A Problem: Dry Shawarma in My Restaurant

[Michel]

Hello all,

I am new to egullet. A little about me.

I am from Cyprus and I have Lebanese Take Away shops with Chicken and Beef Shawarma, Falafel, Liver and many other staff. The business was left to me by my father who ran these shops for more than 2 decades. Now it is time to take control of this and I need to change some things, upgrade some others and add others.

Small introduction before I tell you my problems.

The chicken shawarma has chicken breast sliced in thin layers with most of the shin (90%) taken off. We leave it for at least 8 hours in our special chicken sauce and then we prepare the shawarma. On top we place a very thin layer of chicken skin.

For the beef shawarma we take big pieces of beef fillet and again we slice it into thin layers. We also leave it in our beef sauce for 8 hours and then prepare the shawarma. On top of the shawarma we put a thick layer of fat to have some juice going into the shawarma. This is the only fat within the beef shawarma and it is gone very fast.

My first problem.

During the busy hours (Lunch and Dinner time) my food is very good but between those hours, as well as before, when the shop is not busy, my shawarmas dry out a lot.

I have tried leaving a small fire on just to keep it warn but if the meat does not burn, it will dry out for sure. Especially the beef, it also gets very hard. Because of this, the quality of the food is falling and I am desperately to find a solution to this.

QUESTION1.

How can I keep my shawarmas juicy even if I do not cut any meat of them for 4-5 hours?

My second problem.

Some times the chicken meat on the shawarma it is so soft after working with it for some time that you can eat it off the shawarma with a spoon. Seriously, when I try to cut it, it is melting. This results to a lot of meat going to waste because when this happens I throw the whole shawarma away.

Question2

This happens because the chicken is left in the sauce to long or IS it because the chicken is sliced into very thin layers or is it because the chicken meat we receive some times is from small chickens or can all of the above cause the problem I am facing?

I will appreciate any help and advice. Please, let me hear what you think.

Thank you.

[FoodMan]

Michel-

Welcome to the eGullet Society! My first advice is to review this shawarma thread, it might have some helpful hints.

Now, in your particular case and from what I could gather from your comments I think that you might be making the Shawarma too lean. You need more fat in there to help keep it juicy. Using beef fillet makes for a VERY lean Shawarma and you should layer some lamb or beef fat in on the skewer and also use a fattier piece of meat. The same goes for the chicken, you said you only put some skins on top, I say layer soem sking in the skewer between the chicken as well.

Now, no matter what you do, if you are not slicing the meat for a few hours between "busy" times, it will probably burn or dry out. Did you maybe try turning the heat off and wrapping the meat with foil or plastic wrap to prevent drying? I know this sounds a little strange, but it might help if you are not slicing any meat for a couple of hours.

About the chicken being too soft. It seems like the chicken it turning mushy. My first guess would be the sauce you are using to marinate. Does it have too much acid (vinegar, lemon juice,...) in it? Try marinating it for a shorter time. Also do not cut the meat too thin, maybe flatten the breasts a little but do not slice them too thin.

Hope some of this helps and do let us know of any updates,

Elie

[zeitoun]

Now, no matter what you do, if you are not slicing the meat for a few hours between "busy" times, it will probably burn or dry out. Did you maybe try turning the heat off and wrapping the meat with foil or plastic wrap to prevent drying? I know this sounds a little strange, but it might help if you are not slicing any meat for a couple of hours.

←

Welcome to Egullet Michel!!

Foodman's suggestions are right on the money so nothing more to add to that really. However, if this is any comfort to you, the problem of dried shawarma is unfortunately a very common one here in New York (so you are not alone in this predicament!!). This is why I always order shawarma during busy lunch hours, when the meat is grilled and cut every minute. When it sits uncut for too long, it is bound to dry out a little no matter what you do. Turning off the heat and covering it with foil will help minimize that, but from what i've experineced, it still won't give you perfect shawarma.

[Luckylies]

yep, what they said. for juciness you must either have fattier cuts of meat or add fat. perhaps the schwarma could be basted periodically when it is not being used. Or maybe half goes to lunch service- half goes to dinner (would this work??) I like soft meat, so the chicken problem does not seem all that unattractive (pehaps my imagination is not that great)

good luck.

[chefzadi]

Layers of fat interspersed with meat will help keep the meat moist as already mentioned.

If the shawarma is in view of customers covering it with tin foil could be visually unappealing. Turn down the heat or turn if off during slow times. When a customer comes to order, but the meat is not hot I've seen places slice off some meat and reheat it in a pan.

[v. gautam]

Here is a foolish 2 cents:

With chicken breasts, take the skinless whole breasts, turn them ragged side up, and pound them with the back of a cleaver or meat pounder, not too hard, but not lightly either. Dont slice thinly, just slice lengthwise in half. Make sure your marinade has plenty of oil, and only a small quantity of vinegar or lemon juice, preferably the latter. With the carefully pounded meat, you will find the breast absorbs oil as it should, and remains juicier. Give this a small try, and see for yourself.

In the US, the law says that after slaughter, the chicken carcass has to be brouht down to below 30 degrees F in roughly an hour or so; the processors dump the carcass in ice water; if cooled by air, rigor would develop and then release, and a better quality chicken would ensue. Cooling in ice water and machine deboning creates textural problems. Try this judicious pounding, followed by marination in an oil rich, acidpoor marinade, keep the breasts whole or halved lengthwise, and please report your findings.

Pound the beef fillet judiciously, and pound in suet fat, at least 20%, marinate.

[Michel]

Guys,

Thank you for your interest and you advice. I have printed your post and I will try them out in the next 4-5 days. I will keep you posted.

v.gautam, very interesting suggestion. I will leave it last to try.

Look for my results in 5 days, so I can share the experiense with you all.

Thank you again.

Michel

[Almass]

In addition to the above suggestions, let me comment as follows:

1- Any particular reason to marinate both chicken and beef for 8 hrs? The meat is almost cooked by this time!!!

2- Are you packing the chicken or the beef solid to sit on the skewer! You must pack the meat (chicken and beef) in a solid and dense manner so that the heat DOES NOT PERMEATE to the inside perimetre.

3- Is your Shawarma grill/roaster hot enough? Is it spread on the lenght of the skewer? Beef Shawarma is essentially marinated in vinegar and only cooked/roasted on the part to be cut for serving. You never cook the whole thing continuous!

4- Have you considered splitting your shawarma on two skewers to be grilled concurently.