The great braai debate – should you be using wood, charcoal, briquettes or gas?

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It’s spring, and winter is fast becoming a distant memory! This means it’s time to give those outside garden areas a good clean and ready them for beautiful South African sunshine, visits from family and friends, flip-flops and awesome braais.

Yep, it’s once again time to get a juicy, well marbled sirloin sizzling away on a grill, letting its much-loved aroma fill the air, priming those taste-buds for an experience quite unlike any other.

Getting a braai just right is an art much more difficult than many think, and choosing the best fuel type for the occasion is certainly important.

Gas

Worldwide, gas grills continue to outsell wood braais (and their equivalent in different countries). Gas comes with several advantages, which is why they’re still so popular.

But first up, let’s bust a myth. Gas does not leave an unpleasant taste in the meat. If anyone says so, let them know that the gas used for braais/grills has no odour. The ‘gas smell’ is a compound mixed into the gas so that if a leak occurs, people will notice.

This compound burns away immediately, and the minute traces of sulphuric acid left are very much less than that found naturally in meat.

The fact of the matter is that the sulphuric acid produced by wood and charcoal fires is actually more than that of gas.

With that out of the way, we can focus on gas’s two main advantages. Number 1: the temperature on the grill can be controlled very precisely. This is great for steaks. Fillet, for example, needs to be rare because there’s no intra-muscular fat (marbling) in the meat.

Keeping the temperature of the grill low will prevent overcooking it.

On the other hand, well marbled steaks need to be cooked at a higher temperature to ensure that their fat will break down and coat the meat, adding a wonderful richness to its flavour.

Secondly, gas doesn’t lose heat like other braais do. You can braai large amounts of meat without having to continuously add wood/charcoal/briquettes – which is a difficult thing to get right.

There are two main disadvantages, though.

Home models of gas grills don’t get as hot as other fires do. This isn’t a major problem unless you’re wanting to give your meat a thorough sear. Secondly, if you like adding woodchips to create a smoky flavour, this becomes tough without the right equipment.

Wood, briquettes and lump charcoal

There is something deeply satisfying about lighting up a wood fire and watching the flames take hold.

One drawback of wood is that even the embers of dense hardwoods lose their heat and are difficult to keep at a constant temperature. Typically, this leaves the braai-master with a relatively narrow window to get the meat on the grill and cooked.

But wood has a tremendous upside. It produces fantastically sweet and savoury flavours due to its smoke. It’s not uncommon for experienced cooks to believe that this is what really distinguishes a braai from other forms of cooking.

As with gas and charcoal, wet woodchips can be added to increase the amount of smoke a wood fire produces.

Getting back to the topic of searing – wood and charcoal burn at a significantly higher temperature than (average home) gas grills.

This means that dark, bitter and crunchy outer layers of steaks can be created without compromising on inner tenderness and juiciness.

Lump charcoal produces a higher heat than briquettes, and it also usually burns more evenly. All three, owing to the fact that they are made from complex organic compounds, add flavour to meat – especially if you are attempting a slow beef roast.

Hopefully this helps, but it’s important to remember that taste is subjective, so there are no rules that can’t be broken in your search for the perfect braai.

Ask for Karan Beef

Whether you choose charcoal, gas, wood or briquettes for your awesome braai, remember that it all starts with high quality cuts (at a budget-friendly price!).

Get this braai season off to a great start by locating your nearest Karan Beef branded store and asking for the very best beef by name.