How to BBQ or braai

BBQ, or braai as it's called in South Africa, is a great way to prepare your food. Unfortunately a lot of people do not know how to do it, ending up with as my parents call it, cremated meat.
Cremated meat is not only not good to eat, it also probably causes cancer, so learning to braai is a good start.

What do you need?

A braai of course. In it's simplest form this is just a layer of coals with something to hold your food above it. So yes, a campfire will do. Unfortunately that will also melt the asphalt of the road, or cause burn patches in your grass, so a slightly less simple way is needed in most cases.
You need something to hold the coals. I have actually considered buying a big wok or wadjang for just that, but ended up with a Weber-like barbeque. Works like a charm, but if you want to make one, you need:

• A tray for the ashes
• A tray for the coals
• A tray for the food

In my example the tray for the ashes was the wok, but if you build a braai with stones and cement you can of course have a nice big metal drawer.
The tray for the coals can be a simple grate or mesh. It should let ash through, but the openings should not be so large that your coals end up underneath it. That sort of defeats the purpose. It should also be able to withstand quite a lot of heat, so almost all plastics are out. If it wants to, it can rust.
The tray for the food should be made of stainless steel. It really isn't nice to eat food with bits of rust in it, and you have to be able to clean it. Remember, most of your food will rest on it! Ideally you should be able to hang it on different heights above the coals, but if it can't, no worries.

Making the fire

This is where it goes wrong in most cases, so read carefully!
There are two different fuels, coals or wood. Actually coals are wood, just a little difference, but handling them is different.
The big fun is of coarse the wood. You have a roaring fire before you really settle down to cook, ideal place to chatter a bit with a drink in your hand.
Choose a hard wood. Poplar burns as if it was fed with petrol instead of water, but it's not the burning wood you want, it's hot coals. So oak, beech, acacia, sickle bush, you name it, will do instead.
Stack the wood 2 by 2, creating a little chimneylike structure. Add some firestarters (NOT fuel!) and create a nice fire. Why not fuel? Well, those firestarters you can place in the perfect spot, and even move. Fuel will go out, usually too quick to get the fire going except in some little spots. So you add some more, those overlooked little spots light it, and you're on your way to the hospital. End of the braai before you really started showing your skills, and a real partystopper.
Once the fire is going nicely you can relax and wait for it to settle down into coals.

Coals are easier and quicker, but less 'manly'. Works like a charm though, so I happily do it. A nice bit is that you don't need to keep looking for stray sparks on the neighbours thatched roof. Oh, I didn't mention that in the previous paragraph..
Just tip over the bag of coals and fill half of the braai. As in left or right, not as in up and down! That's the mistake most often made.

Never have the coals cover the whole of your braai!

What you need is a hot side, the cooking side, and a cooler side, the resting side. Personally I use 1/3 of my braai, which is only 45 centimeters wide. Plenty room for preparing the food for two people.
As you know meats like burgers and especially bacon have a lot of fats in them. This fat will cook out, which is very healthy, but also burns like wildfire. So you need a place where you can put the meat while waiting for the flames to go out. Also important is that you should let meats rest a little after preparing it. Then the blood will spread out again, giving the meat a far better taste. Grab a just fried bit of meat and cut it in half. You'll see a reddish side and a grey side. The grey side is bloodless, and far less tasty.
Having the holding area is also very handy when you want to cook different meats but want to serve them all at the same time. It keeps it nice and warm.

So your wood has subsided into coals, which have a nice white covering of ash? Swipe it to a side, and you are ready to start cooking! If you use coals you may consider adding a few briquettes first, they last way longer.
Now a little tip. I use potatoes as a wall to keep the coals from rolling back in my braai. I just cut a slice out of them, add garlicpaste, salt and spices, and put the slice back in. Then roll them in tinfoil, and against the coals. Delicious but they take around 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size, so you need to add them early.
Around halftime you'll need to turn them, that's also when you'll find out that having a cooler side to your braai is handy.

Utensils

I'm happily talking about moving some stuff which is likely to be rather hot, like the coals, so maybe it's handy to point out what utensils you will be needing or would be handy.

• A braai tong
• A meatfork
• An ovenglove

That's all. Actually you can do with the tong only, the other two are just handy to have around. For cleaning you will need a wire brush too.

The tongs need a little attention, you will be holding them a lot, and handling meat which can de a little delicate, like fresh burgers, so get a proper one.
There are many kinds around, get yourself the ones that look like scissors with clamps on the bottom. The ones which more look like childrens chopsticks, attached to eachother at the back, are almost useless. The spring action in them will give you less feel.
The meatfork is handy for large portions of meat, just like when you fry the meat in a frying pan. The ovenglove will be very handy for lifting the grating when you retrieve your potatoes.

Braai time!

The coals are hot, you found a spot upwind of the braai, and the beer is cold.
So you grab the meat you prepared. You're going to do it!

Prepared? Meat is meat?
Uh, yes, but some spicing etc would be nice in most cases. And if the coals are hot, but you haven't spiced up the meat yet you are in trouble. (That's why you always have to read an entire article or recipe, then you are properly prepared.)
Mutton and goat is way tastier and tender if you soak it for a few hours in yoghurt with some salt and pepper and whichever other spices you like. Sate (sosaties) really needs to spend a few hours in a mixture of ketjap, spices, etc. Even hamburgers really taste better with some salt and pepper at least. Have a look at my cookbook for some ideas if you are baffled. Well, do it baffled or not, there are good recipes there.

Assuming you have the meat prepared it's time for a little planning. Is it a large braai, plenty people? Then you can start with some meats that anyone will like. A good start is half the work, and you can sneakily leave the best meat or fish for later so you have some of it yourself.
If it's just for the family, all served at the same time, just start with the not too fatty meat that takes longer, like pork chops or T-bones. That will keep perfectly in the holding area of the braai, but doesn't shoot up flames.
You'll work out a schedule with practice.

And the actual working the meat?

Easy, just like you'd do in a frying pan. Quickly fry all the sides to close the meat, keeping the juices in. And then slowly braai the meat. Slowly! It's not a race, and the meat really will be a lot better if it has time to cook.
Chicken filet has a thick and a thin side, so has different cookingtime through the meat. And chicken really needs to be properly cooked! See where having a hot and a cooler side comes in handy?
If fat falls down and alights, just move the meat away, wait till the flames are gone, and move it back. If you have meat already done, waiting warmly you can let some of the fat drip onto it to keep it from drying out.

And that's it. Easy peasy, just take your time, let the meat rest, and do not fill the braai completely.
Enjoy!