Elk Gyro's

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

thoseguys26

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Jan 4, 2012
1,341
60
Aspen Valley
Can't wait till supper!

I smoked up an Elk Backstrap today.

It's sitting it the fridge foiled right now sucking up its own juices. I'll slice it thin, pan sear it quick, and serve it with a homemade Gyro Salsa & Greek Tzatisiki Sauce.

Another way I have yet to try is make grind the elk meat and make a smoked meatloaf w/ onions, garlic, etc. Cool it, slice it and pan sear it before assembling the Gyro.

RECIPE:

Note: sorry if I don't have exact measurements because I usually just eyeball recipes as I make them. Adjust to your own flavor & taste.

Greek Salsa:

Dice & combine the following:

Cucumber (I used English cucumbers because they have no seeds - If you use regular just scrape out the seeds) skin on.

Red Onion

1 clove of garlic

Cherry tomatoes (sliced in half or quarters)

Kalamatta Olive (pitted) - I like to go heavy on these!

Salt & pepper to taste

Oregano

Tzatisiki Sauce:

Greek Yogurt   3 cups (it goes fast!)

Dill (fresh or dry)  2 TB dry or 3 TB fresh

Granulated garlic   1 TB

Granulated Onion  1/2 TB

Marjoram  2 tsp

Oregano  2 tsp

Salt & Pepper

EVOO      1 1/2 TB

Fresh squeezed lemon juice of one whole lemon

A Splash of white vinegar (optional)

Let sit in fridge for a few hours, if you can wait...

Meat Dry Rub:

Rosemary

Marjoram

Oregano

Salt & Pepper

Granulated Garlic

EVOO

Rub with EVOO and sprinkle meat with spices (I mix them together first before rubbing)

You can grill the meat or smoke it. I've done both with not much difference in taste. There are so many strong flavors in this that the smoke can get lost so grilling is sometimes easier and definitely quicker.

GRILL:   Medium / high heat. Cook each side 8-10 minutes or until medium rare. Foil and place in fridge. Flip foiled meat over once after 40 min to allow juices to run down and be soaked up. I like to add the leftover juices to my Tzatisiki sauce :)

SMOKE: preheat 235-240° and smoke until IT is around 145° - 150° Then foil and place in fridge as noted above.

Either way you cook them you want them rare, maybe medium rare, because you will quickly pan sear them before serving.

SLICE:

Remove from foil and slice as thin as possible against the grain of the meat. Re-foil in it's own juices until ready to pan fry.

SERVE:

Heat a pan on medium high / High. Add a little olive oil or butter, make sure it's nice and hot, and sear each side for a 40 seconds or so and remove from heat immediately.

Microwave your pita bread for 20 seconds to get it warm and bendy. Load up, add some lettuce and chow down!






 
Last edited:
Had to take a look inside..
icon14.gif


 
Last edited:
The elk looks fantastic!!!! I ground up elk and made fatties and burgers in the smoker. They were awesome. I added beef fat to the "burger" meat and pork fat or bacon to the "sausage" meat. We've got 4 elk tags this year, so I can't wait.
Cooked to perfection. Do elk taste much different from other deer? In comparison and this is just my opinion, elk is much better than deer and moose is much better than elk and deer! All are very good, if processed correctly, however and as natural as you can get.
 
Tzatziki sauce sure does go great with smoked meats AND it's super healthy so you can drown your meat as much as you want!

I haven't had moose but I've heard it's better then elk, which would be insane because elk is incredible.. We've been lucky enough to harvest a young cow each year.
 
They were delicious!!!  I can't wait to eat another one today. I thought about grinding the meat up, mixing onions, garlice, etc to make a smoked meatloaf but why waste my time when this just melts in your mouth.

We got a new keeper recipe.

Here's some Qview for you!



drool.gif
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky