Do you think Kebab meat is safe to eat?

Question

If a lump of kebab meat slowly turns round on skewer tpye thing and is only infront of the grill for a quarter of the time, this meens for the other 3/4's it is not being heated. We all know that bacteria multiplies at temperatures between 5-60 degC.
so when the meat is around the other side of the grill,or pehaps not the surface of the meat, is between these temperatues.

Answer 1

I think you have already answered your own question?
All kebabs of this type, where the meat is packed around a centrally, rotating skewer should be considered as very poor quality and avoided like the plague. You're quite right with your suspicions about the bacteria build up. Further more, the fat and offal content is ridiculously high. There are exceptions, but how will you know? If you ask the vendor, he'll say his is the best meat available, wont he? As a rule of thumb, avoid all kebabs on the rotating skewers and stick to the Shish type or some rotating types have solid chunks of lamb, but how long have they been up there?

Answer 2

It all depends on the place you buy it from. If it is clean, and health & safety conscious, then there is no reason why a doner kebab shouldn't be fine to eat. But if a doner is not changed daily, it can harbour germs because the rotating spit just keeps it warm, but not properly hot. Remember that there are several different types of kebab. As as a rule, doners - the ones on the rotating spit - are really not good for you - they are extremely high in fat content and are just the left-over cuts of lamb that can't be sold by butchers, compressed into a tube shape to make it easy to cut strips off.. so with a doner you're actually eating bits of lamb offal that would normally make you go "ugh"! Instead try shish kebabs - the little squares of lamb cooked on skewers over a grill. These are much healthier, have a lot less fat, and are proper cuts of meat, not just left-overs. They cost a bit more but are much tastier than doners -and dont leave that greasy after-taste you get with doners.

Answer 3

It's fine. When you use a grill at home you only cook one side at a time and you don't bat an eyelid. What a lot of sceptics don't realise is that the meat (lamb) on a kebab skewer is put through rigorous tests and quality controls before it leaves the manufacturer. Yes it's reconstituted meat but so is almost everything these days.

Anyway most of the time the meat has been cooked and is then stored in a heated container until someone orders it.

I love kebabs of all types although they aren't particularly healthy.

Answer 4

My opinion, you are taking the fun out of fun. What about the chicken that turns around the rotisserie? and the delicious Hot Dogs we all love and eat; ever read the back of the package? it has all the ingredients no one else wants. Chicken, beef, pork, salt and other things I have no clue what is it,...etc.

In the Kabob deal, if you do it yourself...you know its cooked as you should have it at a certain distant from the grill. Also all or most of the fat melts away in the cooking process...Lamb is not like red meat so its not bad for your health. If you are talking about buying the stuff from a restaurant then you should worry about everything else they serve.. have you ever seen those videos of hidden camera at restaurants where the meat falls to the floor, they pick it up and continue to cook it????

One must use common sense and make sure the meat is cooked thoroughly like any other meat.

Answer 5

There's nothing wrong with the occasional Donner Kebab with salad and chili sauce. I've eaten them loads of times from several different places and never had a problem. Like most other takeaway foods they are not the most healthy option and shouldn't be eaten too often but now and again they're fine. If there was a health & safety issue with the way they're cooked they wouldn't be allowed to be sold anymore.

Answer 6

I asked a vendor about this.

She said that the meat is safe, it is heated to the appropriate temperatre to kill bacteria and indeed, is quite lean as the fat melts and runs off.

Think about it - every few minutes the temperature is increased high enough to kill off the bacteria.

The outside is hottest and that is where the meat is sliced from.

So if its done right, it is no problem at all.

Answer 7

Would you buy goats meat a your local butchers ?
how long is the shelf life when its on the spit ?
How many animals go into making one spit full ?
how and what conditions was the animals slaughtered ?
were the Kebabs imported ?
if so from what country ?
would not touch or eat Kebabs if you paid me.

Answer 8

Kebabs should be cooked on tan open flame grill, like steak and chicken, and they are safe to eat.
I have eaten this food many times and have not personally had any problems.

Answer 9

I dont eat it because the 2 times I have,iv had a really bad tummy from it so I guess that you could be right with the bacteria thing, Its actually a scary thought!

Answer 10

Don't worry about the bacteria/temperature issue, I'd just be concerned about where the meat is actually from lol