South African traditional cooking “Braai”

[Badgerjacob]

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a gentlemen living in Croatia. He was interested in getting me to build him an traditional South African grill known as “Braai” I have never before seen this method of cooking. You would drop the wood in the center fire basket, this would heat the chamber with indirect heat. As the fire burns and the ashes drop down you would then spread the hot embers under the meats as needed for direct heat. After some research this is the design that i came up with. Anyone have any experience with this cooking method?

 

[Stlsportster]

Check out this thread...pics of a Braai in lots of photos:

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212054


also, PM Brethren Badjak....he does braai a ton and lives in Africa.

 

[Czarbecue]

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a gentlemen living in Croatia. He was interested in getting me to build him an traditional South African grill known as “Braai” I have never before seen this method of cooking. You would drop the wood in the center fire basket, this would heat the chamber with indirect heat. As the fire burns and the ashes drop down you would then spread the hot embers under the meats as needed for direct heat. After some research this is the design that i came up with. Anyone have any experience with this cooking method?

So it looks like this? Seems interesting and cool. Will need some heavy duty gloves to do maintenance on the meats.

 

[Badgerjacob]

It will have a door also, you will be able to close it up.

So it looks like this? Seems interesting and cool. Will need some heavy duty gloves to do maintenance on the meats.

 

[Badgerjacob]

Awesome, thanks man!!!!!!

Check out this thread...pics of a Braai in lots of photos:

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212054


also, PM Brethren Badjak....he does braai a ton and lives in Africa.

 

[OklaDustDevil]

Looks like the same principle as a traditional North Carolina brick pig cooker; burn wood down to coals on one side and then shovel them under the meat rack on the other side.

 

[Badgerjacob]

I'm going to build me one.

 

[SmokinJohn]

You can check out Pitmaster X's Mean Machine here:

https://youtu.be/nwOhORamcrI?t=57

 

[KORND4WG X]

Wow cool topic :thumb: I was kinda expecting a kudu grill but this looks way cooler

 

[PnkPanther]

You can check out Pitmaster X's Mean Machine here:

https://youtu.be/nwOhORamcrI?t=57

I was about to post this.



I'm very intrigued by the concept and would love to add one to collection. I saw


One US company I've seen make them



https://www.norcalovenworks.com/South-African-Braai-p/south-african-braai.htm

 

[Coat]

I'll use this guy like that (some at least). Build fire to one side of the grate and cook on the other side, scooting coals as they drop.

 

[Badjak]

True, except, I am a she


I have never seen any braai like this one, but then, I do not live in South Africa.
Here (Zimbabwe/Zambia) we use everything and anything we can get our hands on.
Half drums are popular, but so are weber kettle braai's or just a small fire with a rack resting on bricks.
It's mostly grilling that is done here, the meat is of good quality and sort of affordable.


Back to the design, It looks pretty awesome to me and I definitely am looking forward to seeing the end result and hearing the stories of how well it works!

 

[Titch]

My South African mates tell me Braii"" is simply meaning grilling meat over an open fire.
I showed them this design and they have never seen it.
Looks very interesting though.
They use Weber kettles and home made Grills over coals

 

[Titch]

True, except, I am a she


I have never seen any braai like this one, but then, I do not live in South Africa.
Here (Zimbabwe/Zambia) we use everything and anything we can get our hands on.
Half drums are popular, but so are weber kettle braai's or just a small fire with a rack resting on bricks.
It's mostly grilling that is done here, the meat is of good quality and sort of affordable.


Back to the design, It looks pretty awesome to me and I definitely am looking forward to seeing the end result and hearing the stories of how well it works!

GDay Mrs:thumb:

 

[Badgerjacob]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to be build me on personally. The more I researched the idea, the more I really dig this method of cooking.

 

[Czarbecue]

I watched a video on Youtube and it answered the concerns of ash that most people have. I guess the misconception is you will have ash if you have burning wood. But before it becomes ash it is a red hot chunk of coal that you can easily spread around without the dust. I believe most people forget that...

 

[sarth67]

sort of like a Traditional side by side cabinet with a firebox in the middle. Awesome idea

I bet Temp Control will be a challenge.

Please keep us update really like the concept.

 

[Badgerjacob]

sort of like a Traditional side by side cabinet with a firebox in the middle. Awesome idea

I bet Temp Control will be a challenge.

Please keep us update really like the concept.

I agree, it will definitely not be the most efficient way of cooking. I just dig the old traditional methods. It will be a little more difficult than cooking in a modem smoker, yet way easier than cooking over a open fire.

 

[Czarbecue]

I look at it as a gravity fed open pit :thumb:

 

[LordRiffenstein]

The idea of the Braai, making coals and shoveling them under the grate, is what led me to my fireplace setup. Only used it once so far but will be doing it more often when it gets colder again.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259013