Gyro Meat


 

K Kruger

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Gyro Meat


Gyro meat can be made with all lamb or, more typically, a lamb and beef combination. I used a 50-50 combo because Australian lamb was all that was available. Being 'stronger' in flavor than American lamb and considering that I was serving a few people that aren't huge lamb lovers I thought it best.

I don't buy ground meats, preferring to grind it myself; buy ground if you prefer. (You will still need to use a processor to process the loaf mix into a paste; you can use a processor for the first 'grinding' as well, which is what I did.) I used chuck top blade for the beef (removing the gristle in the center of each piece) and both arm and shoulder slices for the lamb (removing the bone and tougher tissue that is unlikely to soften much during cooking, even if minced). If you're grinding your own remove the same and cut into chunks and chill in the freezer for 10-15 min. Process in batches, scraping down the bowl frequently, till the meats are very finely minced--past the point of hamburger-- and beginning to get pasty. Mix well with clean hands in a large mixing bowl then put the bowl in the fridge. Clean and dry the processor bowl, lid and blade then prep the other ingredients. I bought enough meat so that after trimming I would have roughly 3 lbs. It ended up being about 2.8 lbs--close enough.

The big deal with mixes like this that do not include typical binders (like you'd find in meatloaf--egg, breadcrumbs, e.g.) is that the mix must be processed into a paste. To facilitate keeping the loaf together during cooking I used a common approach for loaves like this which is also used for seafood sausage--wrapping tightly in Saran and chilling very well.

I decided to split the gyro loaf in half and cook one on the WSM and one on the EZ Que rotisserie so that I could report on both.



5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

2 t minced or finely grated lemon zest

2 t dried thyme

2 t dried Greek oregano

1 1/2 t dried marjoram

1 1/2 t minced fresh rosemary

1 T Kosher salt

1/2 t ground black pepper

1/4 t ground white pepper



1 medium onion, peeled



1.5 lbs ground lamb

1.5 lbs ground beef



Combine the first 9 ingredients in a small bowl; mix well and reserve.

Grate the onion using a medium grater or use the processor to process the onion to a minced onion mush. Scrape the onion onto a smoothly woven towel (not terrycloth) or several thickness of paper towel. Gather the towel around the onion and, holding it over the sink, squeeze gently but somewhat firmly to press out the juices. Unwrap the onion and mix it with the herbs in the bowl.

If you used the processor for the onion rinse the bowl and dry it, if not set it up for use. Remove the ground meat from the fridge (either the meat you ground or the store bought).

Process the meat in 4 batches (i.e., use 1/4 of the meat you've ground or 1/4 each of the ground lamb and ground beef if purchased already ground) with 1/4 of the contents of the reserved herb-onion mix. Process till very pasty, about 1-2 min total, stopping the processor and scraping down the sides of the bowl several times during processing. Remove to a large bowl; repeat till all is processed; mix very well.

Lay two 2-foot lengths of Saran wrap on the counter or cutting board overlapping on a long side by 3-4 inches so you end up with about an 18x24-inch piece with which to work. As noted above, I split the mix in two to cook each separately--if you wish you could do this as well and cook them together (one to eat now, one one to save). Form the meat into a thick freeform loaf shape along the long side closest to you, packing well with our hands, then roll up the loaf in the plastic. Twist the excess plastic on each end very tightly to tighten the plastic well around the loaf and compress it. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Wrapped in Saran

For the WSM: Set the cooker up for a high heat cook (no water in the pan). Remove the plastic wrap from the loaf. Fold a piece of parchment to fit under the loaf and place it on upper cook grate with the loaf on top. Roast at ~325 or higher till 165 internal, pull; rest 10 min before slicing very thinly for serving. Cook time depends on temp and thickness of your loaf; figure 60-90 min.

