Quality characteristics of doner kebab made from sucuk dough which is a dry fermented Turkish sausage

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine certain quality characteristics of the raw and cooked doner kebabs made from beef and sucuk dough which is a traditional fermented sausage. The doners were divided into two groups; traditional beef doners and sucuk dough groups, and all the samples were frozen and stored at (−30 ±1 °C) for 60 days to monitor their quality characteristics. All of the raw and cooked doner samples were subjected to chemical and microbiological analysis while only the cooked doners were evaluated organoleptically at 0th, 30th and 60th days of storage. In the chemical analysis; proximate composition (% moisture, % protein, % fat, and % ash), pH and TBA values were determined. The samples were examined for total aerobic plate count (APC), total anaerobes, psychrotrophic bacteria, total coliforms, total staphylococcus/micrococcus count, mould and yeast to observe the hygienic quality of the doner samples. The results of chemical analysis, in general, showed that sucuk doners had higher ash content, pH and TBA values, and all of the doners had higher APC, psychrotrophic bacteria and coliform counts at the beginning compared to 30th and 60th days of storage not only in the raw condition but also in cooked counterparts. The sensory evaluation results indicated that sucuk doners received favorable preferences, therefore, traditional sausage (sucuk) dough application in doner production could be possible without posing any acceptability problems in terms of quality factors compared to traditional beef doners.