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Spit Braai Hire or Chef-Run Catering?
We sell both, so here is the comparison without a thumb on the scale. Hiring the spit is cheaper on cash - about R5 000 to R7 000 self-catered for fifty guests against R9 000 catered - and what it costs you instead is a seven-hour working day at the fire and the risk of getting a R3 000 animal wrong in front of your guests.
The actual question
It is not “how much does a spit braai cost”. It is whether you want to spend your own event standing at a fire. Both answers are legitimate and we sell both, so here is the comparison without a thumb on the scale.
| Hire the spit | Chef-run catering | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay | R650 a day charcoal, R950 gas, plus a refundable R500 deposit | R180 per person, all in |
| You also buy | The meat, the coals, the marinade, the sides, the rolls | Nothing. That is what all-in means |
| Your day | At the fire from roughly 7am to 2pm | At your own party |
| Skill needed | Real. A whole lamb is unforgiving and there is no second attempt | None |
| Clear-up | Yours, then we collect the equipment | Ours, the same night |
| Best for | Confident braaiers, tight budgets, smaller groups | Weddings, functions, and anyone who wants to be a guest |
Where the money actually lands
Run it for 50 guests and it stops being close. Hiring the spit is R650 plus the refundable deposit, but a whole lamb at the butcher, a sack of charcoal, sides and rolls for fifty people put the real figure somewhere around R5 000 to R7 000 depending on what lamb costs that week — against R9 000 for the same event catered, with a chef, no shopping and no clear-up.
So hire is cheaper. It is meant to be. What it costs you instead is a seven-hour working day and the risk of getting a R3 000 animal wrong in front of fifty people. If that trade appeals, hire the spit — genuinely, we would rather rent you equipment than sell you catering you did not want.
Where it stops being a choice
- Weddings. Nobody in the wedding party can be at a fire from 7am. Every wedding we have done that started as a hire enquiry finished as a catering booking.
- Over about 80 guests. Two spits, staggered carving and a queue that has to keep moving is a job, not a hobby.
- Halaal. The chain only holds if the equipment and the handling are controlled end to end — see what makes a spit braai halaal. A hired spit that has carried pork breaks it.
- You are the host. If your name is on the invitation, you already have a job that day.
The middle option nobody advertises
You can hire the spit and add a chef to it. Same equipment, same delivery, and a chef who arrives with it and runs the fire all day — which is the same thing as catering, priced at R180 a head, because at that point it is catering. Worth knowing it exists, rather than assuming the two are separate products with a wall between them.
Common questions
Is it cheaper to hire a spit braai or get catering?
Yes, hiring is cheaper on cash. A charcoal spit is R650 a day plus a R500 refundable deposit, and you supply the meat, coals and sides. Catering is R180 per person with everything included. For 50 guests that is roughly R5 000–R7 000 self-catered against R9 000 catered — the gap is your labour and your risk.
How hard is it to cook a whole lamb yourself?
Harder than it looks and longer than you think: five to seven hours of indirect heat, constant rotation, basting on the hour and a proper rest at the end. Read how long a spit braai takes before deciding.
Can I hire the spit and add a chef later?
Yes, if a chef is free on the date. It is simpler decided up front, because a catered booking includes sourcing the meat and marinating it the day before.
What about the R100-a-head quotes I keep seeing?
They are almost always one of four things: meat only, chicken rather than lamb, no chef, or extras added after the quote. The market rates and the arithmetic are on spit braai for R100 per person.