- 1Build a real fireThis must be cooked on an open fire or a Weber charcoal kettle — a gas grill will not give the smoke character that defines boerewors on the braai. Build a wood fire (blue-gum or jarrah in Perth) and let it burn down to glowing coals with a light dusting of ash. Total burn-down: 30-40 minutes.
- 2Position the grateSet the grate 15-20 cm above the coals. Test with your hand — you should be able to hold your palm 15 cm above the grate for 4-5 seconds before pulling away. That's medium-hot, which is exactly what boerewors wants.
- 3Lay the coil flatBoerewors is traditionally cooked in a single continuous coil, not cut into individual sausages. Lay it on the grate as a flat spiral. Do not prick the casing — you'll lose the fat that makes boerewors what it is.
- 4First side — 8-10 minutesCook undisturbed. Do not press it, do not flip it early. Let the fat render, the casing crisp up and darken to a rich mahogany. You'll hear it sizzle.
- 5The one big flipSlide two long skewers or grill tongs under the coil and flip the whole thing in one motion. It's easier than it looks — the coil holds together if you don't fuss with it. Second side: another 8-10 minutes.
- 6Check for donenessThe boerewors is done when the casing is uniformly deep brown and slightly wrinkled, the fat has stopped weeping, and a thermometer inserted into the coil reads 71°C. Total cook time: ~20 minutes.
- 7Rest 5 minutesSlide the coil onto a wooden board and rest for 5 minutes. This lets the juices redistribute — cutting straight away spills all the fat onto the board instead of into the roll.
- 8Serve traditionallySlice into 8-10 cm segments. Butter a soft white roll, tuck in a piece of boerewors, top with tomato-onion sambal and a spoon of Mrs Ball's chutney. Eat over a napkin. Do not use ketchup. Do not use mustard. Do not use a fork.
Perth has a substantial South African community — one of the largest per-capita in the country outside of London — and boerewors on the braai is the single dish that binds it all together. Every SA family in the city has an opinion about the right recipe, the right wood, and the right flip technique. What follows is our house version, developed by our head butcher (born in Bloemfontein) over 30+ years of Perth Saturdays.
Boerewors literally translates as "farmer's sausage" in Afrikaans. It's a coarse-ground beef and lamb sausage flavoured with coriander seed, black pepper, brown vinegar, nutmeg and cloves, stuffed into natural casings and hand-coiled into a single continuous spiral. THE BUTCHER BOX boerewors follows the traditional Free State recipe exactly, made twice a week in our Malaga butchery from Australian grass-fed beef and lamb — no fillers, no breadcrumbs, no gluten. Every batch is Halal certified.
What separates real boerewors from a supermarket sausage
Three technical differences:
- Coarse mince, not paste. Supermarket sausages are ground to a fine emulsion — boerewors is chunky, so you get texture and pockets of fat that render in the cook.
- Vinegar cure. The overnight vinegar marinade preserves the meat and gives boerewors its distinctive tang. No supermarket sausage has this.
- Natural casings. We use lamb intestine casings — they snap when you bite through, hold the coil shape on the grill, and let the smoke penetrate the meat.
Fire discipline — this is the whole game
The single most common Perth mistake with boerewors: cooking it on a gas grill. It works — you'll get a cooked sausage — but the smoke character that makes boerewors braai boerewors comes from the wood. In Perth, use:
- Jarrah — the classic WA hardwood. Long, hot burn, subtle sweet smoke.
- Blue-gum — cooler burn than jarrah but very available.
- Kiaat or acacia charcoal — an authentic SA touch if you can find it at an African grocer
Do not use pine, softwood, or eucalyptus branches that haven't been seasoned. Do not use lighter fluid — start the fire with a chimney starter or a firelighter cube.
What NOT to do
- Don't prick the casings. This is the #1 mistake. Every hole you make loses fat and gives you a dry sausage.
- Don't cut into individual sausages before cooking. The coil holds moisture better than portions.
- Don't flip more than once. Every flip lets fat drip and the fire flare up, which chars the casing.
- Don't butterfly it flat. Half the enjoyment is the round-cross-section bite through the coil.
- Don't cook it well-done to leather. 71°C internal — it should still have a soft feel when you press it.
Traditional plating (the SA "boerewors roll")
The most iconic serve is the boerewors roll — the South African equivalent of a hot dog:
- Soft white bread roll, split and buttered
- A 10 cm segment of freshly-grilled boerewors
- Sambal: fresh diced tomato + white onion + coriander + a splash of white vinegar
- Mrs Ball's Original Chutney — the fruity peach chutney every SA household keeps in the fridge. Available in Perth at African & Middle Eastern grocers.
That's it. No cheese, no mayo, no ketchup, no mustard. The traditional trinity is boerewors + sambal + chutney — anything more crowds the flavours.
Sides for a proper braai
If you're going full braai (not just rolls):
- Pap and sous — SA maize porridge with tomato-onion gravy
- Mielies — grilled corn on the cob rubbed with butter and salt
- Bean salad — cannellini + kidney beans + red onion + parsley
- Grilled halloumi — a modern touch, works surprisingly well
- Braaibroodjies — grilled cheese-and-tomato toasted sandwiches, done on the grate alongside the wors
What to drink
- Castle Lager or Windhoek if you can find them in Perth (Coles Osborne Park stocks Castle occasionally)
- A cold WA pale ale — Little Creatures or Feral works fine
- A Stellenbosch red — a Kanonkop or Rustenburg if you're going full authentic
- Amarula at the end of the night, on ice, with a good dark chocolate
Where to source the boerewors
We deliver fresh coiled boerewors every Friday across Perth metro. Order by Wednesday 7pm. Available:
- À la carte on the gluten-free sausages page
- As the hero cut on the Braai Box subscription — 4kg of boerewors + marinated skewers + beef ribs + gluten-free chipolatas every fortnight
- Custom-quantity mix on any build-your-own box
Boerewors on the braai is the most sociable dish in the world. Set the fire, pour a beer, coil the wors, and let the smoke do the work. Twenty minutes later you'll have the best Saturday afternoon any Perth backyard can produce.
