Make Your Own Gyro Meat
Posted by WingsFan91 6/5/01 12:38:45
pm
I found the following on that “other” site….
Thought somebody
here might want it! 
Hi there! I have lived and worked in Greece for a few years, and
worked as a butcher in the U.S.
for quite some time, so let me shed
a bit of light:
Donair (doner or Donar), Gyros, and Schwarma are all pretty much
the same thing.
The Doner Kebab (probably the closest original
ethnic food to the American invention, the Gyro) is originally from
Turkey.
The gyro is an American invention which is basically a
cheap version of a traditional Greek Kebab (the main difference is
that the Greek one would use large pieces of boned lamb, pressed
together using its own fat as a binder, and marinated, whereas Gyro
uses ground meat.) The Schwarma is a version from the Middle East
that is much larger, uses a similar meat to the Greek kebab, but
less meat and more vegetables in the kebab itself.
A traditional gyro should be made with at least 50% ground lamb,
and the rest beef.
The best ground to use is one with a high fat
content (this is so that during the remixing it binds and keeps it
shape well!).
The main flavouring ingredients should always be:
garlic, onion, marjoram, rosemary, salt and black pepper.
Marjoram
and Rosemary are similar to oregano and thyme in flavour
(respectively), and are common ingredients in Greek cooking.
True
Greek food rarely uses oregano.
The mass-produced Gyros use
oregano, not to mention garlic and onion powder, but we used fresh
minced garlic and onions.
Here is the recipe we used where I used
to work (compliments of Feller’s Meat in Clearfield, Utah!)
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup very finely chopped (or shredded) onion
2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon salt (preferably sea salt)
1/2 teaspoon dried ground marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried ground rosemary
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Mix everything together and let sit in the fridge for 1-2
hours.
Blend in a food processor for about 1 minute.
(When cooked, this
will help give it a more traditional gyro feel on your palate.
Otherwise, it just takes like cooked minced meat.)
Form into an oblong around a spit, and slow cook over a grill
for around 30-45 minutes, cooking far from the coals, and rotating
slowly.
Alternatively, bake in the oven in a meatloaf shape for
about 45 minutes to 1 hour, at 325 degrees F.
It should be a bit
dry.
I hope that helps! ~ Wayne
P.S.
Tzatziki is made with 500 ml.
plain natural or Greek
yogurt, 1 cucumber which has been peeled and descended and grated
and drained of extra liquid, and 2-4 cloves of fresh minced garlic.
Mix together, and let sit in fridge until ready to use.
This is an
extremely traditional recipe, and might be a bit sharp for the
average American palate, so you might want to halve the garlic
amount.