Gyros, a blow by blow - vertical spit

Zippylip · October 2012

I love Greek food & wanted to recreate more closely Gyros that I might find in Greece so rather than some combination of ground lamb & beef I went with sliced pork shoulder (which I will slice thinner next time) topped of course with homemade tzatziki, sliced red onion & tomato.

The vertical spit:

The ingredients:

The sauce:

Construction:

Cooking:

Periodically slice off the outer edge & let it sit in the pie tin to finish cooking

Ready for final assembly:

Lunch:

happy in the hut

Little Steven · October 2012

You would know all about blow by blow

Mighty_Quinn · October 2012

=D> great cook! I'm gonna try this...maybe with lamb shoulder or leg instead of pork.

DocWonmug · October 2012

Is there a prize here for most inventive cook? This looks great. Nice job!

cazzy · October 2012

Pretty awesome cook Marc! Your creativity is off the wall!

bertscampers · October 2012

Okay I was going to make a soup now I need to re consider. That was awesome. Thanks for showing it step by step.

Cheers

The Cen-Tex Smoker · October 2012

dude!!!!! awesome. I've been trying to figure out how to do authentic Al Pastor on the egg!!!!!!! I'm going to use your rig to do Al Pastor tacos this week. Thanks.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · October 2012

Little Steven said:

You would know all about blow by blow

I see what you did there.

Little Steven · October 2012

CT, If you don't have all those manly tools that zip has and the skills to use them you can just use the rack from a turkey fryer

Marinaded some chicken breasts in Malt vinegar, olive oil, garlic, lemon, allspice, cumin amd cardamom. Used the rack from a turkey fryer in a pan. We'll se how she goes.

Austin Egghead · October 2012

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

dude!!!!! awesome. I've been trying to figure out how to do authentic Al Pastor on the egg!!!!!!! I'm going to use your rig to do Al Pastor tacos this week. Thanks.

Everything you need to make that rig can be found at Callahan's country store. We were just over there yesterday and the hardware section in the back is the best.

Richard Fl · October 2012

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

dude!!!!! awesome. I've been trying to figure out how to do authentic Al Pastor on the egg!!!!!!! I'm going to use your rig to do Al Pastor tacos this week. Thanks.

Al pastor direct from Mexico:

http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1010564&catid=1

The Cen-Tex Smoker · October 2012

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

dude!!!!! awesome. I've been trying to figure out how to do authentic Al Pastor on the egg!!!!!!! I'm going to use your rig to do Al Pastor tacos this week. Thanks.

Al pastor direct from Mexico:

http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1010564&catid=1

Thanks Richard. I got a great one from the LA times a while back too from the #1 rated street taco truck in LA. It's really good but I'm always looking for better. I'll give it a rip. Anything from Beli goes to the front of the line

The Cen-Tex Smoker · October 2012

@zippylip: temp and time?

Zippylip · October 2012

Austin Egghead said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

dude!!!!! awesome. I've been trying to figure out how to do authentic Al Pastor on the egg!!!!!!! I'm going to use your rig to do Al Pastor tacos this week. Thanks.

Everything you need to make that rig can be found at Callahan's country store. We were just over there yesterday and the hardware section in the back is the best.

absolutely, in my case it was home depot but the entire rig cost $7.00 to build, then a .99 cent pie tin & you're done. I used a 3/8 inch threaded rod, 2 nuts, 2 washers & a 3 foot length of flat metal with 3/8 inch holes already there so after cutting it in half it all went together in about 2 seconds. I did drill out the 3/8 inch hole in the foil & with the two washers on tight made it completely water tight (well grease-tight anyway), I had absolutely zero leakage into the coals

NibbleMeThis · October 2012

Too cool, very resourceful. I have to try this out. Gyros rock but I hadn't found a great way to do them on the egg other than using Alton Brown's method like a fatty. Yours works way better for me.

Zippylip · October 2012

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

@zippylip: temp and time?

400 degrees for about 3 hours total. I pulled the entire rig out about 4 times to slice off the exterior meat & expose the next level, leaving the slices at the bottom of the tin until the next slicing. Ate a round of sandwiches after the first slicing & then just removed the rest to a container which will now take me till Wednesday to finish \:D/

DocWonmug · October 2012

OP Zippy, you said to slice thinner. How thin? What do you think about pounding with a meat hammer?

Also, what did you use the vinegar for? How much oregano, SP? Any garlic?

Thanks.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · October 2012

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

dude!!!!! awesome. I've been trying to figure out how to do authentic Al Pastor on the egg!!!!!!! I'm going to use your rig to do Al Pastor tacos this week. Thanks.

