Gyros

[indaswamp]

I missed this thread first go around. Looks great Steve H I'm thinking of making gyro meat with goose and beef....anyone got a great recipe for seasoning the meat?

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I missed this thread first go around. Looks great Steve H I'm thinking of making gyro meat with goose and beef....anyone got a great recipe for seasoning the meat?

For the gyro I just made with 2lbs of meat:
1ts Red pepper flakes
1ts Thyme
1ts Marjoram
1ts Black pepper
1ts Rosemary
1ts Oregano
2ts salt
1 1/2 white onions
5 garlic cloves

Puree the onions and garlic until almost a liquid. Add the meat and puree into a paste. Add the rest then puree again.

Oven 325F to 165F internal (in my case smoked).

 

[indaswamp]

Thanks Chris!

 

[DRKsmoking]

Hi Keith indaswamp
Here is the recipe I posted couple years back, for a couple that asked for it.

This is a big hit in Eastern Canada, and out west also.
I broke it down from 90 to 10 pounds . but you could break it down again for 5 or smaller

Donairs is what we call them, Yero, or Gyro by other areas ( plus Dessert )

Donairs is what we call them, Yero, or Gyro are other names depending on where you live. And in most parts of Canada people want the East Coast style of Donair. Which this is. I worked for a great Chef, Peter. who was Greek and the Donair is a Mediterranean style food, that is cooked on a...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

( somewhere I have it broken down to 2 pounds for my son, will try and find )


Found it , for 5 and 2 1/2 pounds

David

 

[indaswamp]

Thank you David!

 

[chef k-dude]

When I first started trying to make gyro loaf, I did it like meatloaf like a lot of people do. I found the loaves hard to thinly slice and try to keep them from breaking. Then I found a recipe from one of the super-pros...it was J Kenji Lopez-Alt, or Alton Brown...or one of those "problem solver" type chefs. It employs the food processor like Chris in SoCal shared.

This adds pan frying the slices to somewhat replicate "off the spit" shaved slices of the originals. DRKsmoking's old post covers how it used to be...and still is in some authentic places but I think many of the Greek Restaurants are mailing it in these days and buying the sliced gyro meat from suppliers like Sysco.

I stepped all over the seasonings as I tend to do. This is where my current recipe was just refined to:

Gyro meat Revised 2024

*This recipe produces a tight, dense loaf that replicates the gyro meat from the restaurants

2 pounds 80-20 ground lamb, or beef

4 teaspoons kosher salt (use less for the salt sensitive)

1 teaspoons red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons coarse black pepper

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons each dried oregano, marjoram and rosemary

2 tablespoons dried chives

1 teaspoon each onion and garlic granules

½ teaspoon MSG

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 cup minced onion (green onions are good but any onion will work fine)

4 teaspoons lemon juice



Mix everything together with hands (I use rubber gloves) then put into food processor.

Process until it’s a tacky mess

Press into a loaf pan (I like to use a smallish 4x8” loaf pan so the loaf/slices is/are wider)

Rest in fridge overnight

Bake at 325° in a water bath (I use a 9x13 pyrex and pour nearly boiling water preferably as high as the meat is in the pan or as close as possible while still being able to slide the rack out of the oven while not spilling the hot water. This is a very delicate thing, if your rack is "catchy" and doesn't slide smoothly you have to go real slow or the water will start sloshing)

Bake until about 175° (30-40 minutes) then carefully lift the loaf pan out of the water. Drain or remove from grease. Allow to cool completely.

Slice to about 1/8-3/16” thick across the short way of the loaf. My slicer does a pretty good job. This makes slices about 1-1/2x4”.



Sperate in to about 4oz portions and store if not eating right away (I vac seal two-serving packs for the wife and I and freeze)

Brown the slices in an oiled skillet/griddle (I use pork fat usually) and put on a “keep warm” platter or pan, covered with foil in the oven or a toaster oven to hold warm if needed till serving. Low temp, 200° or lower.

*This helps replicate the “shaved off the spit” flavor and texture. Don’t over-fry though, it will dry the meat out.



*This seasoning ratio can also be used for lamb burgers, but my note is its too salty as-is, if using blue cheese on the burger. This is a strongly seasoned recipe so the meat stands out in a gyro sandwich.

