The Surprising Solution for Making Döner Kebab Meat at Home 

Here's a tip for anyone who will make this recipe: If you wanna make it more accurate and more Döner Kebab-like, grate an onion and add its juice to the marinade. It will make the marinade more acidic and tenderize the meat. I learned this from the Döner Kebab makers from Turkey, and believe me, it will make an awesome difference.

Having moved to the US, where it is impossible to find Doener, I wish I could like this video twice! Thank you! This is fantastic!

I was like "this guy's umlaut pronunciation is on point, I wonder where he's from" oh... Berlin, that explains it.

Like you I have been making my own Döner ever since I left Berlin and Germany over 10 years ago. The best way to keep the minced beef upright on a spit is to bind it with semolina (Grieß). It's a starch and neutral in flavor. It will hold without needing to freeze it so it drastically reduces the cooking time on such a small spit grill for home use. It works like a charm and I highly recommend it!

One could say that Döner Kebab is.... Revolutionary! ;D

I use to make Doner kebabs over 30 yrs ago here in London for both Greek and Turkey food places. 1st of use only lamb and this is should be minced applied in balls and layered with lamb breastflap which adds an amount of fat that supports the build. Add in blended onion and a dry mix of herbs including oregano paprika chilli black pepper mixed herbs and salt. Mix in a blender to a dough type consistency. The largest kebab I've made weighed 360lb, that's 25.7 stone.

I feel I finally found someone as obsessed with doner meat as me.

Yes, thank you I’ve been trying to figure out how to make these at home. I’m gonna try this!

Thank you so very much for this video, Andong! I made this today for my family and they loved it! I made them German-style, but wrapped into burritos using 14" flour tortillas because I didn't have time to make pita from scratch. I served it with some delicious koshari on the side and it was all great. I really appreciate all the work you do to make these videos and yes, they are improving people's lives. All my best to you and yours.

I definitely used this technique for the Doner kebab burger and it worked really well.

An der Aussprache von "Döner Kebab" hört man eindeutig, dass du ein deutscher seien musst😂😂

Might I suggest placing a foiled wrapped red brick on on top of the "meatloaf" cooking step. Helps the density for the slicing stage.

I was binging some of Andong's older videos. I've developed such a palatte for chinese food, I've started making some of my own recipes now! Today's fried rice was BOMB!!! Cheers! (When u so early u havent finished watching the vid so theres nothing to comment about :/)

This is seriously one of the best videos I have ever seen on RU-vid. The way you break it down not just what you did but why you don't do something else, makes it SO interesting for knowledge and of course cooking

Your video was very enlightening and interesting to watch! You went so much out of your way to find all this! Hats off for you!

Very happy to see so much döner content on youtube recently. And in the past few years there has been a good influx of doner shops opening in north america. Hopefully the trend continues

OK let me give you a pro-tip. You were close to getting it perfect by pre-cooking the meat in the oven. The secret is to wrap the meat as you prepared it, in plastic foil, really tightly. Then, you boil it in water (!!!) while it is still wrapped! Don't fully cook it, 5-10 min max should do. Let it rest, then freeze it. The next day you can slice the meat and grill it however you like. Or, you can even use the rotiserrie again, since the meat is pre-cooked, all you want it to do is crisp it a bit. I do it slightly different. I use a small pan, add butter, and bake/fry the slices in the pan. I dip the bread with the juices before adding sauce etc. Perfect results!! Try it, and tag me when you have the results. Looking forward to it ;)

The new kitchen setup look sick!

Love your channel- your positivity, humor and teaching skills. Bought your book and this is the first recipe I am going to attempt. Keep up the great work!

Structure, content and delivery 10/10 ! YT'ers this is how to do it.

You had me at "döner sausage"

Good effort, I can see your passion for donner. I'm in the UK and donner here is lamb, there's also chicken dinner which is great

thanks for the very articulate narrative and informative video!

Absolute ly love the way you present content. Very engaging. Good job!

this is basically how nova scotians in canada make what they call donair. matty matheson made a video about it a few weeks ago for Just a Dash

That rendered down fat that doesn't get used, makes a great BBQ sauce too.

Just found you today and cooking this to family tomorrow! Thanks! :D

Quite a brilliant likable presenter and nice video...practically informative. Loved it !

Tried doing Kebap at home after a recipe by Refika's Kitchen. She used almost the same method, but skipped the baking part and just put the raw meat into the freezer. Worked quite well and turned out to be delicious

In einer Folge „Kitchen Impossible“ mit Tim Mälzer wird der Kandidat der Folge herausgefordert Döner zu machen und da erfährt man ziemlich viel über das Geheimnis des perfekten Spießes! Vielleicht schaust du mal rein und holst dir etwas Inspiration :)

This guy deserves way more subs his vids are quality keep doing it man

Nice andong exactly what i needed now :) have a good weekend!

