Summer is around the corner, which means the smell of lamb chops cooking on the coals will be filling the air again soon.
Build It has a quick and easy DIY solution to building your own braai in seven steps, to make sure you have no braai hassles this year.
1. Make a wooden frame to act as a template guide to the dimensions of the grill kit. Lay the bricks out dry (without mortar) to enable the correct brickwork bond to be determined. Bed the bricks on a bed of mortar made up of five parts soft building sand to one part of cement, with plasticiser added to keep the mix supple.
2.Use a spirit level to ensure the brickwork is level and plumb. Lay the slab down as a guide to the independent leg position. You can use a 1 x 0,6m paving slab or a 0,6 x 0,6m slab.
3. To get the brickwork bond correct, it is necessary to cut half bricks. Cut these on a soft surface with a bolster chisel and club hammer. Wear protective clothing for this operation.
4.When you have built the brickwork to the correct height for the slab table, turn some of the bricks, so that they act as corbels (supports) for the table and the grate. Ensure that you measure the width of the grate so that you will be sure of a good fit once the grate is in place in the finished braai.
5.Repeat the corbels (supports) two courses up to support the cooking griddle. Again, measure the position of these carefully.
6.Two more courses of bricks are required to complete the braai.
Option : Push four metal pins into the mortar below the top course of brickwork to support a warming griddle shelf.
7. Set the paving slab on a bed of mortar to make a table top alongside the main body of the braai. Leave the brickwork to cure for a couple of hours. The area under the slab can be used to store wood/charcoal.
Now that the building is done, pop to Build It and get a solid metal base that will fit into the brick supports. This will be used to build the fire on. Also get a metal grid to go on the upper level of brick supports, for the food to be cooked on.
A second metal base can be placed on the metal pegs above the cooking grid, which can be used to keep cooked food warm.