Al pastor direct from Mexico:

http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1010564&catid=1

Thanks Richard. I got a great one from the LA times a while back too from the #1 rated street taco truck in LA. It's really good but I'm always looking for better. I'll give it a rip. Anything from Beli goes to the front of the line

I noticed Beli does not use pineapple in his. That is may favorite part of Al Pastor. I'll add some to his recipe and see how it goes

Zippylip · October 2012

NibbleMeThis said:

Too cool, very resourceful. I have to try this out. Gyros rock but I hadn't found a great way to do them on the egg other than using Alton Brown's method like a fatty. Yours works way better for me.

I've tried his method, once. I'm a huge fan of the version of Gyros typically available here which are very highly processed but I've come to understand that in Greece they are done differently which is what I've tried to do here though the meat should've been sliced much thinner (I made the mistake of slicing it thick thinking I could pound it to the desired thickness - didn't happen, trying to pound a pork shoulder is like trying to pound wood, many sections of it just didn't want to thin out). Ideally you'd get 1/4 inch thick slices stacked all the way up which also helps make it cook more evenly than mine did. When I got closer to the middle it was very much more uniform though. Also, with thinner slices you get a higher seasoning to meat ratio. My next batch will be chicken thighs

DocWonmug said:

OP Zippy, you said to slice thinner. How thin? What do you think about pounding with a meat hammer?

Also, what did you use the vinegar for? How much oregano, SP? Any garlic?

Thanks.

Doc, see above reply. Also, I dippped each piece into the vinegar then shook off the excess & layed it in a plastic container then sprinkled with oregano, salt & pepper, nothing else. The next piece was placed ontop of that & repeated. I put the container in the fridge for about 2 hours before it went onto the egg

Mickey · October 2012

Wow guy. That would be so cool at Salado. You can mail me anything you don't want to carry.

Solson005 · October 2012

Looks great! I like the creativity =D>

SoCal_Griller · October 2012

Very impressive.

SmokeyPitt · October 2012

That's awesome zip! I think your vertical spit design might come in really handy on the small egg for smoking a larger butt. Instead of laying the butt on the grid the spit would allow you to keep it in the middle of the egg...prevent meat from hanging over the stone or plate setter.

thailandjohn · October 2012

I am impressed.....great pictures and finished product looks very very tasty

Botch · October 2012

What a great DIY solution, thanks!

Do you recharge your smoking wood every time you shave off the outer, cooked meat?

DawgDays · October 2012

This is so cool. Post of the month, Zip!

Zippylip · October 2012

Botch said:

What a great DIY solution, thanks!

Do you recharge your smoking wood every time you shave off the outer, cooked meat?

No, no smoking wood. If you've ever seen a Gyros vertical spit machine they use an electric heating element (maybe some use gas I'm not sure), no wood smoke. I used only lump that was stabilized at 400 so it was burning very clean. The flavor of Gyros comes from the meat and the seasonings used as well as the condiments added.

My next batch will be chicken and I think that will be somewhat less authentic, may marinate the thighs in something for a while as well as add some smoking wood

SmokinDAWG82 · October 2012

Nice, I'd love to try something like this with Lamb

BuckeyeBob · October 2012

This looks awesome and I too have been looking for a way to make al Pastor. Logistical question. Does it just set on top of the fire ring? The flat metal is strong enough and won't sag?

scaryangel · October 2012

This is great. I too have been trying to figure out how to do al pastor on the egg. What a great idea. Don't forget the pineapple when making al pastor

Zippylip · October 2012

BuckeyeBob said:

This looks awesome and I too have been looking for a way to make al Pastor. Logistical question. Does it just set on top of the fire ring? The flat metal is strong enough and won't sag?

Bob, yes, as shown in several pictures above it was designed to just sit on the fire ring (the strip being 36 inches in length cut in 2 yielding 2 - 18 inch strips which is a perfect size for the egg. The butt was about 8lbs & there was no noticeable sag, I suppose if you were to pack on more weight it might be an issue, but sagging isn't a problem - it's not going to break. In playing around with it before the cook I did put the grid on & 4 egg feet turned sideways on the grid (all much closer to the center of the egg) then placed the rig on the feet just outside the edge of the pie tin. If there is a concern about weight that would certainly solve the problem as the supports are about 4 inches closer to the center than the ring. Also remember there is a bolt that protrudes from the bottom of the center of the pie tin which could also be used to support the center by resting on the grid if necessary, like a fifth foot.

I however opted for lean & mean

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Gyros, a blow by blow - vertical spit

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