OzBraai is an Australian-owned and run outdoor Braai cooking company. For those who aren’t familiar with the term “Braai”, fair enough… It is Afrikaans for what we would call a good old fashioned barbie. OzBraai has a catalogue of products designed to bring top-notch roasting, grilling and smoking to a range of scenarios and individual desires, check them out at: ozbraai.com.au.
Fishing World has been testing the “Camp Braai”, a stainless steel flat pack Barbie designed for, you guessed it… the outdoor open fire. The is a smaller version called the “Travel Braai” that is only really designed for two people and doesn’t have the heat setting that the Camp Braai has, fundamental fire control is the key.
The size, design and materials of the OzBraai make it super easy to clean and cook. OzBraai claims that the materials are rust-resistant. The grill is spaced far enough apart with thick enough steel that it cleans easily with steel wool. Personally, I left the Camp Braai on the fire after removing the food, then it fitted nicely into the dishwasher.
The design is very simple, yet highly effective. The stand folds out into a large ‘V’ that has 4 levels to slide the cooking baskets into. That means that you can easily moderate the amount of heat exposure to your meal. If I was aiming for a slower cooking I would want to hold my hand for about 10 seconds until I needed to remove it over the heat at the level the cooking basket was sitting. As the fire dies it can easily be lowered and vice versa.
The cooking basket is easy to flip. Unlike a pan where you need to flip the produce, the OzBraai cooking basket means you can turn the food being cooked without potentially damaging the skin or surface.
If you are camping and want a big open fire for ambience, you can use the radiant heat to slow cook with the Camp Braai. No need to use a separate cooking fire or sit in darkness. There is a hanging setting that allows the cooking basket to sit vertically or angled to your preference. I haven’t used this feature, but am excited to see the results.
The cooking basket also has 3 levels of thickness which means your food is held securely. The handle slides out and is easily manipulated. The Camp Braai comes with a handy pair of tongs that got put straight to work on my outdoor fire pit.
I cooked two thick slabs of Spanish mackerel. The skin was beautifully blistering in the heat. We were able to baste the flesh with a homemade Chimmi Churri without fish because of the ease of access through the basket. The fish dripped fatty goodness into the coals, giving that sizzling sound that every outdoor cook lives for.
The meat came out juicy with a smokey flavour that is only achievable when cooking over this natural element.
A product that allows so many variations of cooking styles that is so compact is definitely something that stands out about the Camp Braai.
They retail for $189 on the OzBraai website. There are plenty of videos on YouTube of the Camp Braai being used for numerous applications such as two Butterflied chooks simultaneously, whole fish, grilled vegetables, and toasted sandwiches. The Camp Braai worked a treat! Take a look for yourselves at ozbraai.com.au.
