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Stand for Al Pastor or Chicken Shwerma

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    Stand for Al Pastor or Chicken Shwerma

    I've been thinking about trying to make a batch of Al Pastor or chicken shwerma in my pellet cooker. They make it by stacking the slices of marinated meat on a vertical spit type of thing. I need to come up with something that I can layer the meat on to hold it in place. I saw a metal paper towell stand that I thought might work but it's probably not food safe. I was hoping maybe I could pick your collective brains on something I can rig up.

    #2
    The stand itself would be easy enough to make. Some SS rod and a welder. It the rotation that would be difficult I think.

    Comment


    • pkadare
      pkadare commented
      Editing a comment
      With a pellet cooker you wouldn't really need the rotation as you'd already have heat on all sides.

    • ofelles
      ofelles commented
      Editing a comment
      @pkdare Hadn't thought of that

    #3
    For al pastor, pineapple slice in the bottom, a wooden or metal skewer, meat on the skewer, pineapple on the top. Should work for shawarma as well, minus the pineapple slices, you'd just need something to hold the skewer up right.

    Comment


      #4
      Something like this? https://www.amazon.com/Brazilian-Bar...-garden&sr=1-2

      Comment


        #5
        Originally posted by jumbo7676 View Post
        I saw that, was thinking there might be less costly options.

        Comment


          #6
          I get the stand part and I've seen it made out of a number of similar contraptions, it's the cooking part I don't get. Al Pastor, shawarma or lamb for gyros rotate on a spit against a source of heat, either gas or electric. As the meat cooks on the outside, it's sliced off thin, continues to rotate and the whole thing is repeated until the tube of meat is gone.

          What you describe is putting the whole thing in a pellet grill (or convection oven) and then what? Are you going to keep carving off pieces, returning it to the cooker then repeating the process? Guess I'm confused by this whole setup. I've heard of doing it in a mock fashion by cooking thin cuts separately but you seem bent on having a skewered scheme of some sort. Be interested in how that works out.

          Comment


          • fzxdoc
            fzxdoc commented
            Editing a comment
            Astute.
            K.

          #7
          Would you even need a spit / skewer if it isn't going to rotate? Just stack it up and tie it together maybe? As to Troutman's point, maybe just cook it through then brown it up in a frying pan as you use it?

          Comment


            #8
            Originally posted by Troutman View Post
            I get the stand part and I've seen it made out of a number of similar contraptions, it's the cooking part I don't get. Al Pastor, shawarma or lamb for gyros rotate on a spit against a source of heat, either gas or electric. As the meat cooks on the outside, it's sliced off thin, continues to rotate and the whole thing is repeated until the tube of meat is gone.

            What you describe is putting the whole thing in a pellet grill (or convection oven) and then what? Are you going to keep carving off pieces, returning it to the cooker then repeating the process? Guess I'm confused by this whole setup. I've heard of doing it in a mock fashion by cooking thin cuts separately but you seem bent on having a skewered scheme of some sort. Be interested in how that works out.
            You might be right. Just something I'm experimenting with. I've seen recipes where they do it in an over, so I thought adding some smoke might be all right.

            Comment


            • Troutman
              Troutman commented
              Editing a comment
              I'm just being curious. I've thought about doing it on my rotisserie but the same issue, you carve off the outside that's done then keep cooking? Seems like a lot of work to eventually cook the whole thing. Tons of recipes where you just grill thin cuts, ends up the same result, just not as sexy as skewered !!!

            #9
            I don't think everything translates to home cooking. Instead of worrying about it, I just take a drive to the local Mexican market that has a trompo (vertical spit roaster) and stuff myself silly.

            Comment


            • Troutman
              Troutman commented
              Editing a comment
              Yea I tend to be in the same boat, I love my gyros, got a guy who does it exceptionally well near my house so no way I'm gonna try to imitate that. Roll Tide.

            #10
            Murdy once gave me this advice for my gyro cone.

            If your a Prime member, you can get a gyro cooker to your house by Monday.

            Of course, this screws up the 50 cents a pound thing, but then you'd have a cool cooker too!

            Hope this helped.
            Good advice really unfortunately one big enough to handle what I had was pretty pricey. Along the way I noticed things like this that you could use to do individual al pastor or shawarma stacks.



            Comment


              #11
              Since you are using a pellet pooper, you could just use skewers and lay them horizontally. If you want them to be vertical, a piece of ss large enough to be sturdy with a ss rod in the center would work. you could either weld it or get a threaded rod and drill a hole in the base and put a nut on both sides of the base.
              Here's a less expensive vertical roaster on Amazon:

              Comment


                #12
                The kitchen guys at work have borrowed my Pit Barrel skewers a couple of times to make Pastor (I think they've used them more than I have), And that works fine but isn't really the same as a trompo. ATBBQ did a video where he used a rotisserie on a kamodo and shaved it off, which is closer but seems like a pain in the butt. My favorite way to do Pastor is Kenji's recipe/technique even though it ends up taking a couple of days, really solid recipe that people rave about every time I make it.

                Comment


                  #13
                  I've made chicken gyro meat before and it came out great. I cut a large onion in half and put 2 wooden kebab skewers in it to use as the base, creating a vertical spit. I then pounded down chicken thighs and marinated them in a Greek gyro mixture and let sit for 4 hrs in the fridge. Once marinated, I stacked them on the skewers and put the other half of the onion on top. The whole thing was placed in my egg and cooked at 350 until internal temp of 165. I took it off and sliced the whole thing into a tray creating a mixture of the crispy exterior pieces and the tender internal pieces. I had warm Greek pita bread along with tzaziki sauce, onion, tomato and lettuce setup for a gyro bar. Fantastic!

                  Comment


                  • Troutman
                    Troutman commented
                    Editing a comment
                    That's the kind of reaction I was looking for, cooking it whole until the internal got up to temp, then slicing the whole thing for service. How big around was your cylinder of meat?

                  • dshaffes
                    dshaffes commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Thanks! It wasn't too wide, about the size of a corn tortilla.

                  #14
                  Here's a cheater method offered by Kenji (I haven't tried it): https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...or-recipe.html

                  I'll also offer this thought: unless you're frequently cooking for a sizable crowd, having the real thing, aka the trompo, just isn't practical. Are you going to stand there and shave meat off, then cook a while longer, then shave again...cook, shave...

                  Actually, this might be one of things it's best to go out for, as suggested by Troutman .

                  Comment


                    #15
                    I’ve done a few on my Summit gasser. They turned out well...but I cook, slice and let it spin some more...just like a proper shawarma machine. I’ve not tried any of the other methods...but they certainly would cook faster than the traditional slice & keep cooking method. I do keep thinking about getting a dedicated machine but haven’t pulled the trigger yet...

                    Regardless, if you do vertical or horizontal and want to slice and continue cooking...you NEED one of these! No really, you need it...because...well because. LOL Any not many things show that you’ve totally lost your freaking mind like an electric shawarma knife. You can even get a cordless one but I’ve never played with that. https://www.amazon.com/KeyTop-Electr...gateway&sr=8-1

                    Comment

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