Tips

The fire does most of the cooking. These explain how to build it, read it, and use it.

• Reading your coals

  How to tell hot, medium and low coals apart with your hand, and how to change the heat without relighting.

• Wood, charcoal or briquettes

  What each fuel does well, how long it takes to be ready, and which woods to use outside South Africa.

• What is a braai?

  What makes a braai different from a barbecue, how the day usually goes, and the words you will hear around the fire.

• Potjie basics

  How to season a cast-iron potjie, how many coals it needs, why you never stir it, and how to stop it rusting.

• Safe braai temperatures

  The internal temperatures that make meat, chicken and fish safe to eat, and how to handle marinades and leftovers.

• How long to let a braai fire burn before cooking

  Rough times from lighting to cooking for lump charcoal, briquettes and wood, what a ready fire looks like, and the mistakes that spoil the meat.

• Setting up a kettle braai for indirect cooking

  How to bank the coals, place the drip tray and set the vents on a kettle braai so a whole chicken, a roast or a pudding cooks through without burning.

• How much meat per person for a braai

  A planning guide for how much boerewors, chops, chicken and ribs to buy per adult, with a worked example for ten people and how sides change the count.

• Braai timing: what goes on the fire first

  Work backwards from eating time: when to light, which meat goes on first on a single fire, and the doneness cue for each one.

• Salting and resting meat

  When to salt steak, chops and roasts, how much to use, and how long to rest meat after it comes off the coals.

• Braai in wind and rain

  How to place, shelter and run a braai when the wind is up or the rain comes down, without burning the food or the fence.

• Cleaning the braai grid

  How to clean a grid while it is hot, when to deep clean, how to stop rust, and why cast iron and wire brushes need care.

• Heritage Day and Braai Day

  Why South Africans braai on 24 September, where the day came from, and a menu and timeline for a Heritage Day braai at home or abroad.