The secret of Donner Kebabs popularity is that its the hardest meal to create at home. Genius.

I am Turkish and I live abroad so I was never able to find the real Doner Kebab taste anywhere outside so I decided to make at home and started to make perfect ones after multiple tries. Let me give you some tips and tricks. For the taste of real Doner Kebab, you have to marinate the meat 1 night before if possible. Slice your meat really thin and add into the marination below; You need a few important ingredients for marination; Yogurt (Not the creamy one, the regular one ) , Black Pepper, Chili powder (Dont use a lot, just let it give some color), some mineral water (yes, you heard it right), salt, tomatoe puree, a bit of tomatoe paste and grated onion. After marination process, if you have the Doner Kebab thingy, just put all the meat as you did on your video, or you can just julienne cut the meat and fry it on a pan with some oil. Your meat will be soft and really delicious with this marination, rest of the sauce and service is depending on you. In Turkey, we do not use a lot of sauces like in shawarma or Greek gyros because we believe that sauce is covering the taste of the meat. Have a great day!

The video we've all been waiting for!

Fantastic video. Thank you so much for your hard work.

Nice video, let me give some tips on getting perfect Doner at home. The machine, Aldi (in Australia) sold a gas powered rotisserie. This is a 2 burner gas unit that can easily handle up 10 KG. It comes with all acc other than the gas bottle. Does the fatherland Aldi sell these? The mince your mix is great but go easy on yogurt (garlic powder is nice addition too) I would also aim for a 70/30 blend not the usual 80/20 that you will get in a supermarket. Once the mince is well mixed you want to have big hamburger sized patties ready to go for assembly, use a cake tin or similar and really push the mice firmly in place. The Lamb fillets between the mince you want to fillet as thin as possible I aim for 1-2mm, and marinate for 2-3 days prior. Assembly you first layer you always be fillet, then mince, fillet, mince, so on. Your final layer on top should be lamb fat if you have access to tail fat (we don't have this in Australia). Now that you have assembled the doner (this is important) take a long thin filleting knife and start shaving off any loose pieces (this usually from the fillet lamb), these scraps can be placed on top just before your fat layer. OK so now we've assembled shaved the doner, now wet your clean hands and rub the doner up and down gently, the purpose of this is to fill in gaps voids that may still remain after the shave. OK great, cling wrap time, be generous with the wrap and wrap it top to bottom with even pressure so the doner isn't squashed out of shape. Into the freezer overnight. Next cook and cut. The knife, Doner knives have a very thin blade and are extremely sharp, the closet home knife I've have been a long bladed filleting knife. A sashimi blade seem too thick by comparison. With the above Gas unit, the first cut is about 45min from first burn, then 15-20 there after. If you don't have the machine that then I've also have success with a similar technique where I wrap the mince only mix into a tight cling wrap log and sous vide for 4-5 hours (I can't remember temp but if would have been 65-70deg). Then cut thing long slices and blow torch *only* one side. This is will you the rotisserie effect while keeping the under side moist.

Cool approach. Not the real thing, but close enough and most of all: you can do it at home! Great video, as always 👍

I worked at a restaurant in West Hartford CT, and that is how we made our meat for Gyros..well theirs was pre brought, but I adore your idea on making my own blend. I look forward to trying this!! 😁

I was SO worried you were going to pull out some specialty equipment, and, when I saw the rotisserie, I was sorely tempted to skip the video. I stuck with it, though, and am extremely glad I did! I cannot wait to try your method(s). I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE doner, but have had no way to make it for myself. Thank you!

Hi Andong. Love this series, döner is one my favorite dishes. Question: I got lactose intolerance, so what advice can you give to making this a lactose-free dish?

How about the sauces they use? deutsch: Und was für Soßen kommen drauf und rein? :D Weißt du wie man die "am nähesten" machen kann? Speziell natürlich interessiert an Scharf ;)

I’ve been waiting for this video for so long

Love your channel bro! Keep up the good work!

I’ve been using the method for chicken and I’m very happy with the results. Instead of the 2nd roast, I prefer to pan fry the sliced chicken with some butter until I get crusty pieces here and there. I serve it over warmed up Turkish bread diced, garlic yoghurt and tomato sauce. Just like the real thing on a plate.

Having lived in the mountains in California for a while, the name "Donner Kebab" brings to mind completely different associations

Quick tip, when adding the mince to the food processor smothered oil around this will help to better manage the meat during the grinding and removing. I hope this makes sense.

U are a genius man! Is the best method ever

I think they use an electric doner knife at the restaurants.

If you're making chicken doner meat add some tomato puree, lemon juice, garlic and chilli, it will make huge difference. Good luck 🌯🌮🍢

Meat looks exactly like the Swedish kebab packed meat to do in pan same!! Amazing BTW what ratio mix of meat to emulsionate lamb and beef?

