The short answer
If you want to light it, set it and talk to your guests, buy gas. If the smoke and the coals are half the reason you braai in the first place, buy charcoal.
Most of our customers buy gas because a spit braai runs for two to four hours and gas holds a steady heat for all of it without being fed. Purists buy charcoal because nothing else tastes like it.
Heat control
Gas is a dial. You light the burners, set the flame and the temperature stays where you put it. A whole chicken takes about 75 minutes and you are not managing the fire for any of them.
Charcoal is a skill. You build the bed, spread it under the rod, and top it up roughly every 45 minutes. When you get it right the result is superb — but it does need someone paying attention.
Flavour
Charcoal wins here and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Fat dripping onto hot coals sends smoke straight back up into the meat, and that is the flavour people mean when they say 'proper braai'.
Gas gets you a clean roast with crisp skin and even colour. Plenty of people add a smoker box or a few wood chips in a foil tray under the rod to close the gap.
Running cost
- Gas: a 9kg bottle runs several long braais. Cheap per session and easy to refill anywhere in South Africa.
- Charcoal: cheaper to start, more expensive per braai once you are buying a bag every weekend.
- Both burners and regulators we fit are LPGSASA approved, so refills and swaps are straightforward.
Effort and cleaning
Gas is done when you close the valve. Wipe the rod and grid down with warm water and mild dish soap and it is packed away in ten minutes.
Charcoal needs the ash cleared and the tray cleaned once it has cooled. Not hard, just one more job at the end of a long day.
Which Spitbraaiers model fits
Our gas bestseller is the Family Spit — it feeds six or more people, runs off a 9kg bottle and a battery motor, and it is ready to ship. It is the one that goes out of the workshop most weeks.
If you want coals, the Charcoal Spit takes the same rod and motor setup and feeds four to eight people. Same build, same steel, different fire.
Not sure which size you need before you pick a fuel? Work through our size guide first — size matters more than fuel if you regularly braai for a crowd.
Still undecided?
Send us a WhatsApp and tell us how many people you usually braai for and how often. We will tell you honestly which one we would buy in your position — including when the cheaper one is the right answer.