How to light the perfect braai fire

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The perfect fire is perhaps the biggest stumbling block on the way to the coveted "Braai Master" title.

How do you light the ultimate braai fire?

There are bound to be many different answers to this question. Techniques vary. Wood versus charcoal versus wood and charcoal... The truth is, there are many ways to get the fire going, we're going to share our tried and tested technique, spoiler alert: we're fans of the classic wood fire.

Selecting your wood

Always buy dry wood for your braai fire. Wet or newly cut wood is still green on the inside and won't burn properly.

 

Building your fire

  1. Pack 2 pieces of wood parallel to each other.
  2. Place fire lighters in the gap between the 2 pieces of wood. The more fire lighters you use, the easier the wood will burn.
  3. Next, pack another 2 pieces of wood on top of the bottom 2 at a 90 degree angle.
  4. Continue with this packing pattern until you have used at least 12 pieces of wood.
  5. Choose splintered pieces first as they will burn better.
  6. Your tower should resemble a round of Jenga

 

Light it up

Now light the fire lighters. If the wood struggles to catch a light, try slotting in pieces of the fire lighters in the gaps between the wood.

 

Now that it's going

Once the fire is burning, leave it alone! When the tower collapses you can then move stray pieces of wood back on to the burning pile. The fire will take roughly 40 minutes to turn into coals.

 

The coals

Spread the hot coals into an even layer using braai tongs. Then place your braai grid above the coals.

Easy as braai!