Sponsored by Pick n Pay and supported by Coca-Cola, Robertsons Herbs and Spices, Renault, and South African Tourism’s Sho’t Left campaign, the 13-part series features 15 of the country’s top braai teams as they drive and cook their way through 9000kms and 13 location-based braai challenges that make up the most adrenalin-fuelled braai adventure yet.

The last braai team standing will walk away with the prize: R500 000 in cash, a Renault Duster 4 x 4 (valued at R260 000), a Big Green Egg each valued at R30 000 and the title of South Africa’s next Ultimate Braai Master. In addition, and thanks to Robertsons Herbs and Spices, the winners will also enjoy a seven-day guided tour of Kerala in India, one of the world’s leading spice regions, with Bonello, plus spending money to the value of R100 000 and a host of other awesome prizes along the way.

Title sponsor and pantry partner, Pick n Pay, has sponsored the quintessentially South African braai series since its inception. Pick n Pay’s general manager of Marketing, Malcolm Mycroft, who joined the production crew at one of several breath-taking locations in Namibia says, “The Cooked in Africa family really gets it. They understand what the braai, and what being South African is all about, and have been able to successfully represent and celebrate our country as a rich melting pot of cultures, flavours and culinary delights that reflect the values that the Pick n Pay brand was founded on. The competition allows us to showcase Pick n Pay’s fresh, local, sustainable and Proudly South African product offering in the most creative and original ways through the Ultimate Braai Master’s Pantry, while demonstrating the brand’s commitment to always being there for its customers.”

Produced by Cooked in Africa Films and supported by a 60-strong production crew including five camera teams, an art department and mobile Pick n Pay Pantry, season three’s ‘Time for Tough’ braai adventure is rougher, tougher, and sees contestants venturing further off-road as they’re expected to camp, cook, and compete in some of the series’ most extreme challenges to date. Starting in Cape Town, the road trip spanned 70 days and heads up the treacherous terrain of South Africa’s West Coast and even further afield to a dramatic landscape where teams get to kick up dust in the wide open spaces of Namibia before heading back to South Africa’s East Coast for the series finale on Thursday, 4 December.

Says series presenter and Cooked in Africa Films’ creative director, Justin Bonello, “This year our slogan was ‘Time for Tough’, and the production proved to be exactly that. We pushed the contestants that much harder, traversing some of the most outlandish, rugged and breath-taking territory in South Africa and Namibia’s outback. Contestants needed to make sure their stamina matched their braai skills as they were expected to self-drive across some off-road routes that would make a seasoned 4x4 enthusiast pause for breath. The game is certainly the toughest one that we’ve had to date and the competition between the teams is fierce, but the show retains its distinctive soul and flavour that South Africans know and have come to love. I believe that we’ve advanced in leaps and bounds since the inaugural Season and have raised the production value of the Series to the level where I’m confident this will be the best Season yet.”

The 2014 contestants were selected via a vigorous online entry and two-part audition phase that began with the selection of 50 shortlisted teams chosen from a national pool of 400 semi-finalists, who made it through to the second round of regional auditions.

After a further skills test in Capsicums Kitchens around the country, the 15 teams to make it into the 2014 Ultimate Braai Master - ‘Time for Tough’ competition include:

KwaZulu-Natal

- Team Mix Masala: friends from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Braai Master Sujith Singh and Braai Buddy Preshen Maharaj;
- Team Braai Dukes: cousins from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Braai Master Milani Motlohi and Braai Buddy Kevin Jonas;
- Team Bushies Gone Wild: friends from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Braai Master Sherwyn Weaich and Braai Buddy Zane Jacobs; and
- Team Smokey and the Bandit: brother and sister from Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, Braai Master Barend Deminey and Braai Buddy Lente Deminey.

Eastern Cape

- Team The Fire Feeders: friends from Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, Braai Master Stuart Smith and Braai Buddy Bretten-Anne Moolman.

Gauteng

- Team Ala Mofepe: colleagues from Pretoria, Gauteng, Braai Master Freddy Buyane and Braai Buddy Jabu Mahlangu;
- Team Simply Sisters: friends from Johannesburg, Gauteng, Braai Master Busisiwe Dhladhla and Braai Buddy Thembeka Ngcobo;
- Team Kaiings and Afval: a couple from Johannesburg, Gauteng, Braai Master Tippie Enslin and Braai Buddy Santie Mostert;
- Team Sugar & Spice: friends from Johannesburg, Gauteng, Braai Master Celeste Raynard and Braai Buddy Chantel Geerdes; and
- Team Tong in Cheek: friends from Johannesburg, Gauteng, and Cape Town, Western Cape, Braai Master Penny Rider and Braai Buddy Dee McCool.

Western Cape

- Team Santa Anna’s: business partners and friends from Stellenbosch, Western Cape, Braai Master Piet Marais and Braai buddy Frik Oosthuizen;
- Team Delicious Foodies: mother and daughter from Gordon’s Bay, Western Cape, Braai Master Brigitte Leclercq and Braai Buddy Lynn Leclercq;
- Team Team Tenacity: couple from Cape Town, Western Cape, Braai Master Rod Hemphill and Braai Buddy Lesley Verhoef;
- Team Weskus Braaiers: best friends from the West Coast, Western Cape, Braai Master John Grundlingh and Braai Buddy Julian Mori; and
- Team Tikka Boys: Pick n Pay’s Wild Card team are friends from Cape Town, Western Cape, Braai Master Mohammed Yusuf Sujee and Braai Buddy Stephen Mandes.

Cooked in Africa Film’s executive producer, Peter Gird is confident that season three will secure new audience benchmarks for the e.tv reality TV series. “We are thrilled to be able ‘to bring the nation together around the fire’ on e.tv this summer. Ultimate Braai Master is a proudly South African Show, made by South Africans, for all South Africans and filmed in Southern Africa. This season is bound to continue to enthral audiences from all walks of life, not only here in South Africa but from all around the world as this is much more than a cooking show, it’s a show that showcases what South African’s love to do, namely to travel, to see and enjoy the most amazing places, and to showcase and share some of the incredible gourmet braai meals that can be created on an open fire,” says Gird.

The first two seasons of Ultimate Braai Master were on-sold to premier international broadcaster, the Travel Channel, resulting in the series being re-screened to over 100 million people in over 280 territories and translated into 22 languages around the world over the next three-year period. The season two series is currently being broadcast in South Africa via DStv’s Travel channel, channel 179, with season three launching on DStv in March 2015.

For more information, visit www.ultimatebraaimaster.com. Alternatively, visit and like the Ultimate Braai Master’s Facebook page, here and follow @UltimateBraai and #UltimateBraaiMaster on Twitter.