Good day everyone! Zak here from Cape Town, South Africa.
It was another pre-dinner time electricity blackout where there is no power to cook the food on time for supper time and I still had some left over charcoal left. So, while there was still power, I lit the coals up and started getting ready.
I do not usually braai on charcoal, being a man who likes to use wood fires but with the wind that was up on @aimeludick's birthday, I thought it would be easier to do Charcoal... I don't think it was much easier as it was really difficult to get going.
What I have discovered in the meantime is that charcoal does not braai like wood at all.
It does not light the same, it does not burn the same and it does not cook the same. The timing is all different.
But in the end of the day, it is a source of heat and if you pay attention to it, you can make it work. I did sausage the other day on Charcoal and I have done chops... now it was time for one of the hardest things to braai on wood or coal: CHICKEN.
That's right. Chicken is hard. Firstly, I usually buy food in bulk so Chicken Thighs frozen is a big stable. They are the juiciest piece of the Chicken... but when you de-frost them you need to watch out as they often remain raw on the inside and cooked on the outside.
Preparation is key. The chicken needs time to defrost naturally. Once done, the chicken is poked full of holes with a sharp and narrow two-pronged fork.
Then the chicken is marinaded around the same time as you light up. Again, if you have more time you can marinade in the morning and braai at night.
Then, on a high heat the chicken goes on the fire. Turn regularly and don't let the skin side stay too long on the grille or you will loose the skin!
Once the Chicken was cooked through, I added some sausage because a family of 5 with 3 growing teenagers... well 1x piece of chicken per child and 2x per adult did not seem like much, this chicken does shrink a bit on the fire.
All in all it was a great meal, the Chicken was delicious and the family had a great time!
Thank you for reading!
Cheers!
@zakludick
