First attempt at Lamb Shawarma

[kill2grill]

A month or so ago, I tried out and really liked Tacos al Pastor on the PBC. It got me thinking about trying the same method of using the turkey hanger to make shawarma (which is very similar, but not the same as a gyro).

First attempt was not too shabby. Took the thin slices of leg and marinated them overnight with a wet paste, threw on some rosemary from the yard over the coals, and the 4lbs of lamb were done in 2.5 hours.

Tastes great – but for round two I plan on cracking the lid a little earlier and taking it off at 135. The crunchy exterior was awesome. Here are the food porn photos...

[jecucolo]

That look really good. I love lamb. What was your paste if you don’t mind sharing it. I want to give that a try!

[kill2grill]

Shawarma Paste:

3 garlic cloves, minced (go big, go 6)
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground cardamon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp smoked paprika (ordinary also ok)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup / 65 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 - 3 tbsp / 40 - 60 ml lemon juice

[jecucolo]

Thanks!

[JimLinebarger]

Velly nice!

[barelfly]

That is outstanding!

[JeffJ]

That looks awesome.

[RonB]

Great job ~ Ron

[FireMan]

WOW! That is one of my favorite things I miss about Detroit, the Arabic food. That & the pizza. And yes it is different than a gyro. Looks outstanding.

[gcdmd]

I love the before and after view of your kitchen, the meat, of course, but also the background. It looks my kitchen before and after a cook, either outdoor or indoor.

[CaptainMike]

Beautiful!

[Troutman]

I really, really love gyros. New place opened up near me where the Greek serves it up authentically. Also does a mean Chicago style Italian beef, but I digress.

Your’s looked like it turned out really good. I assume you sliced off pieces. I always wondered if you could put it back on and get the outside crunchy again

Also, nice looking taco. Is that a tzatziki sauce?

[Troutman]

Yea a little tzatziki goes a long way. I too like to taste the meat, not a bunch of sauce !!

[JimLinebarger]

kill2grill Were the tahini and tzatziki both homemade or store bought?

[kill2grill]

JimLinebarger The tahini was store bought modified and the tzatziki was homemade.

[Attjack]

I've been wanting to try something like this on the rotisserie. So the whole thing was done all at once? You didn't have to shave some meat off and throw it back in?

[Troutman]

Ideally that's how you would want to do it. That way you achieve a nice bark over and over again.

[kill2grill]

In this case I did it all at once due to how well it worked when cooking another vertical recipe called Tacos al Pastor. There is so much crunch on the exterior that when you shave the whole thing and mix it you get a decent amount in each bite. Traditionally, it would go back on to make more crust after shaving bits off the side. Something to test out on the next cook. For my first go, I didn’t want lamb jerky.

[Meathead]

Did you do this on a horizontal rotisserie? Vertical? Pit Barrel? Did you shave it to serve it? Was it raw down in by the skewer?

[kill2grill]

Ok the nitty gritty - this was done vertically on the Pit Barrel using their turkey hanger. Cut slices of leg of lamb, pound them flat, threw into a plastic bag overnight with the shawarma paste. Next day made small slit in the lamb chunks and layered it up. Put meat probe down the middle about an inch away from the metal turkey hanger. Not raw - ran to 125, cracked lid, cooked until 145 internal. It had a nice crispy exterior. Next time I might pull at 135 and let the carryover take it on up.

[Meathead]

Brilliant

[hoovarmin]

I can't wait to try this on the PBC. I bought the Turkey Hanger, but it's still in the plastic because I forgot - I don't like turkey. My wife's father's side of the family is Lebanese so I will score some major points with this recipe. Thanks for sharing.

[surfdog]

With the toys i currently own, I haven’t felt a genuine need to get a PBC.
That just changed. LOL

[Backroadmeats]

I have never had lamb. But I do wish I could taste that!! Wow!!