Easy Pork Gyro for Everyone

A few years ago I shared a recipe with how make your own pork gyro at home, provided you have one of these home vertical rotisseries at your home. The positives are that this is as close to pork gyro as one can get when making at home. The cons are finding the home vertical rotisserie and you can only shave off enough meat for a couple of sandwiches then you have to cook more pork for the next sandwiches.

The other way to make pork gyro is to sear a whole pork butt then slow roast in your oven. You then have to tear the meat into smaller pieces then broil until just crisp. The pros are everyone can make this, it is easy to prepare, you can serve more than two servings a time. The cons are you don’t get the whole pork gyro rotating on the spit visual and it takes longer to cook.

The difference in the meat’s texture is slightly better (more authentic) than this oven roasted method but the result of the latter is still very good and it will please many, many people who love pork gyro and would love to serve it at home.

Oven Roasted Pork Gyro

(serves 6-8)

1 pork butt (boneless), approx. 3lbs.

2-3 tsp. sea salt

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. black pepper

2 Tbsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp. sweet paprika

1 Tbsp. dried Greek oregano

1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

Extras

warm pita bread

Tzatziki

sliced red onions

sliced ripe tomatoes

dried Greek oregano

1. Combine salt, sugar, black pepper,  garlic powder, paprika, oregano, thyme and rub all over the meat. Place in a container, cover and refrigerate for a minimum 4 hours to overnight.
2. The next day, remove your pork butt from the fridge and pre-heat your oven to 325F.  Place a roasting pan/Dutch oven large enough to contain your pork on your stove-top over high heat, add a 2 Tbsp. olive oil and sear your meat on all sides until browned all’round.
3. Cover and place in your pre-heated oven for 2 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160F. Remove from the oven and keep covered, allow to cool for 20 minutes.
4. Break up the meat with your fingers into bite-sized pieces and taste and adjust seasoning of meat.
5. Pre-heat the broiler in your oven, place some pork gyro meat on a baking sheet, spread out. Broil until the meat just begins to crisp, remove from the oven.
6. Divide and place your meat on the pita bread, add a good dollop of Tzatziki, add tomatoes, onions and french fries, wrap up and serve. Alternately, serve on a platter as a Gyro dinner with pita bread on the side.
7. Serve with a cold Fix Beer or Kechri retsina.