Recipes / Meat
Steak and bacon kebabs
Cubes of rump steak woven with streaky bacon, onion and green pepper on skewers, cooked fast over hot coals.
- Prep
- 30 min
- On the fire
- 10 min
- Plan ahead
- 1 hour marinating
- Serves
- 6
- Done at
- 145°F (63°C)
Ingredients
Marinade
Method
Cooking on gas?
- Preheat with all burners on high and the lid closed for 10 to 15 minutes, until the lid thermometer reads 260°C (500°F) or more. Brush the grates clean and oil them.
- Cook with the lid open and use the recipe times as a guide, checking with a thermometer.
- Keep one burner off or on low as a cooler zone. If fat flares up, move the food there. Never use water on a gas grill flare-up.
- For a smoky taste, put a handful of wood chips in a smoker box, or a foil parcel pierced with a few holes, over a lit burner while the grill preheats.
- Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add the steak cubes, toss to coat and leave in the fridge for 1 hour.
- If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 30 minutes.
- Push the end of a bacon strip onto a skewer. Thread on a steak cube, then fold the bacon over and push the skewer through it again.
- Add a piece of onion and a piece of pepper, then another steak cube with the bacon folded over it. Keep going so the bacon weaves between the meat. Use about 2 strips per skewer.
- Cook over hot coals for 8 to 10 minutes, turning every 2 minutes.
- If the bacon fat causes flare-ups, move the skewers to the edge of the fire for a minute and then back again.
- Rest the kebabs for 3 minutes before serving.
Done when: the bacon is crisp, the steak is browned outside and a thermometer in the centre of a steak cube reads 63°C (145°F) for medium.
Tips
- Cut the steak cubes the same size so they cook evenly. Small pieces overcook before the bacon crisps.
- Leave a small gap between pieces on the skewer so the heat reaches all sides.
- Serve them with braai bread and a salad, or slide them off into a roll with some monkey gland sauce.
Kebabs of beef and bacon are a common sight in the meat fridge at South African butcheries, sold ready to go on the braai next to the traditional curried lamb sosaties. The bacon adds salt and fat to lean steak and protects it from drying out. They cook in minutes, so they work well for a quick weeknight fire. For a curried version, see the chicken sosaties.