Heat
High.
Coals
Good coals; burns through at a steady rate.
Smoke
Very low when properly seasoned.
Lighting
Lights easily.
The wood
Sekelbos (Sickle Bush) is a shrubby legume that often grows in dense, encroaching thickets. The logs are usually smaller in diameter than big tree species, and the heartwood has a unique reddish to violet-purple hue when freshly split. It’s naturally very dry when seasoned (baked by the sun), so it lights easily and burns hot and clean. When you buy Sekelbos, you’re buying a braai favourite: quick to light, high heat, minimal smoke.
The look
Bark & shape
Rough, with deep vertical fissures and a fibrous, stringy quality. Often peels in narrow vertical strips. Grey-brown to café noir.
Often crooked or twisted; logs are typically smaller (about 5–12 cm diameter). Straight, solitary spines (not paired hooks).
Heartwood & sapwood
Reddish-brown to a distinctive violet or purple when fresh; settles to dark reddish-brown with a purple undertone as it oxidises.
Yellowish-brown or buff, not as starkly white as Knoppiesdoring.
Quick ID: Small-diameter logs, purple-tinted heartwood, and solitary straight spines.
The burn
How it performs
Heat
High. Rich in natural oils; burns with a hot, bright flame.
Coals
Good coals; burns through at a steady rate.
Smoke
Very low when properly seasoned. One of the cleanest burns.
Lighting
Lights easily. Ideal to get a fire going or for quick, hot sears.
Best for
Quick braais and high-heat searing
Camping and portable fires
Steaks and anything that benefits from a hot, clean flame
Gallery
Get Sekelbos
We sell Premium Sekelbos in 30 kg bulk bags, and it may appear in our Braai Mix.
View products