Spit braai hire prices
Spit braai hire — spit braai rental, if you prefer the word — means you get the equipment and you do the cooking. Spit hire is R1 200–R1 500 for 24 hours, depending on the machine and the date, plus a refundable deposit of R1 000–R1 500. Delivery is from R450, or collect it yourself at no charge. You supply the meat, the coals and the cook — and the cook is usually you.
It is the smaller bill of the two things we do, until you add the meat. For an afternoon away from the fire, the same spit comes with a chef from R150 a head for lamb, with the meat, garlic potatoes and rolls included.
| What you pay for | Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Spit braai machine, 24 hours | R1 200–R1 500 | Charcoal or gas; the machine and the date set where in the range it falls |
| Refundable deposit | R1 000–R1 500 | Returned once the spit comes back clean and undamaged |
| Delivery and collection | From R450 | By distance — or collect the spit yourself at no charge |
Rates exclude the meat and the coals or gas. Longer hires are quoted per date and duration, the figure is confirmed in writing when you book, and there is no charge to quote.
What you get with the spit
Your spit, brought and fetched
We bring the spit, set it up where you want it and fetch it afterwards, from R450 by distance — or collect it yourself for free.
Sized to your headcount
One whole lamb feeds about 45. We match the spit to the number rather than sending one size.
Shown how to run it
A walk-through on site plus a written method for your meat — timings, coal placement, when to baste.
- The spit frame, motor and skewers, sized to your headcount
- The spit brought out and fetched again across greater Cape Town, from R450
- Set-up on site, and a walk-through of how to run the fire
- A written method for the meat you are cooking — timings, coal placement, when to baste
What you provide: the meat, the charcoal or gas, a level patch of ground about three metres square out of heavy wind, and somebody willing to watch it for five to seven hours.
DIY spit braai hire, honestly
A whole lamb on a spit is not a difficult cook, but it is a long and unforgiving one. The fire wants to run hotter or colder than you need it, the shoulder and the leg finish at different times, and the resting step is where most home spits fall over. People who have done it before generally enjoy it. People doing it for the first time at their own wedding generally do not.
Our honest advice: hire the spit for a relaxed weekend braai with friends. For an event where you are also the host, book the chef.
Spit braai hire across Cape Town
We deliver throughout greater Cape Town, the Northern and Southern Suburbs, the Helderberg and into the Winelands — the full list is on areas we serve. Delivery is from R450 and rises with distance; collecting the spit yourself costs nothing.
Spit braai hire prices by area
The hire rate does not change by suburb: R1 200–R1 500 for 24 hours applies in Bellville exactly as it does in Hout Bay. What changes with the area is the delivery line, which starts at R450 and is quoted by distance, so you see the figure before you commit.
| Where you are | Spit hire, 24 hours | Delivery |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Suburbs — Durbanville, Bellville, Brackenfell, Table View | R1 200–R1 500 | From R450 |
| Southern Suburbs — Rondebosch, Claremont, Constantia | R1 200–R1 500 | From R450, by distance |
| Atlantic Seaboard and City Bowl | R1 200–R1 500 | From R450, by distance |
| West Coast and Blaauwberg — Parklands, Melkbosstrand | R1 200–R1 500 | From R450, by distance |
| Helderberg — Somerset West, Strand, Gordon's Bay | R1 200–R1 500 | From R450, by distance |
| Cape Flats and Metro South-East | R1 200–R1 500 | From R450, by distance |
| South Peninsula — Muizenberg to Simon's Town | R1 200–R1 500 | From R450, by distance |
| Winelands and Boland — Franschhoek, Wellington, the estates | R1 200–R1 500 | From R450, by distance |
A spit going out to the coast is worth one extra conversation. Table View, Parklands, Blouberg and Melkbosstrand take the south-easter hard from October to March, and an unshielded fire in that wind is the most common reason a self-run spit cooks unevenly. Ask us where to put it when we drop it off.
