We love loadshedding

There we go. We said it. We love loadshedding. And no not in the sense of enjoying not having electricity, but loving that we have more opportunity to braai. We’re living in a time in our country where it doesn’t help to get negative about the struggles that we face, but to rather equip ourselves to be ready for anything. Yes, we’ve become doomsday preppers, each with our own loadshedding ‘go-bag’ for when the darkness strikes.

We’ve put together a few tips, how you can use your braai to your advantage, and what dishes you can quickly make on the braai that’s usually a staple for a weeknight dinner.

Our loadshedding go-kit.

Preparation is key, and being prepared with the right tools for the next stage of loadshedding is crucial. If you have these four things, then we believe you can survive for hours at a time.

• Braai: Whether your preference is a traditional wood fire, or a quick-to-use gas braai, you need a braai to be able to cook outside. Our favourite in our loadshedding go-kit is our Crusade Series 3 Burner Patio Gas Braai.
• Light: Who doesn’t love the ol’ “quickly light here for me” line when you’re trying to see if the meat is done cooking on the braai. Grab our Magnetic LED Lights (Link), and place them right on your tong. (image that shows how to use the lights)

For more light, add one of our Bomas to your go-kit (Link). Ambience and light, two-in-one.

• Pot or pan: To quickly transfer whatever you were cooking in the kitchen to your braai, you need a form of cast iron pot or pan. Our favourite in our go-kit is our 260 Round Pan.
• Tong: The kitchen tong is not going to do, you need a proper Heavy Duty Tong at hand for a comfortable braai experience

Loadshedding tips

An unexpected increase in the stage of loadshedding, and suddenly you don’t just have from 8-10pm anymore, but from 6-10pm. Unimaginable! You haven’t defrosted the chicken yet, the rice is uncooked, and potatoes still hard. Here’s what we suggest to save your dinner:

Traditional meat, rice and two veg

• Defrost: If your meat hasn’t defrosted yet, we suggest to warm up water on your braai and place your meat (in the bag) into the water for 30-40min. If you can’t wait that long, you can start cooking it very slowly on low heat. Chicken shouldn’t be a problem, but other meats might become slightly tough if you cook it directly from frozen.

 Create your own oven: Use our Nr10 Pot (link) to transform your meat, rice and two veg into a one dish wonder.

1. Grease your pot with butter or oil.
2. Place your uncooked rice in the bottom of the pot.
3. Add chicken pieces and diced small potatoes.
4. Cover with 2-3 cups of chicken broth and slowly simmer to cook. Make sure to continuously stir the rice at the bottom of the pot so it doesn’t burn.
5. After about an hour, sear the chicken directly on the braai for a bit of colour.

Pasta

Pasta is a quick one to prepare on the braai, charcoal, or gas braai. You can place your cast iron cookware directly on the grid, or if you have a gas braai, on the side burner.

1. Grab a cast iron pan and sauté onions, tomato, your meat of choice and pasta sauce of choice together. Simmer for 15minutes.
2. In another pot, bring water to a boil and add your pasta. Follow the instructions on the packet.
3. Strain the water once the pasta is just under al dente cooked. Add your pasta and meat mixture together in the same pot.
4. Grate cheese over and braai for another 10minutes

Toasted sarmies

This is a no brainer. Up your normal toasted cheese for dinner with a braai broodjie. Check out the ultimate braai broodjie recipe from the Meat Ranger. Our top tip, always place your braai broodjies in a folding grid to braai. It is much easier to flip without accidentally tearing the bread.

There you have it. Our top reasons why we love loadshedding. Make it even more interesting and use our Bring the Heat Conversations as a boredom buster during while you braai your loadshedding dinner.