# Gyro Fatty with Lamb Bacon from September 2012 Throwdown



## xutfuzzy (Oct 10, 2012)

First of all, tremendous thanks to all of you that voted for me and sent me into the finals!  It was my first throwdown and it was SO much fun to participate, and then to be honored with your votes was a great feeling!

My spin on the fatty was a gyro.  Traditionally, a gyro uses either ground lamb or a mixture of lamb and beef.  I wasn't too terribly sure how that would behave in the smoker, so I went with a 50/50 mix of regular Jimmy Dean sausage and ground lamb just to remain a little more in my comfort zone.  Then I threw in a bunch of "gyro herbs" which was something like ground rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, onion, and garlic.  If I remember correctly, it was a tablespoon of each.













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I mixed this as best as I could, but wasn't too worried about it because it would be pureed later.













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Gyro meat is VERY processed, so into the food processor it went!













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This was 2 pounds of meat, so I split it into two batches of 1 pound each.













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Thus it begins....













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Sticking with the Greek theme, I used feta cheese as the filler.













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I rolled it up and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours for easy management.













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Here is where it got really interesting.  Wanting to do something even more interesting, I used LAMB BACON!  I recently found a "foodie" shop called Dutch's Larder that carries some interesting/high end meat.  If you're in Cincinnati, check them out!  https://www.facebook.com/DutchsLarder

This stuff is ridiculously tasty!  It's a little skinny and short, and somewhat fragile to work with, but very much worth it.













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The weave was hard to accomplish because lamb bacon breaks easily, but I think I did a decent job. 













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All ready!













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Three hours later it was ready!













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I plated it on a pita, along with fresh heirloom tomatoes, fresh onion, and some homemade tzatziki sauce that I found that day on the internet.













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__ xutfuzzy
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Once again, thanks for the votes!  It was awesome!


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## whtplainssmoker (Oct 10, 2012)

Interesting to know that you worked to create the texture of a Gyro as well.  You got my vote in the prelims and this was one of the top 5 or so I wanted to taste.  I loved the idea as well.


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## rdknb (Oct 10, 2012)

I liked this one a lot also, btw I do boneless leg of lamb in smoker a lot.  Turns out great


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## scarbelly (Oct 10, 2012)

Looks like a great one - nice job


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## pokernut (Oct 10, 2012)

Lamb bacon?? I must look for that!

Well done and great looking work!


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## boykjo (Oct 10, 2012)

awesome............


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## diggingdogfarm (Oct 10, 2012)

Very nice!



~Martin


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## xutfuzzy (Oct 10, 2012)

RdKnB said:


> I liked this one a lot also, btw I do boneless leg of lamb in smoker a lot.  Turns out great


Thanks!  I did a bone-in leg of lamb for a BBQ for my golfing buddies...it was awesome.  Boneless is definitely on deck for the near future, I think I can infuse more flavor that way.


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## xutfuzzy (Oct 11, 2012)

Pokernut said:


> Lamb bacon?? I must look for that!
> Well done and great looking work!


This is the brand I used. 

http://www.smokinggoose.com/LambBacon.html


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## humdinger (Oct 11, 2012)

Looks good! I think mixing the sweet and saltiness of pork in with the savory and gamey-ness of the lamb was a great idea. Definitely going to try that!

Would you use a different amount of feta next time? More? Less? Same? The reason I ask is I'm trying to get some ideas about how to tweak for varying taste buds. Thanks.


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## smokinhusker (Oct 11, 2012)

I'm impressed and I love Gyros!


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## xutfuzzy (Oct 11, 2012)

Humdinger said:


> Looks good! I think mixing the sweet and saltiness of pork in with the savory and gamey-ness of the lamb was a great idea. Definitely going to try that!
> 
> Would you use a different amount of feta next time? More? Less? Same? The reason I ask is I'm trying to get some ideas about how to tweak for varying taste buds. Thanks.


I think I would use less feta...as it melted it recessed and left some considerable gaps inside the fatty.  I think I would also include some raw onion slices inside as well.


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## big game cook (Oct 21, 2012)

thought the bacon looked rather different on this one. now i see why. good job. enjoyed the thread. would definatly like to try this one. thanks for shraring it.


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