Another great video, I love all of your episodes. BTW, I really like the food mixer you use; what brand is it?

Ahh as a Turk this video is feeding my soul

When cooking the “meat loaf” version, I think 90 minutes is too long.....especially as you are going to cook it again....

Love your videos Andong!

first time watching your videos and I love it 😂🥰🥰

Whoah! Nice! PS: Pro Home Cooks collab sometimes???

You should make this recipies printable! :D I love your content and want to try out so many things!

Nice! Definitely giving this a shot!

Really enjoy your videos, Andong. I was in Germany for about 9 months and miss the late-night trips to the Döner stands.

Your rotisserie is to weak. You're gonna need Der Gerät. Or maybe try to get a tutorial from Balli next time!

This lockdown in England got me craving doner kebab 🥺

Leaving a comment for that RU-vid alto! You go andong!

Excellent solution to use the pan juices for later crisping. One trick I learned from Alton Brown's gyro recipe was to put a brick (or something similarly heavy and oven proof) across the top of the meat while baking to keep things compressed and packed.

Use an electric knife when cutting off the spit. Perfect slices every time.

Tip and step number one for anyone trying to make authentic Turkish doner: Do NOT use minced/ground meat. Period.

Thank you for the excellent recipe. It is very clear to understand, Where can I get the compact size roaster ?

Super Video! Danke dir

"I also added some Margerie and Rosemary" Do you mean marjoram? Margerie is a woman's name. But then, so is Rosemary...

My wife cooks a sort of loaf style, minced lamb, dry spices, gives it a good beating, into a tin, cooks it, halfway through she drains off all the fat, and turns over the loaf, back into the tin, and pours half the fat back over it, then back in the oven. When it's done, she wraps in foil and lets it cool, then slices it thinly. Best I've ever tasted, and even friends who have mini rotisseries have agreed.

This was amazing! Thank you for this. Would you happen to know how to make a Käsekrainer? My husband and I studied in Vienna, Austria and ate this almost every day for lunch.

Hello Andong, really a big fan of your work ! did you try the mince loaf in the mini rotisserie after freezing it??

If you still want to use your rotisserie, here is the solution : electric knife

Du bist echt DER Kebap King hahaha. Mach mal nen DÖNER KANAL auf! Grüße aus Harbin, China.

Great video. Really informative.

Tears of Joy freely flowed down my cheeks when this popped up on my feed. It has been 17 years since I fell in love with Döner in Baden-Wurttemberg. I've not been able to replicate it. Thanks to you, you Beautiful Being, I'm bringing Döner to Colorado, USA. 🥰 Thank you.

Bei den meiste (also billige döner) ist das "Fleisch" kommplett dünn püriert und angedickt mit stärke. Original: nur geschichtete fleischstücke dnd eine Zwiebel oben drauf.

Or option B, use actual meat slices built on top of eachother like they actually do.

I admire your dedication to the craft.

Great video. Now I’m hungry. Good job sir

7:38 “Wait, where have I heard that one before!?” 🤔 And I expected “b-roll!!!”

Refika’s kitchen YT channel has a really good technique for döner at home.

Du bist ja echt der Hammer. As someone who speaks English and German fluently, I love listening to your english. It's like listening to someone who is actually interested in speaking the language. And the accent is definitely on the cute of life lol. Oh and the content is so bomb, I came in through the hummus videos and I don't regret it.

You earned my like and my sub.

day 9 of quarantine:

Step 1. Buy Gyros at your local Edeka Step 2. There is no step 2

great vid, will try make soon :D

“Jiggling around”😂 yep, that pretty much also sums up what happens when eating Döner at 2am🤣👍🏽

Wait. Let me get that straight. You mixed your own herbs without msg? Is that you Andong? *Edited after a few seconds msg was added* Nevermind.

“Wow" you sir are an evil genius ❤️ I’ve been through all these steps (using the home rotisserie) and all the problems you came across at the start of the video I encountered with all the same results (heart breaking shame) so I gave up ( having a kebab shop at arms length to me) might as well (😢) but no (I’m not defeated) just from watching your methodology I’m going back in like the 007 of the Döner kebab meat world to kick some Döner meat butts 🥊 from seeing all your tryouts and comparing them to mine I know this tutorial is a winner ❤️ I will edit this comment with the results, you gained yourself a new subscribe

How good must the food processor be? Is 500w enough? I need to order one asap.:)

Kitchen looks super sick, I almost subbed just because of that.

Türkler kaç kişi? Sayımızı bilelim.

I need to try this ASAP !

dein channel ist der hammer

In a word...YUM! By the way the studio looks great!

Thank you so much for this video

amazing content keep it up bro

I spent 2 years in Berlin from 85-87,my favorite food,still remember what it smelled like,love it. Miss it

i recently moved to north wales. not a doener place in site. i miss germany. you have saved my life!