and some of the best chefs around… the perfect weekends to mark the beginning and end of summer 2026.
Great food. Cold drinks. Smoke in the air.
