Vertical Rotisserie Lamb Shawarma

[Robert-R]

Have been wanting to try cooking Gyros on the home brew vertical rotisserie.
Got a 4 1/2 pound boneless leg of lamb at Costco & decided to dedicate half of it to this cook.
Cut it thin (1/8") with a meat slicer & marinated it 24 hours.
Marinade recipe here: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018119-jerusalem-lamb-shawarma
Built my stack on the spit:

Live fire - RO Lump & Cherry splits:

2 1/4 hours later:

Made a yogurt sauce:

1 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. Tahini
1 clove crushed garlic
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground sumac
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
& some chopped Cilantro

Sliced some onion, chopped some tomato, cubed peeled seeded some cucumber....

Ran a heavy bead of the yogurt sauce on some flat bread, added the lamb, onions, tomato & cucumber. & a little more sauce.

Time to eat!

This did not suck. Will do it again.

 

[Steve_Williams]

Is a gyro lamb or beef? Other way looks great

 

[Robert-R]

Is a gyro lamb or beef? Other way looks great

Good question. & thanks!

 

[Rich Dahl]

Looks great Robert, nice cook.

 

[TonyUK]

Gyro can be lamb, beef, chicken or pork. We have a few shawarma places here, & they do various meats. Doner kebabs are also popular here.

Yours look fantastic Robert. I'll take two.

 

[Bill Schultz]

That looks fantastic Rob , traditionally with the Greeks around here it is ground lamb and beef formed and packed.

 

[Robert-R]

That looks fantastic Rob , traditionally with the Greeks around here it is ground lamb and beef formed and packed.

Thanks.

Most of the recipes I have found call for ground meat that is formed, refrigerated & cooked in a loaf pan (or such) in the oven. However, I fear the stack would fall apart.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Gorgeous plate shot Robert. Everything looks wonderful.

 

[Michael C.]

Looks great!!!!! I bet it tasted awesome!!!!

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

That looks fantastic. I never thought about doing that at home, mainly due to a lack of a vertical rotisserie.

Can you show us more of your setup? I have not seen one of those before.

 

[Pat G]

That looks amazing Robert. I sure like Gyro's, wish I had that setup at my house.

 

[Robert-R]

That looks fantastic. I never thought about doing that at home, mainly due to a lack of a vertical rotisserie.

Can you show us more of your setup? I have not seen one of those before.

Sure! Latest version of the cooker:

The cook chamber has gone through several "remodels" - so if it looks pieced together, it is. Mostly 11 gauge steel I got from a scrap metal yard.
JesseT on this forum suggested the doors, which really are a big improvement.
fwiw - it's a stick burner. Live fire.

 

[Robert McGee]

I never cease to be impressed with the efforts of the members, here. This is certainly a high spot!

My wife and I LOVE Gyros and have a good Greek restaurant not far from here. We often drop over and enjoy the Gyros!

GOOD show and I am OFFICIALLY impressed by Robert's professional looking efforts as well as the product itself!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53

 

[ChuckO]

That looks amazing Robert. Can't wait to see various cooks from your VR

 

[Bob Ivey]

Wondering how that would work for a turkey?

 

[Robert-R]

Wondering how that would work for a turkey?

I might try a chicken first. They're usually on sale for $.80 - $.90/lb around here.
Not sure what would be the advantage over a horizontal rotisserie.
Probably a LOT of grease in the pan.

 

[JesseT]

That was exactly what I was imagining. Glad it helped.

That shawarma looks really delicious.

We used to have a restaurant that served chicken shawarma that was my favorite.

It was chicken pieces that was pounded out thin and layered with tons of garlic and fresh herbs.

I hope to one day possess the free time and fabrication skills you have to create something that cool.

 

[Barb D]

That looks fantastic Robert, great job.