I had a good time with the chicken shawarma last week on the Trompo. I got to wondering if I could pull off gyro meat on it. I’ve never tried to do a gyro loaf before so off I went. First up 3 medium onions and 7 cloves of minced garlic minced very finely in the food processor. Once it was nice minced I pressed as much juice out as possible. (processed one more time after this pic)
Didn’t get pics but the spice mix was 3 to 3 1/2 T each of Mediterranean oregano, cumin, marjoram, ground rosemary, ground thyme and medium grind black pepper.1 T salt. The base recipe I started with was far lower in spice amounts but as I worked the meat I did fry tests until it was where I wanted it. Meat is 6 lbs. 80/20 ground beef and 4 lbs ground lamb. Went with that ratio simply because lamb is so expensive. The key to this is to put the mix in the Kitchen Aide with the paddle tool and beat it up until the protein breaks down. If you don’t you end up with meatloaf texture. I processed this 3 times until I was satisfied with flavor and texture. Top pic is prior to beating it up in the mixer
I made a nice tight roll in foil using 8 lbs of the meat. From my estimation that was about all the Trompo would handle. I pressed the remaining two lbs in a foil pan. Into the overnight to let it firm up. At this point I was not sure if it was going to work on the Trompo. I figured if it started to lose its structural integrity I’d move it to a pan. Here it is going into the Lang.
Rolling cherry wood smoke at 300-325F to get the outside set ASAP. Checking at the hour mark looking good. Nice and firm on the Trompo.
While it was smoking I prepped lettuce, cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives, Campari tomatoes and feta cheese. The night before I made a batch of my low carb Tzatziki sauce. It’s lower carb by using sour cream instead of Greek yogurt. Folks rave about it. Simple recipe 2 cups sour cream , 2 cups shredded cucumber, 4 cloves minced garlic, 4 T fresh finely chopped dill, 2T lemon juice, 2T olive oil 1/2 t salt (or more to taste) About the 4 1/2 hour mark it’s up to temp 155+ and I pulled to let it coast up to 160F. I should mention that at about the 3 hour mark I tented it with foil to keep the outside from burning. Used Mission whole wheat low carb (3 net)wraps in place of pita bread. Here are some finish pics.
Whelp that’s a wrap ( literally lol). I was very pleased with both the flavor and the texture of the loaf. The meat on the pan came out very good as well. Honestly it was a bit easier to slice. This is already friend and neighbor approved. I’ll be serving this up for football eats tomorrow when my brother and I watch the game. Thanks for looking!