For the EZ Que: Since the EZ Que does is not a skewer-type rotis I set mine up so it would function like one. This was to avoid having to mash the meat with the meat clamps. I inverted one clamp so that the meat if the meat loosened it would fall on slightly and be caught by it (and not fall further into the basket). I skewered the meat with two skewers, coming in from opposite ends, and ran the skewers into sweet potatoes so I could set two other clamps to hold the potatoes and not the meat. This was to avoid damaging the exterior of the loaf with the clamps and to make sure the meat would be fairly fixed in position and not end up loosening as it shrank during cooking and flopping back and forth between the basket and clamps during the spins of the rotis. Whether or not this is necessary I have no idea, not having tried the 'normal' approach, but it was easy to set up and worked well. The rotis loaf I cooked at 350-375. It took a bit less than an hour to hit 165.

Ready to cook EZ Que

Finished EZ Que:

Here.

Finished WSM:

Here.



I had hoped to make pita dough and bake pita loaves while the gyros were cooking but got waylaid by problems with the bamboo floor I'm in the middle of installing. I served the sliced gyro meat on a small piece of multi-grain and topped the meat with tzatziki, with sliced ripe tomato topped with crumbled feta, kalamata olives, minced parsley and an evoo drizzle. A squeeze of lemon over all finished the plate. Very tasty.

Plared and ready to serve.
 
All these measurements are teaspoons except the salt which is a tablespoon correct? There is no measurement direction (tsp,t, etc) on the marjoram, but I'd guess it was a teaspoon from the other directions.

Thanks,
Josh
 
YUMMMMY!!!

Good stuff Kevin!

Next time I think I will go all lamb in the recipe for sure. I also made a chicken gyro. There is a place near where I work that has them, I've never eaten one, but people rave over them. Looks like I'll have to get one. I cut down the herbage in the recipe to make the chicken (used both white and dark to avoid dryness), but the chicken gyro was still too herbed up. It was good, but in need of a better ratio of meat to mix. I'll let you know if I ever make a better chicken gyro.
 
I'm an all lamb fan too.

I'm glad you liked it.

Yes, I would think the herbs would need to be reduced for chicken. Definitely post your tweak(s) if you do it again. What sort or proportion did you use for the chicken and did you use b/s breast and b/s thighs or just cut up a whole chicken or what?
 
Kevin,

I just cut up a whole chicken. The meat turned out wonderful. Firm, but not dry. I'm gonna try about half the herb mix for next time I try. I'll let you know how it goes.

Josh
 
This is chilling right now. It's in one huge loaf, and I am going to cook it on the kettle tomorrow I think. Will let you know the outcome. I used 2.5# ground lamb (marked down at the store today) and .5# 93% lean ground chuck. It smells wonderful.
 
Well, this is nothing short of divine! What a treat. Highly recommended for all you lamb lovers.

I used 3/4 lamb, 1/4 ground beef. My yogurt sauce was a pint of Greek yogurt with lemon, 1 cucumber grated, salted and drained, fresh mint, fresh parsley, three garlic cloves.
 
That photo hosting service bit the dust or sold or something. I moved the pics. The links should work now.
 
Kevin,

Thanks for the gyro recipe. Made them yesterday and they were fantastic. They even smelled "right" when they were cooking. I am in Northeast Ohio and gyros are only to be had at county fairs and most of them are not too good -now mine are much, much better.
 
I'm very glad you liked it.

For the helluvit I'm playing (in my head, at the moment) with a pork-based version using a different spicing idea and a different sauce. Something else to do with ground butt.
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:

For the helluvit I'm playing (in my head, at the moment) with a pork-based version using a different spicing idea and a different sauce. Something else to do with ground butt.
K, Not a lamb fan, you have that pork recipe still floating around in your nogin?
icon_biggrin.gif
 
Yes, but still in my head. I'm thinking 2 lbs ground pork, 1 lb ground beef (something a bit leaner like 90/10 or 85/15), everything else the same except I'd cut the garlic to 4, the marjoram to 1/2 t, and the rosemary to 1 t.
 

 

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