A braai is only ever as good as what you put on the grid. Here's what to ask for — animal by animal — and why the cheapest tray in the supermarket fridge is usually the most expensive mistake of the weekend.
Every cut comes from somewhere. Tap a part of the carcass to follow it down to the exact cut and what the fire wants from it — all four beasts, chicken included.
Chicken chart drawn by Grok, a community agent
Hover a region to see what it is · tap it to zoom in on its cuts
Buy thick — a steak under 3 cm cooks to grey before it ever sears properly. Buy fat — fat is where the flavour lives, and open coals were made for rendering it. And buy from someone who can tell you where the meat comes from and how long it's been hung; a butcher who ages beef properly is worth a detour across town.
For open coals you want tender cuts with fat through or around them: rump (the braai favourite — flavour first, with a proper fat cap), sirloin, ribeye and the mighty T-bone, which gives you fillet and sirloin either side of a bone that keeps everything juicy. A prime rib on the bone, cut thick, is the special-occasion move. Brisket, chuck and shin are wonderful animals' cuts but they want hours of moist heat — that's potjie territory, not grid territory.
The tjop is the aristocrat of the braai. Loin tjops for tenderness, rib tjops for that crisp fat edge that never makes it to the plate, chump tjops for a bigger, meatier chew. The method is lamb tjops with lemon and origanum. A deboned, butterflied leg is the finest way to feed eight people who think they don't like lamb — the butterflied leg recipe. And lamb ribbetjies, simmered tender and then crisped, are the reason the braaier eats before everyone else — that method is here.
The most underrated meat on the South African braai, and the best value on the block. The star is the pork neck steak — beautifully marbled, almost impossible to dry out, and happier over coals than almost any beef cut at twice the price. Spare ribs want the slow-then-sticky treatment (recipe here), belly slices crisp up gloriously over a medium fire, and a smoked kassler chop needs only warming and light charring — it's already seasoned better than most of us season anything. Pork wants a medium fire and should be cooked through but never cremated: juicy, not leathery.
The braai's great test of patience. A whole spatchcocked (flattie) chicken over medium coals, turned often and basted late, beats any takeaway rotisserie. Thighs forgive; breasts hold grudges — choose accordingly. Wings char beautifully and vanish first, and sosaties (recipe here) solve the how-do-I-feed-twelve problem for the price of a tray of thigh fillets. Chicken and fierce flames end badly: keep it over the medium zone and let the skin render slowly.
By law, anything sold in South Africa as boerewors must be at least 90% meat — the rest is spice, vinegar and tradition, with coriander doing the heavy lifting. The cheaper coils labelled "braaiwors" or "grillers" don't have to meet that bar, and it shows. Look for a coarse cut, visible fat, a natural casing, and a butcher who guards the recipe like a family secret — because it usually is one. Then treat it with respect: whole on the grid, turned seldom, never pierced. The people's version is boerewors rolls with tomato smoor.
| Cut | Fire | Time (guide) |
|---|---|---|
| Rump / sirloin, 3–4 cm | Hot (4-sec test) | 3–4 min a side + rest |
| T-bone / prime rib | Hot, then medium | Sear, then 8–12 min, resting well |
| Lamb tjops | Hot-medium (6-sec) | 3–4 min a side + fat edge |
| Butterflied leg of lamb | Medium (8-sec) | 35–45 min, turning |
| Pork neck steaks | Medium (8-sec) | 5–6 min a side |
| Belly slices | Medium (8-sec) | 12–15 min, turning often |
| Boerewors | Medium (8-sec) | 12–15 min, turned once or twice |
| Spatchcock chicken | Medium (8-sec) | 40–50 min, turning often |
| Snoek | Medium (8-sec) | 20–25 min, skin-side down |
Times are honest guides, not contracts — thickness, wind and wine all interfere. Cook to colour and feel, and when in doubt, the two-zone fire (see the fire guide) forgives everything.
For a crowd, start with proper boerewors — at least 90% meat by law — chicken thighs for sosaties, and one centrepiece: a butterflied leg of lamb, or pork neck steaks. Buy thick. A steak under 3 cm cooks to grey before it sears. The firing order for Thursday 24 September is the Braai Day menu pack.
By law, anything sold in South Africa as boerewors must be at least 90% meat. The rest is spice, vinegar and tradition, with coriander doing the heavy lifting. Coils labelled braaiwors or grillers do not have to meet that bar. Look for a coarse cut, visible fat and a natural casing. Braai it whole, turned seldom, never pierced.
Rump, sirloin, ribeye and T-bone, cut thicker than 3 cm, with fat through or around them. A thick prime rib on the bone is the special-occasion cut. Brisket, chuck and shin want hours of moist heat — that is potjie, not the grid. A 3–4 cm rump or sirloin wants a hot fire, the 4-second hand test.