*Skip the food processor if making burgers. Form and cook burgers normally.

 

[indaswamp]

Thanks for posting chef k dude!

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

When I first started trying to make gyro loaf, I did it like meatloaf like a lot of people do. I found the loaves hard to thinly slice and try to keep them from breaking. Then I found a recipe from one of the super-pros...it was J Kenji Lopez-Alt, or Alton Brown...or one of those "problem solver" type chefs. It employs the food processor like Chris in SoCal shared.

This adds pan frying the slices to somewhat replicate "off the spit" shaved slices of the originals. DRKsmoking's old post covers how it used to be...and still is in some authentic places but I think many of the Greek Restaurants are mailing it in these days and buying the sliced gyro meat from suppliers like Sysco.

I stepped all over the seasonings as I tend to do. This is where my current recipe was just refined to:

Gyro meat Revised 2024

*This recipe produces a tight, dense loaf that replicates the gyro meat from the restaurants

2 pounds 80-20 ground lamb, or beef

4 teaspoons kosher salt (use less for the salt sensitive)

1 teaspoons red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons coarse black pepper

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons each dried oregano, marjoram and rosemary

2 tablespoons dried chives

1 teaspoon each onion and garlic granules

½ teaspoon MSG

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 cup minced onion (green onions are good but any onion will work fine)

4 teaspoons lemon juice



Mix everything together with hands (I use rubber gloves) then put into food processor.

Process until it’s a tacky mess

Press into a loaf pan (I like to use a smallish 4x8” loaf pan so the loaf/slices is/are wider)

Rest in fridge overnight

Bake at 325° in a water bath (I use a 9x13 pyrex and pour nearly boiling water preferably as high as the meat is in the pan or as close as possible while still being able to slide the rack out of the oven while not spilling the hot water. This is a very delicate thing, if your rack is "catchy" and doesn't slide smoothly you have to go real slow or the water will start sloshing)

Bake until about 175° (30-40 minutes) then carefully lift the loaf pan out of the water. Allow to cool completely.

Slice to about 1/8-3/16” thick across the short way of the loaf. My slicer does a pretty good job. This makes slices about 1-1/2x4”.



Sperate in to about 4oz portions and store if not eating right away (I vac seal two-serving packs for the wife and I and freeze)

Brown the slices in an oiled skillet/griddle (I use pork fat usually) and put on a “keep warm” platter or pan, covered with foil in the oven or a toaster oven to hold warm if needed till serving. Low temp, 200° or lower.

*This helps replicate the “shaved off the spit” flavor and texture. Don’t over-fry though, it will dry the meat out.



*This seasoning ratio can also be used for lamb burgers, but my note is its too salty as-is, if using blue cheese on the burger. This is a strongly seasoned recipe so the meat stands out in a gyro sandwich.

*Skip the food processor if making burgers. Form and cook burgers normally.

One thing I will add is after smoking the loaf I put it back in the pan and covered it with foil. I let it sit for bout an hour to set. After that it was pretty easy to slice thinly. It was still warm enough to eat without reheating.

 

[chef k-dude]

I realized I should add "Drain or remove from grease" to the recipe steps. I know this inherently as would most people but I started to envision someone plopping the loaf out, coagulated grease and all!

I've learned with loaves of meat, a "strap" of parchment cut slightly short of the pan length running under the loaf with enough sticking out on both long sides (place before the meat goes in the pan of course) makes lifting the loaf out easy.

Chris_in_SoCal​

I can see bieng able to slice the loaf while still hot since your recipe also uses the food processor. In mine, the process originated from another recipe that was tested for replicating authentic gyro meat. I have never tried slicing it warm, but I'm not usually making it right before eating. It's the kind of thing I make during the day and makes an easy special meal that goes together easy later. In fact, I usually slice it and package and freeze not even eating until some other evening.

Reading David's older thread, I chuckled at the comment "Not overly complicated with a Dozen Herbs and Spices". That dude wont like my recipe! I tweaked mine to bring out the flavors I have loved from the best gyros I've had. The seasonings are also a hybrid of several other recipes. The biggest challenge to me was to get the meat flavored so that it isn't buried in the flavor of the tzatziki, of which my recipe is once again...no whimp!