Page 34 - Midlands Info Guide 2024-25

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BBQ & BUTCHERY

The Restaurant: Opening May/June 2024 a beefier flavour as one would find with dry aged
The Salt Slab BBQ and Butchery is in the heart of young beef, we like to say, “Our beef is dry aged
the beautiful KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, 10km up the on the hoof”. Although we do sell grass fed and
Curry’s Post Road from Howick. Owing to the fact grass finished beef, our hand selected grass-fed
that Mike Ross the owner has strong ties to Texas cattle are finished on a formulated hormone-free
and has been catching wildlife in the USA for the grain diet, this grain-fed diet contributes to the
past 15 years, he found that South Africans and development of the marbling. For the respect of the
Texans share a love for meat, in that of Braai / BBQ. cattle, we choose to provide the grain-fed diet in
He decided to bring to the Midlands where he lives, the pasture, they do not see a dry feedlot.
one of Texas’s oldest and most loved cultures that
brings family, friends and strangers together and Not only do we try to hand select our cattle, we
that is Authentic Texas BBQ, where cuts of meat like also do the same for the quality lamb sold out of
beef brisket, beef ribs, slabs of pork ribs, pork butts butchery. We take pride in offering the best quality
and more are cooked low and slow on wood fired products in a clean and hygienic environment and
smokers. Our restaurant has a licensed “Saloon”, strive to offer customer satisfaction.
indoor and outdoor dining, with an elevated deck
overlooking the large play area for the kids. Editorial supplied by The Salt Slab

The Butchery
Having eaten at many of the Top Texas BBQ
restaurants, having been trained by one of the best
Pitmasters in central Texas and seeing what all is
involved, we decided opening our own butchery
would be the best option to provide our restaurant
with the best quality meat and try keep everything
in-house. Our butchery offers diversity in that we
offer both South African and American cuts of
meat.

Providing meat to our customers for the best eating
experience, we have initiated programs to try and
have full control to oversee every aspect from
farm to table and to provide traceability. We are
buying selected breeds of cattle such as Angus,
Hereford and Beefmaster to name a few, directly
from local farmers that we can trust. We are also
focusing on the American and Australian grading
system whereby beef is graded Prime, Choice and
Select due to the marbling in the meat. Angus and
Hereford cattle inherently produce good marbling.
Marbling produces tender, juicy and flavourful meat.

We choose to select older cattle that have been
fed on grass all their lives, the older cattle have

32 | THE SALT SLAB