The Potting Shed

Guides, gift ideas and honest answers from the people who hand-pack every kit.

All articles Kintsugi Cheese making Gin making Meat Chilli sauce Wine making Kimchi Gift guides

A carved doner kebab on a board with flatbreads, beside a jar of kimchi and a bottle of homemade chilli sauce.

Gifts for a boyfriend who likes cooking: kebab, chilli and kimchi kits

Skip the equipment. Three kits that give a confident cook a new technique and the specialist ingredients he would never buy in sensible quantities.

Thin carved slices of homemade doner kebab on a board with a bowl of yoghurt and mint sauce and a scattering of spices.

How long does a kebab seasoning kit keep, and can you prep the meat ahead?

The kit keeps 18 months from packing because everything in it is dried. How to store the opened blend, and how far ahead you can season and shape the lamb.

A doner kebab loaf being carved thin on a wooden board beside bottles of homemade chilli sauce and a curing joint of pork belly.

Gifts for men who cook: ingredients for a project, not another gadget

Why gadgets miss with a confident home cook, three project kits that land, six non-kit ideas and three questions that match the gift to the man.

Three small bowls of kebab sauces, white garlic, red chilli and mint yoghurt, beside sliced doner meat and flatbread.

Kebab sauces at home: garlic, chilli and the takeaway trio

The three sauces that make a kebab taste like a kebab: white garlic, sharp red chilli and mint yoghurt, with the method for each and how to build the plate.

A cooked doner kebab loaf held upright on skewers, being carved into thin slices onto a wooden board.

Doner kebab in a home oven: getting that takeaway texture

How to get proper doner texture without a rotisserie: smooth mince, a tightly packed loaf, a two-stage bake, a five minute rest and a thin carve.

Gifts for kebab lovers: a kebab making kit with a homemade doner kebab carved thin at home

Gifts for Kebab Lovers: What to Buy Someone Whose Happy Place Is the Doner Van

Why a kebab making kit beats a takeaway voucher, who it suits and what to pair it with: a gift guide for anyone whose happy place is the doner van.

Kebab making kit doner kebab carved thin at the table with a sharp knife

Kebab Making Kits: Make a Takeaway-Style Doner at Home

What's inside a kebab making kit, the Bursa-born doner you carve at the table, timings for all three kebabs and the casing trick for the smooth finish.