It's processing season to make room for fresh meat and this is one of our favorites.
Recipe is based on this: https://www.seriouseats.com/greek-american-lamb-gyros-recipe
Differences:
I grind the meat instead of using a food processor. Double grind coarse then fine grind plate.
I do about 2 pounds per 9x4 loaf pan, this was just shy of 8 lbs ~ 3500 grams. This is a loaf sausage essentially so you want to disregard the salt volume measure and weigh out your salt. Most sausage I do kosher salt 1.75% by weight and that hits perfect for me. You can adjust anywhere around 1.5-2% depending on your taste.
I shoot for 70/30 deer meat and pork fat. I had some frozen fatback and only thing the store had to supplement was pork belly so I went a little over on the pork around 35%.
Another change from the recipe is I recommend dice and sautee the aromatics and deglaze the pan with a little white wine and add that to your first grind. I find sausages with raw onion and garlic to be a little too harsh, I like to tame that down a little.
For the final prep I usually fry it up in a skillet instead of broil.
I vac seal and freeze the loaves in 1/3 portions. That is a good amount for my wife and I, so 2 normal person that like to eat servings. So ~8 lbs of meat yields about 24 portions.
You have to make homemade pitas and tzatziki to get the full effect. They are really the star of the show here. I use Chef John's recipe for the pitas: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/232719/chef-johns-pita-bread/
Excellent pita, salty garlicky meat, tangy fresh tzatziki, fresh garden tomatoes and lettuce, throw some fries on there for yinzer-style. It's one of my top summer meals no doubt.
Recipe is based on this: https://www.seriouseats.com/greek-american-lamb-gyros-recipe
Differences:
I grind the meat instead of using a food processor. Double grind coarse then fine grind plate.
I do about 2 pounds per 9x4 loaf pan, this was just shy of 8 lbs ~ 3500 grams. This is a loaf sausage essentially so you want to disregard the salt volume measure and weigh out your salt. Most sausage I do kosher salt 1.75% by weight and that hits perfect for me. You can adjust anywhere around 1.5-2% depending on your taste.
I shoot for 70/30 deer meat and pork fat. I had some frozen fatback and only thing the store had to supplement was pork belly so I went a little over on the pork around 35%.
Another change from the recipe is I recommend dice and sautee the aromatics and deglaze the pan with a little white wine and add that to your first grind. I find sausages with raw onion and garlic to be a little too harsh, I like to tame that down a little.
For the final prep I usually fry it up in a skillet instead of broil.
I vac seal and freeze the loaves in 1/3 portions. That is a good amount for my wife and I, so 2 normal person that like to eat servings. So ~8 lbs of meat yields about 24 portions.
You have to make homemade pitas and tzatziki to get the full effect. They are really the star of the show here. I use Chef John's recipe for the pitas: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/232719/chef-johns-pita-bread/
Excellent pita, salty garlicky meat, tangy fresh tzatziki, fresh garden tomatoes and lettuce, throw some fries on there for yinzer-style. It's one of my top summer meals no doubt.
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