Assembling the Perfect Skewer

Whether you call it a kebab or a sosatie, piling ingredients on a skewer is one of the tastiest, no-mess meals you can have. The freedom to add whichever ingredients you like to the ensemble is a bonus. But, before we start delving into all the tasty ingredients you can put together to assemble the perfect skewer, here are a few tips and tricks:

Tips and Tricks for Cooking the Perfect Skewer 

Cutting your ingredients

• Cut your ingredients into, roughly, the same shape and size to ensure even cooking.
• Cut your ingredients into slightly bigger than your grill grates to make sure nothing falls through.

Finding the right temperature

• Cook your skewers over a consistent, medium heat. This might take a little bit longer, but it ensures that your ingredients won’t burn.
• If you want to get technical and are grilling your skewers on an electric grill, chicken does best over a heat of 80° while beef and fish should be cooked over a consistent heat of 65°.

It’s all about the timing

• Chicken and beef should be cooked for 12-15 mins.
• Fish and veggies need 10 mins of cooking.

Preparing the Perfect Skewer 

Soaking is essential

If your skewers are going on the grill, make sure you soak them for 30 mins before assembling them. This way your ingredients won’t burn from the inside out.

Time to build your masterpiece

This is the fun part!

• Ensure all ingredients are cut and ready to assemble.
• For skewers on the grill, start with, at least, two veggies before adding a piece of meat. If it’s just veggies, try to assemble the different colours to make an attractive pattern.
• For fruit or sweet skewers, get as creative and colourful as you like, just keep varying textures in mind. Putting two chewy or crunchy ingredients next to each other is harder to eat than assembling a soft, then chewy or crunchy ingredient next to each other.
• Try your best to thread your ingredients through the middle, this helps keep your ingredients firmly on the skewer and prevents anything from falling off.

Great Ingredients to Try on Your Skewers

For the grill

• Eggplant
• Bell Peppers (red, green and yellow)
• Onions (brown, red or white)
• Mushrooms (button and portobello mushrooms)
• Baby Marrow
• Butternut
• Pumpkin
• Potatoes (par-boiled)

Fruit salad – on a stick

• Grapes
• Strawberries
• Apple
• Melon (watermelon, spanspek, winter melon)
• Blueberries
• Kiwi
• Oranges

The possibilities are limitless and so exciting when putting together a healthy and tasty skewer. The best part is that you can get the whole family involved! Our wooden skewers are the perfect foundation for your tasty skewer combinations.