You need two things in order to cook delicious kebab at home; a real kebab recipe, and a rotisserie oven where you can use skewers or spit to cook traditional shish kebabs, shawarma, gyro, and other specialties. The good news is that you can have both today!
It starts with selecting the right meat, but adding a few secret ingredients and applying unique marinating tricks can make a big difference. These are old-world classics that have been cooked and consumed for hundreds of years. Nothing beats the flavor of a well marinated meat cooked over low heat.
Whether you are preparing a delicious sirloin roast or a shawarma kebab, the cooking technique used is similar. We call this cooking style the rotisserie roasting, where meat is placed on a long rod or spit, and then slowly cooked while rotating.
Your goal is to get a good sear over the meat to lock the flavors inside, and keep it tender with moisture. Roasting makes delicious dishes with all kinds of meats, including but not limited to whole chicken, pork loins, turkeys, beef, and fish.
If you are a meat lover, you might also enjoy our guide on how long to dehydrate deer jerky.
Read on for the best countertop kebab electric cookers!
Flexzion Rotisserie Toaster Oven Grill – Countertop Kebab Electric Cooker
Having kebab nights at my place with my close friends is a regular thing thanks to the smart rotisserie oven from Flexzion. It is not easy to achieve a traditional shawarma if you don’t have the necessary gear.
In the past, it was almost impossible to be able to do this since no kebab tools were really available for home use, except for skewers. I used to make chicken or beef gyro on the stove, and that’s just fooling yourself. This type of food needs special cooking.
What you need is a good rotating roaster to tenderize the meat while keeping the flavors inside. It should also be easy to clean afterwards, otherwise you will never want to do this at home ever again.
Cleaning is a breeze with the Flexzion; included dripping tray keeps all the grease which you can wash over easily. Lids also help to keep oil splashes and the smoke inside. My kitchen stays clean while I am cooking, and that is a relief!
There are many different tools used for roasting, including battery powered spits over wood fire, and roasting accessories that you can attach on top of your barbecue grill. However, the electric rotisserie toaster ovens allow you to perform this cooking style in the most convenient way. A modern electric rotisserie roaster has an automatic rotator which enables the meat to cook evenly.
Why do I love the Flexzion roaster?
- See through lids allow me to watch the status of the meat without opening them. This helps to maintain the balanced temperature inside the electric oven, which is necessary when you are cooking over a single heating element.
- It comes with all the accessories you need whether you are making a roast or kebab; food basket, spit, skewers, and grill are all included along with a set of high-heat resistant, FDA approved oven gloves. I am a huge fan of the food basket; if you fill it up with marinated chicken legs then you will know what I mean. The rotisserie set up is great for whole chicken or turkey. However, you do need a sharp carving knife if you want to slice the gyro the right way. Spit and the rotisserie forks are all made from high quality material.
- Easy to use; all I have to do is to place the heating element at the back or the bottom of the oven. I can focus on marinating the meat, cooking is a piece of cake. The indicator lights for Rotisserie or Grill modes, and the 90-minute timer allows you to easily monitor. You can use it as a warmer too, but I haven’t tried that yet.
I used to roast shawarma on my gas barbecue grill and had to open up the lid occasionally to check on the meat. However, opening the lid occasionally has a side-effect; it reduces the flavor. The see-through lids help to keep the moisture inside the oven, and the temperature range remains the same all over the meat. This is how I obtain perfect tender loins, and shawarma every time with consistency. Even heat will get you better sear to lock in the flavor.
A smart oven and a compact tool; I keep it in the closet until next use. I don’t know about you, but I have too many kitchen gadgets, and I just can’t keep them all on the countertop.
It is also a versatile equipment, and not just made for kebab. I cook Greek style garlic-lemon rotisserie chicken with ease, and it comes out much better than the ones that are sold at the grocery stores. And the best thing about that is that you don’t have to watch it while its cooking. Gives you easy and delicious dinner every time. Just spice up the chicken and throw it in the rotisserie oven.
Self-basting feature makes the meat more tender and increases the flavor. The rotation of the meat gets rid of excess grease by dripping on the tray, while the natural steam inside the Flexzion makes it extra tender. That’s how you accomplish juicy and spicy kebabs!
Features:
- 7 x 15.6 x 13 inches
- Weighs 13.25 pounds
- Capacity: 21 L
- Cooking or warming; Low – High temperature setting
- ETL Safety Standard
- Stainless steel material
- Includes: 7 kebab skewers, 1 skewer loading rack, 2 rotisserie forks, 1 drip tray, 1 food basket, a grill rack, gloves, and other accessories.
