Although it is great to braai outdoors on dry/warm days, the risk of rain or cold weather prompts many people to install a built-in braai on a covered patio to ensure that entertaining and cooking can be done harmoniously, regardless of the weather.

Before buying a built in braai how do you decide what is right for you?

What size braai should you buy? Size the braai to cater for the number of people you typically have around at one time.

If you include an ember maker or go gas, you can continue cooking when you have larger numbers of guests.

What steel is right for your application? Mild steel works well in dry climates. 3Cr12 and stainless steel are more resistant to corrosion and are the steel of choice for coastal or high rainfall areas. The closer you are to the sea, the higher spec steel you should use.

Choice of charcoal/wood or gas.

• If you make a wood or charcoal fire in an ember tray, it will take 45 minutes to get hot enough to cook over. If you run out of hot charcoal, you need to stop cooking whilst you get new charcoal hot.
• If you have an ember maker in your braai, it will cut down the time needed to get charcoal hot and you will be able to continue to produce hot charcoal whilst you are cooking. Providing you have enough charcoal you can cook indefinitely.
• With gas, you need to light the grill at maximum setting and leave it to warm up for five minutes or so before you can cook. Very convenient if you lead a busy lifestyle and do not have the time to get wood/charcoal hot. Some of the fat from the cooking meat will drip into the flames and ignite, giving the meat a similar flavour to that acquired over charcoal.

If you are catering for bigger groups of people and want the convenience of gas, but still have charcoal cooking ability, a combo braai is right for you.

Working platform. Ideally, you need a stable work platform in front of the braai area to hold the meat platter, spices, marinades, braai tools and, of course, your drink. Consider how stable the platform is and how far out from the braai it protrudes. Too much protruding and you get a sore back, leaning over the platform to get to the cooking meat.

Optional tools. By buying some options you have the ability to do so much more than conventional braaiing. How about a joint of meat/chickens on a spit or in a spit basket, a stir fry or seafood or breakfast cooked in a braai pan.

Storage of charcoal wood or gas. You will need one of these to be able to operate your braai. Why not allow a storage space under the braai and put cupboard doors over to stylishly conceal?