Which firewood for what

What is the best wood for a braai?

It depends on how many you are cooking for.

For a weeknight braai, chops and boerewors for four, the answer is the wood the Cape grew up on: Rooikrans Bulk Bag — R80. It lights easily, gets hot and goes to coals quickly, so you are cooking rather than waiting on it.

For a crowd, or a braai that has to keep producing coals through a second and third round of meat, go Namibian. Kameeldoring ±18kg — R120 settles into a bed of hot coals and stays there. Blackwattle Seasoned 20kg — R109 is the local hardwood in between: denser than bloekom, hotter, and it leaves proper cooking coals at a Western Cape price.

If the wind is up, skip the open fire and use charcoal in a kettle with the lid on. There is a section on that below.

Kameeldoring or sekelbos: which is better?

Neither. They are for different braais.

Kameeldoring is the bigger, denser piece with the longest-holding coals; sekeldoring is smaller, lights faster and burns fiercer. So kameeldoring is the Saturday afternoon wood, lit early, for a whole chicken, a leg of lamb or a potjie that wants a steady bed underneath it. Sekeldoring is the Tuesday night wood, when you want coals fast and a hard sear on a steak or sosaties before the light goes.

Kameeldoring ±18kg — R120 · Sekeldoring (sekelbos) ±18kg — R120

Same price, so choose on the cook, not the rand. If you want most of the kameeldoring behaviour for less, Swarthaak ±15kg — R100 gets close on density.

Blackwattle or blue gum for the fireplace?

Blackwattle is denser, burns hotter and leaves better cooking coals; blue gum is the cheaper nightly fireplace wood.

That sentence is most of the decision. Blue Gum / Bloekom Seasoned 20kg — R109 is the kaggelhout that goes into more Cape Town hearths than anything else we sell: easy to light, steady, and the right wood for an open fireplace that gets lit most evenings from May. Blackwattle Seasoned 20kg — R109 is the one to reach for when the fireplace doubles as the braai, or when you want the room hotter from fewer pieces.

Both are harvested in the Western Cape, both are seasoned and stored under cover, and at the same price the honest answer is that a bag of each is not a bad way to find out which your fireplace prefers.

Lump charcoal or briquettes?

Lump is hotter and faster and holds its shape; briquettes are steadier for longer.

Restaurant Grade Lump Charcoal 10kg — R150 is big-piece hardwood lump for the kamado and the braai, and the one restaurants, guest houses and function venues order. It is the right thing for a steak, a flatbread, anything that wants fierce direct heat and a grill that behaves the same way every time. Namib Briquettes 4kg — R55 are uniform, predictable and hold a steady temperature, which is what a kettle braai, a snoek or a low-and-slow cook wants. Namib Charcoal 5kg — R55 is the everyday bag for an ordinary weeknight.

The house tip, if you have both: briquettes for the base, lump for the sear.

What should I burn in a pizza oven?

Bloekom and blackwattle.

A pizza oven wants a good, steady flame, and local hardwood gives you that without overheating the oven: Blue Gum / Bloekom Seasoned 20kg — R109 lights easily and keeps a nice flame going, and Blackwattle 20kg — R109 is denser and burns a bit hotter. Want extra heat? Add a few pieces of Swarthaak ±15kg — R100 — it’s what they use in pizza ovens in Namibia. Kameeldoring and sekelbos burn too hot for most pizza ovens.

Does the wood change for a closed-combustion fireplace or an open hearth?

Yes, and the kindling changes more than the wood.

A closed-combustion unit is a sealed box that burns hot and controls its own air, and it rewards dense wood and clean fuel. We recommend bloekom or blackwattle for it. Kameeldoring ±18kg — R120 is the one closed-combustion owners love: very dry, dense pieces and a long bed of coals from a small firebox. Check your unit’s manual before burning dense hardwood in it. Namibian Hardwood Eco / Heat Logs 10kg (12 logs) — R115 are compressed hardwood, uniform, low ash, no bark, and they suit a closed unit that runs every evening. Light it with Kindling / Starters (Premium) — R55, which is untreated wood; do not use the pine kindling in a closed unit.

An open hearth is simpler. It wants Blue Gum / Bloekom Seasoned 20kg — R109, the classic kaggelhout, lit with Kindling / Starters (Pine) — R45, which is for open fires and braais only. If the grate is small and a full-length log is a wrestle, see the next section.

What firewood can I burn in an apartment?

Whatever fits the hearth and does not make a mess of the lift.

Two products earn their place in a flat. Short Pieces – Blue Gum 20kg — R105 is bloekom cut to a shorter length for small grates and closed-combustion units. Namibian Hardwood Eco / Heat Logs 10kg (12 logs) — R115 are uniform, low ash and leave no bark on the balcony. Both stack in a corner without looking like a woodpile, and both come in a bag you can carry up yourself if the driver cannot get the truck to the door.

Order small and often. A flat has no woodshed, and a bag a week on the same route costs less in the end than a load that goes off on a balcony.

What is the best wood for a fire pit or boma?

Big pieces, so the fire runs on fewer top-ups.

Namibian Hardwood Chunky ±18kg — R135 is kameeldoring cut big: extra-large pieces that build a deep bed of coals and keep a boma going while the conversation does. Kameeldoring ±18kg — R120 does the same in a standard cut, and Mopane ±15kg — R105 is dense, slow and aromatic, the wood for a long night and a potjie on the side.

Start it with Kindling / Potjie (Namibian Hardwood) — R49, dense hardwood cut small and the best kindling in our range.

How should I store firewood?

Off the ground, covered on top, open at the sides.

Wood is dry when it leaves our yard and it stays dry if air can move through the stack. A wood store, a carport, a pallet under an overhang: all fine. A sealed plastic sheet wrapped tight against a wall is not, because the wood sweats under it and a wet July does the rest. If you have nowhere covered, order fewer bags more often rather than a season at once.

Loose wood is the one product we sell as-is, all year, for buyers with covered storage and a summer to season it in. It carries no Dry Guarantee, which is part of why it costs less per piece.

Still not sure? Say what you are cooking and where.

WhatsApp us and we will tell you what we would put on the truck, or order now and it is carried in and stacked within 50 metres of where we offload.

See prices · Delivery from R200 WhatsApp an order — 060 978 8945