Donair

Donair is a sausage style from Canada. You can use it as the sliced meat for a sandwich, on a charcuterie, on a pizza, added to pasta, etc.

The best description I heard is from Matty Matheson, “it’s a meatloaf like hot dog”. Matty has a nice, crazy recipe for a Halifax donair but you can use any sausage recipes with some modifications. Each fall I will make pheasant brat donair using a bird brat recipe.

The basic approach is to mix ground meat(s), fats, seasonings and a some liquid into an emulsion. Important to making a meat emulsion is keeping the ingredients cold, 40F, during the process. Keeping the mixture cold allows the emulsion not to separate, particularly weep the liquid.

Ingredients/tools

• Ground 70-30 meat to fat.
  • Use ground pork, ground pork belly or pork fat back to add more fat.
  • Meat can be beef, wild game, poultry and even fish.
  • A fine grind works the best.
  • Get you meat very cold, best is ~33F.
• Sausage spices from your favorite recipe and according to weight of meat.
  • Most important is to keep salt at 2% of meat+fat weight
• Milk powder
  • 2% of meat+fat weight
  • Skip if the sausage recipe include milk powder
• Liquid – milk, water, cream, wine,…
  • Liquid should be 5 to 8% of meat+fat weight
  • Make sure you liquid is cold, ~33F.
• Stand mixer or food processor
  • Use the non-metal blade (dough blade) for food processor or paddle attachment for stand mixer.
  • Depending on the size of your mixer and quantity of ingredients, you might have to work in batches.
• Pan to cook the Donair
  • Rectangle bread pan works best. I like using small bread pans.
  • Line the long sides and bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
  • Pan will need to sit a water bath
• Pan for water bath
  • Must be large and deep enough to hold Donair pan.
  • Water should be at least 1/2 up the side of the Donair pan.
• Oven set to 375F

How to make

1. Add the meat mixture, spices, 1/3 your liquid and milk powder (if using) to your mixer. Turn mixer on low to incorporate all the ingredients.
2. Once the ingredients are incorporate, increase the speed of the mixer to high. As blending, dribble in another 1/3 to 1/2 of liquid. Blend utilize the mixture becomes very sticky with no lumps.
3. Check texture and it’s temp. If more blending is needed, you might need to add the remain liquid.
   • If mixture is too warm use shaved ice instead of your liquid. Quick way to make shaved ice is blitz ice cubes in blender.
4. Put the emulsion in the refrigerator to cool for 15 mins.
5. Line your Donair cooking pan with parchment paper. Leave ears of parchment outside of the pan which are long enough to be folded in to cover the pan.
6. Add the Donair mixture and pack tightly.
   • Mixture should be added a bit a time while packing between additions. You want to get as much of the air out.
   • Fill the pan to the top but not above.
   • Fold over the outer ears of the parchment paper
7. Place the pan in your large pan. Fill the large pan with cold water to be at least 1/2 up the side of pan holding the Donair.
8. When the oven is ready, place the pan with water and pan holding Donair in the oven to cook.
   • The center of the Donair should be cooked to 150F.
   • I usually cook for 20 mins then start checking the temp but I usually use small pans.
   • Matty uses a large/standard size bread pan and recommends cooking for 1 hour then start checking temp.
9. When cooked, pull from the oven and let rest for 15 mins to cool then lift the Donair from the pan using the parchment. Place on a plate and let cool in refrig til cold.
10. When cold it is ready to server or you can vacuum pack for the freezer for later. Slice it as thin as you can for sandwich, if you have a meat slice use it. Or cut what you like for pizza, pasta, scrambled eggs,…

Flavor Ideas

• Breakfast sausage
• Italian
• Chorizo
• Classic hot dog
• Brat
• Thai
• ???