If there’s one cook that always goes down well at Smokey Carter HQ, it’s our signature 100 Layer Shawarma. Loads of thin layers of seasoned meat, slowly cooked on the rotisserie until juicy in the middle and packed with dark, crispy, caramelised edges on the outside.
For this version, we used our Greek Gyros BBQ Rub with a 1.6kg pork loin to create an epic Greek-inspired pork shawarma.
The result? Tender, juicy pork with plenty of smoky char and those ridiculously good crispy, savoury, almost Marmite-y edges.
And the best bit? A 1.6kg pork loin cost us around £9 and comfortably feeds 6–8 people, making this a great-value BBQ feast for a crowd.
Okay, we’ll admit it. This one wasn’t technically 100 layers.
We managed to get 38 bacon-thick slices from our 1.6kg pork loin. Each slice was then folded in half before being threaded onto the rotisserie skewer, giving us 76 glorious layers of Greek Gyros pork.
Close enough, right?
The trick to getting those beautifully thin slices is to place the pork loin in the freezer until it is semi-frozen and firm, but not completely frozen solid. This makes it much easier to slice consistently.
We used an I.O.Shen Suraisu Slicer, but any long, sharp slicing knife will do the job.
Serves: 6–8
Prep time: Around 30 minutes, plus 2 hours marinating
Cooking time: Approximately 1 hour depending on heat and thickness
And if you’re feeling particularly Greek, a glass of red alongside certainly doesn’t hurt.
Place your pork loin in the freezer until it becomes firm enough to slice cleanly.
You don’t want it frozen solid. You’re simply looking for the meat to firm up so you can achieve thin, even slices without it moving around too much.
We find it best to freeze it completely, remove from the freezer and place in the fridge overnight. By the morning it is still solid but perfect for slicing.
Using a very sharp knife, slice the pork approximately bacon thickness (3-4mm thick).
From our 1.6kg joint we managed to get around 38 slices. We usually get around 50 slices from a 2kg pork loin.
Don’t worry if they’re not all absolutely identical. Once everything is stacked together on the rotisserie, those slightly uneven edges are exactly where some of the best crispy bits develop.
Place the sliced pork into a large bowl.
Add a little olive oil followed by a generous helping of Greek Gyros BBQ Rub.
Get your hands in and massage the seasoning into the meat, making sure every slice is thoroughly coated on both sides.
Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
You can also prepare it earlier in the day and leave it to marinate for longer if you prefer.
Cut a lemon in half and push one half onto your rotisserie skewer.
Take each piece of pork, fold it in half and thread it onto the skewer.
Continue stacking the pork tightly together until all the meat has been added.
Because every slice is folded over, our 38 pieces of pork suddenly became 76 layers.
Finish with another lemon half at the opposite end. The lemons help hold everything together while also looking pretty impressive spinning around over the BBQ.
Set your BBQ up for indirect rotisserie cooking at roughly 180–200°C.
We cooked ours on the Weber Mastertouch rotisserie with a small chunk of cherry wood added for an extra touch of smoke.
You don’t need loads of smoke here. The Greek Gyros seasoning should still be the star of the show.
Place the pork onto the rotisserie and let it slowly spin over the heat.
As it cooks, the outside will gradually darken and caramelise while the layers inside remain beautifully juicy.
This is where the magic happens.
All those folded edges become intensely seasoned, crispy and sticky with deep savoury flavour.
Cook until the pork is safely cooked through, checking the centre of the meat with a temperature probe rather than relying on cooking time alone. For whole cuts of pork, the UK Food Standards Agency advises cooking thoroughly; when cooking a stacked preparation like this, make sure the meat throughout the stack reaches a safe temperature before serving.
Depending on the size of your stack and your BBQ temperature, ours generally takes around 1 hour.
Once cooked, remove the shawarma from the BBQ and allow it to rest briefly.
Then comes the best bit.
Take a sharp knife and shave those crispy outer layers straight from the rotisserie, just like you would with a kebab-shop shawarma.
If the newly exposed meat underneath needs a little more colour, simply return the shawarma to the heat for a few minutes before carving again, but we don’t have the patience for this.
Pile the Greek Gyros pork into warm pita breads and load them up with tzatziki, Greek salad, feta and red onion.
Or serve everything family-style in the middle of the table and let everyone build their own.
We usually use boneless skinless chicken thigh but pork loin is becoming the new favourite for this. Pork loin might not be the first cut you think of for shawarma, but it works brilliantly.
It’s relatively inexpensive, easy to find and can be sliced extremely thinly when semi-frozen.
The folded slices also create loads of exposed edges. As the rotisserie turns, those edges catch the heat and become beautifully browned and crispy while the tightly stacked meat stays juicy inside.
Our Greek Gyros BBQ Rub brings plenty of herbs, garlic and Greek-inspired flavour, making it ideal for pork, chicken, kebabs and homemade gyros.
For us, the crispy bits are the whole point.
Don’t pack your pork into one perfectly smooth cylinder. Leaving a few folds and edges exposed gives the heat more surface area to work on.
A steady rotisserie cook allows the exterior to slowly caramelise rather than simply burning.
You can also carve the cooked outer layer, return the remaining shawarma to the BBQ and repeat the process. That way everyone gets some of those dark, intensely flavoured edges.
We went for a proper Greek-style spread with warm pita breads, homemade tzatziki and Greek salad.
It would also be brilliant served with:
It’s the sort of cook that’s perfect for putting in the middle of the table and letting everyone tuck in.
Absolutely.
The rotisserie gives you those fantastic evenly browned edges, but you can use the same idea in an oven or BBQ without one. You could also use a kebab spike such as the MySpike.
Stack the folded pork tightly onto sturdy skewers, secure it well and roast it over indirect heat. Turn it regularly so the outside cooks and caramelises evenly.
For smaller portions, you could also use the Greek Gyros BBQ Rub on strips of pork or chicken and cook them in a frying pan, grill, oven or air fryer.
That’s the beauty of our seasonings – they aren’t just for BBQ.
Definitely.
Our 100 Layer Shawarma works with loads of different flavours.
Greek Gyros is an obvious choice for this version, but the basic method can be used with other Smokey Carter seasonings to completely change the finished dish.
Once you’ve mastered the layering technique, you can start experimenting. You can use virtually any of our rubs for this. We’ve done Tandoori Masala, Al Pastor (with pineapple on the ends), Hot Honey Garlic Butter etc.
Thinly sliced pork. Loads of seasoning. Layer upon layer of meat slowly turning over the BBQ.
Simple ingredients, but a seriously impressive result.
Our Greek Gyros 100 Layer Pork Shawarma gives you juicy pork through the middle, smoky caramelisation around the outside and more crispy edges than anyone should reasonably be allowed to eat in one sitting.
Pile it into warm pita with tzatziki and Greek salad, crack open something nice to drink and you’ve got yourself a proper Greek-inspired feast.
Big flavour. Crispy edges. Proper Greek-style BBQ.
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