iskender kebab - how to make kebab at home

[Smoltine Kiminal]

For some days or weeks now i have the craving for the fatty, juicy goodness that is iskender kebab
sadly i dont have a kebap grill, and dont know any kebaphouse that makes a good iskender kebab

does anyone have any idea how i could cook a barely-good-enough replication of the glorious iskender kebab?

most of it doesnt seems so difficult, sauce and bread is no problem, instead of whatever special turkish butter i just use normal one,
but what about the meat? how do i get ultra thin strips of grilled meat right?
i fear if i just made a super small stick full of meat and grill it from all sides on my charcoal grill it would take forever until i have enough meat strips ready, and it will be cold by then
cutting from a small stick of meat also has to be hard af

 

[Chongqing]

You may hate this idea, but when it comes to Turkish kebap type of food, here's what I do.

I buy ground chicken and mix it with the Turkish spices. I might mix in a little bit of olive oil as well.

Then, in a big hot pan or on a griddle, I press out the meat super thin, like how people make smashburgers. You put foil on top of the meat and use another pan or pot to smash it down.

After its done cooking, I chop it up into strips. This gives me super thin strips of meat.

I know what you're looking for probably includes sliced meat, but this is how I do it and I've really liked it.

 

[Tridgeridoo]

i fear if i just made a super small stick full of meat and grill it from all sides on my charcoal grill it would take forever until i have enough meat strips ready, and it will be cold by then
cutting from a small stick of meat also has to be hard af

Yeah, that's not going to work unless you make a huge batch. The best you can do at home is to cook the marinated meat, slice it, then brown it. For Iskender, the last version he shows in the video is probably closer to what you want because it has less ground meat:

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

i fear if i just made a super small stick full of meat and grill it from all sides on my charcoal grill it would take forever until i have enough meat strips ready, and it will be cold by then
cutting from a small stick of meat also has to be hard af

I saw some arab cooking video that had a nice trick.

Ground beef, appropriate spices and did he add a bit of oil or fat? I don't remember. You probably shouldn't go with very lean beef.
Mix it smooth with your hands.
Get a skewer, preferably a flat metal one so it's easier to hold on to when it's time to cut it.
Start packing the ground beef mixture on the skewer. Make it thick, not thin. I should look like a small kebab wheel.

When that's done wrap it TIGHTLY in clingfilm and put in the freezer over night, it needs to be completely frozen before you use it.

When it's time, heat up a frying pan then take your frozen kebap-stick out of the freezer. Fry, turn, fry, turn etc then take it out of the pan, hold the skewer and start slicing off the cooked outer layer. It should be easy because the rest is still frozen. Put it back in the pan and fry, turn, fry, turn then take it up and slice off some more strips. When you have enough strips just wrap the mostly frozen remains and toss it into the freezer again. Then the strips go into the frying pan to heat them up and make sure they're properly cooked. Just flip them around a bit.

That's how I remember it and it seemed both convenient and not that complicated.

 

[Naproxen Sodium]

If you want a chicken doener kebab, don't use anything but chicken thighs for the meat. You need the fat and slow cooking connective tissue in that cut to break down and make it juicy and flavorful.

 

[Smoltine Kiminal]

For Iskender, the last version he shows in the video is probably closer to what you want because it has less ground meat

i tried the ground meat version with ground mutton, and it was nothing like a kebap
the flakes just fell apart way too easy
that said, non-crispy meat bits on flatbread with tomato sauce and butter still taste kinda good, so it wasnt a total loss

If you want a chicken doener kebab, don't use anything but chicken thighs for the meat. You need the fat and slow cooking connective tissue in that cut to break down and make it juicy and flavorful.

i never liked chicken doener, i always get mutton

 

[Plum Smuggler]

I'm not sure where I saw this but I've seen people packing the meat spice mixtures into a metal can and either sous vide it in water or slowly cook(in water) it on the stove. Once finished and out of the can you can hit the outside with a plumbing torch and shave off as you go. Or just shave off the meat and fry it.

Oh, wait it was an Alton Brown gyro meat recipe.

 

[Naproxen Sodium]

i tried the ground meat version with ground mutton, and it was nothing like a kebap
the flakes just fell apart way too easy
that said, non-crispy meat bits on flatbread with tomato sauce and butter still taste kinda good, so it wasnt a total loss

i never liked chicken doener, i always get mutton

Hard for me to find a purely lamb doener. Most of them are cut with beef. I will buy it if I see it though. Never seen or known a mutton one or maybe I just don't know the word for it.

 

[Smoltine Kiminal]

Hard for me to find a purely lamb doener. Most of them are cut with beef. I will buy it if I see it though. Never seen or known a mutton one or maybe I just don't know the word for it.

they say its lamb, but i doubt it
lamb is expensive and extremely tender, mutton is cheap
mutton is just adult sheep

Most of them are cut with beef

that might be the case, but beef is fine as well
the kebap store i normally get from certainly has mutton in it, but they still do the old way with stacked meat instead of puree too

 

[Stoneheart]

just make a gyro, you can fry the meat in a pan without issues and pork is just superior to ground beef