Hire it yourself, or have us cook it
We sell both, so here is the comparison without a thumb on the scale. Run it for 50 guests and it is closer than people expect. Hiring the spit is R1 200–R1 500 plus R450 or more for delivery (the deposit comes back), and a whole lamb at the butcher, a sack of charcoal, sides and rolls for fifty people put the real figure somewhere around R6 000 to R8 300 depending on what lamb costs that week — against R7 500 for the same event catered on lamb, or R8 250 with a salad, with a chef, no shopping and no clear-up.
So for fifty guests the two land at about the same money. What hire costs you on top is a seven-hour working day and the risk of getting a R3 000 animal wrong in front of fifty people. That trade suits some people — a relaxed weekend with friends who enjoy the fire — and for them we would genuinely rather rent the equipment than sell catering nobody wanted.
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 halaal-friendly spit braai catering. 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.
If you would rather not spend the day at the fire at all, that is spit braai catering in Cape Town — same spit, same meat, with a chef running it.
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 per head from the catering menu (R150 for lamb), because at that point it is catering. Worth knowing it exists, rather than assuming the two are separate products with a wall between them.
What the spit braai machine is, and how it arrives
The machine is a stainless steel spit frame about 1.4 metres across, a geared electric motor that turns the skewer at a steady low speed, a charcoal tray under the meat and a pair of adjustable uprights that let you drop the carcass closer to the coals as the fire settles. It travels on a trailer, comes off on two wheels and stands on any level ground — grass, paving or gravel.
| Machine | 24 hours | Feeds up to | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charcoal spit braai machine | R1 200–R1 500 | One whole lamb, about 45 guests | Charcoal and a 220V plug for the motor |
| Gas spit braai machine | R1 200–R1 500 | One whole lamb, about 45 guests | Its own gas bottle, no coals to manage |
A refundable deposit of R1 000–R1 500 covers the machine while it is with you. Hiring a spit braai machine and hiring a spit braai are the same booking — the rate does not change with what you call it.
Hiring a spit braai near you
Spit Braai Pro is based in Durbanville and the trailer runs out from there, so “near me” has an actual answer rather than a marketing one: we deliver and collect anywhere inside roughly 60 kilometres of the city, from R450 by distance. That band covers the Northern Suburbs, the Southern Suburbs, the City Bowl and Atlantic Seaboard, the West Coast up to Melkbosstrand, the Helderberg and out into the Winelands as far as Wellington. Durbanville, Bellville, Brackenfell, Kuilsriver and Kraaifontein are the shortest runs we do.
Past about 60km — the Overberg, Hermanus, Worcester — we still travel, and the travel is quoted as its own line so you can see it. Every area we cover is named on areas we serve.
Spit braai hire questions
How much does it cost to hire a spit braai?
R1 200–R1 500 for 24 hours, depending on the machine and the date, plus a refundable deposit of R1 000–R1 500. Delivery is from R450, or collect it yourself at no charge — the meat and the coals or gas are yours. Chef-run catering starts at R150 a head for lamb instead.
Do you deliver and collect?
Yes. Delivery, set-up and collection start at R450 and are quoted by distance across greater Cape Town, or you can fetch the spit yourself for free.
Can I hire the spit and buy the meat from you?
No. We do not sell meat separately — if you want the meat sourced, prepped and marinated, that comes with chef-run catering from R150 a head for lamb — see spit braai prices.
How long do I get the spit for?
A standard hire is 24 hours, which covers the day of your event. Longer hires are quoted per date and duration.
What size spit do I need?
One whole lamb feeds about 45 guests, so most bookings under that number take a single standard spit. Above roughly 100 guests two smaller spits cook better than one large one.
If you are here because of an R100 quote
Hiring the spit is the honest answer to a tight budget, and for fifty guests it lands around R100 a head once you buy your own lamb and coals. What a chef-run R100 quote is usually leaving out is set out on spit braai for R100 per person.