Kebab Recipe with Secret Ingredients
Do you want to learn to make traditional kebab at home like a pro? I learned these tricks from a friend who was working as a trainee at an authentic Middle Eastern restaurant. Secret ingredients don’t always work out miracles, but this one is different. You will not only get the best tasting kebab, but it will also smell so good that all your neighbors will come by; so be prepared for extra company. It is made possible with a bakery ingredient!
This kebab is cooked with skewers and made from ground meat. The original recipe calls for 70% beef and 30% lamb meat, but feel free to use any type of meat you like.
Caution: Use lean ground meat with less fat, preferably with 15% to 20% fat if you want to keep the meat on the skewers, otherwise they will fall off. This is also good for your health; you will consume less saturated fat.
Ingredients:
- 1-pound ground meat (15% fat)
- 1 large onion diced in small cubes
- ¼ cup cold water
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground basil
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
- Salt to taste
Secret 1: Baking soda is the secret ingredient. Add ½ teaspoon baking soda into ¼ cup of cold water. Stir and let it foam for 2-4 minutes.
Secret 2: Professional kebab restaurants add tail fat. The percentage ratio is 25% tail fat to ground meat. They use lamb in the Middle East, but beef skirt steaks used more widely in general. Kebab makers do not use ground meat, they rather chop the meat themselves along with the onions and the tail fat.
Directions:
- Add ½ teaspoon baking soda in to ¼ cup of cold water. Stir and let it foam for 2-4 minutes.
- Put the ground meat into a bowl.
- Add the baking soda mix to the ground meat.
- Add all the other ingredients.
- Get a spatula or use your hands to blend the mixture gently until everything gets incorporated.
- Get your skewers out.
- Get some kebab mixture about the size of golf ball and attach it on the skewer by tightly squeezing between your palm and the fingers. Add more meat if necessary. Continue with the other skewers and repeat.
- Put the skewers on a large serving plate and keep them in the fridge for 2 hours. This will help to marinate, and the meat will not fall off the skewer while cooking.
- Position the heating element horizontally at the bottom for the grill mode. Preheat the Flexzion for 5 minutes. Take the skewers out of the fridge and start cooking immediately for 8-12 minutes.
Tip: Keep your skewers in the fridge before you put the kebab meat on them.
Rotisserie Tips and Tricks
- Meat selection: Best meats to roast are cross rib, top sirloin, and prime rib. Whole chicken, pork loin, and turkey breast are also excellent choices for rotisserie. Don’t forget, fish can also be roasted either with skewers or with the fillet basket attachment. Mustard seed coated salmon makes perfect roasts, which is my favorite. Multi-use meat baskets allow you to cook small meat parts like chicken legs, or fish fillets.
- Balance the spit: Place the spit over the sink; the meat should be centered towards the bowl. Heavy part of the meat will roll to the bottom if the spit is unbalanced. You can add the counter balancing accessory in the opposite direction. This a great trick to balance the meat for better rotation and even cook.
- Lids: Avoid unnecessary lid openings to be able to cook the meat all over flawlessly. Leave the meat alone! You will have perfect sear and keep the flavors inside. It is an important aspect of rotisserie roasting since the heat only comes from one direction. Besides, this will make the meat tender by creating a natural basting effect.
What Is the Best Temperature for Roasting?
Don’t turn up the heat when you are making roast meats. 350°F (175°C) is the best temperature for most roasts. It takes longer to cook, but the meat has immense flavor and moisture in the end.
Traditional Chicken Shawarma Recipe
Shawarma can be made from various kinds of meat, but the original version consists only beef and lamb. Gyro and Shawarma look very similar. The main difference between the two comes from the marinating. Gyro is made with slightly spiced steaks while the shawarma is marinated at least for a day. Some restaurants sell gyro made from ground meat, that’s just an imitation and is far from the real thing.
Replace the chicken meat with beef skirt steak and lamb in equal parts if you want to make traditional gyro.
Ingredients:
- 4 large boneless chicken thighs (skinless)
- 6 chicken breasts (skinless)
- 1 cup of plain yogurt
- ½ cup of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of all spice
- 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon of ground red pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt to taste
Directions:
- Put all the ingredients except the chicken meat in to a bowl.
- Stir well to blend.
- Add all the meat into the bowl.
- Cover the bowl with aluminum folio and put it in the fridge for 24 hours.
- Take it out the next day. Get the spit and start putting the meat on it.
- Use the rotisserie function of the Flexzion (Put the heating element at the back vertically).
- Hook up the spit in its place.
- Start to thinly slice the meat when the outer parts get browned.
- Let the inner raw section continue to cook.
- Slice again when it’s ready.
In Conclusion
Flexzion toaster oven allows you to make amazing roasts and kebabs with the included spit and skewers. Follow the professional recipes above and cook restaurant style meat. It is good for lamb, beef, pork, fish, and chicken. Easy to use controls allow you to take a rest while your food is getting prepared in the toaster oven.
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