Roosterkoek
Bread, but braaied — crisp outside, steamy inside, torn open and buttered while too hot to hold. Shop rolls are for emergencies.
Bread, but braaied — crisp outside, steamy inside, torn open and buttered while too hot to hold. Shop rolls are for emergencies.
Ingredients
- 500 g white bread flour
- 1 sachet (10 g) instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ±300 ml lukewarm water
- 2 tbsp oil
- Butter, jam or cheese, to serve
Method
- Mix the dry ingredients, add the water and oil, and knead for a good 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Cover and prove somewhere warm until doubled — about an hour.
- Knock down gently, divide into 8, shape into rough squares and rest another 15 minutes.
- Braai on the cooler side of the grid over gentle coals, turning every few minutes, for 15–20 minutes. They're done when they sound hollow when tapped.
- Break open, butter, and accept the compliments with humility you don't feel.
Engineer's view
Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, steps merge into supper.
| Ingredient | Process → | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bread flour 500 g | Mix · knead 10 min → smooth & elastic | Prove 1 h → knock down → 8 squares → rest 15 min | Cool side of the grid · gentle coals · 15–20 min, turning · hollow tap = done |
| Instant yeast 10 g | |||
| Salt 1 tsp | |||
| Sugar 1 tbsp | |||
| Lukewarm water ±300 ml | |||
| Oil 2 tbsp | |||
Which fire, and which day? Gentle coals, the 10-second hand test, on the cooler side of the grid. Hold your palm at grid height and count: 4 seconds is hot, 6 is hot-medium, 8 is medium, 10 or more is gentle. The full reading is the hand test, and the wood that makes those coals is in the wood guide. Buying notes: the meat they are eaten with. Thursday 24 September is National Braai Day. Part of the Braai Day menu pack.
Questions the fire actually gets
What heat for roosterkoek?
Gentle coals, the 10-second hand test, on the cooler side of the grid. Turn every few minutes for 15–20 minutes. They are done when they sound hollow when tapped.
How long does roosterkoek take?
About two hours including proving. Knead 10 minutes, prove about an hour until doubled, rest 15 minutes after shaping, then braai. Start the dough when you light the fire, not when the coals are ready.
What do you eat roosterkoek with?
Butter, jam or cheese, torn open while too hot to hold. On a Braai Day fire they share the gentle side with the braaibroodjies, after the wors.
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