by Stebin Horne
The KUDU is a multifunctional grill, griddle, and fire pit designed to create the ultimate outdoor experience.
The KUDU Safari Braai is a unique, innovative outdoor cooking system consisting of a multifunctional grill, griddle, and fire pit combined; it was designed to create an interactive, lively, creative grilling experience for both the people doing the cooking and the people being fed.
Do you like playing with fire? Are you the one who always scrambles to make the campfire or bonfire, or the one shooting off all the craziest fireworks on the 4th of July? Do you like having family and friends over and delighting them with the cool new thing you dreamed up to throw on the grill? Do you like a lot of natural, amazing flavor on your food? Do you relish the succulent smell of grilling meat out in your backyard while you’re cooking for your loved ones? Do you enjoy the simple, small moments in life – like biting into a perfectly-cooked burger, or smoking some ribs that end up fall-off-the-bone delicious? More importantly, do you like sharing these moments with people you love and turning the daily necessity of eating into a little celebration of life whenever possible? Then the KUDU is for you.
The KUDU Safari Braai is an extremely versatile grilling system that allows a user to cook pretty much anything they can think of. Using a patented elevated grate system over an open fire, the KUDU grills, sautés, sears, fries, boils, smokes, and steams – and oftentimes it can do these things simultaneously. No other product allows you to steam oysters while slow-cooking a Boston Butt, or grill blackened grouper while frying shrimp, or sear a ribeye on a Himalayan salt block while sautéing vegetables on a cast iron skillet. And this is all done over an open fire! Pretty cool.
Due to KUDU’s unique modular system, we will be creating a multitude of accessories to expand its cooking potential. We’ll have Dutch ovens, rotisseries, bread makers, oyster roasters, chicken roasters, Himalayan salt blocks, cast iron skillets, steel skillets, woks, and more. We eagerly anticipate customer feedback on the design and accessories; we aim to provide you with the products you need to enjoy the KUDU the way you want to enjoy it.
At KUDU, we believe you should buy your favorite grill once, and after you’ve lived a long life full of baby back ribs and bone-in ribeyes, your grill should be lovingly passed down to your utmost favorite next of kin. In other words, we built this grill to last. It’s made from heavy gauge steel that is high temp powder coated with stainless steel fasteners. The KUDU will always be ready whenever you are.
Even though we’d like to claim we invented fire, we know you’d all know we’re lying. After mastering the KUDU, though, you might just wonder what kind of magic we’re working with.KUDU’s founder Stebin Horne got the idea for this grill while living in South Africa with his wife and her family. The word braai means to grill over fire in South Africa, and South Africans have been grilling over fire since, well, the beginning of mankind. What Stebin found amazing was that, even though there are 11 official languages used in South Africa, the word braai means the same thing in each and every one of them. In fact, South Africa has a public holiday, National Braai Day, during which citizens are encouraged to take the day off and unite around the grill to celebrate with loved ones. Stebin became determined to create a company that could provide products that would help bring people closer together here in the United States. Our society today can sometimes feel irreparably fractured; there are so many aspects of life that can divide us, and KUDU is determined to play a big part in closing those gaps and helping to reconnect families and friends around the very things that first brought human beings together to build a society – food and fire.
To be honest, we need the money. We’re on the verge of blowing this thing wide open, and we’re looking for likeminded folks like you to join the KUDU Nation. It’s no accident that this campaign’s kickoff coincides with the beginning of football season – it’s time for you to get off the sidelines and come help us out. We’re looking for leaders, not followers. We’re looking for the creative outdoor cook who doesn’t need recipes – just some wood, a match, some red meat, and a cold brew. Someone who loves to watch the “African TV” (as the open-flame grills are known in South Africa) as much as they do Monday Night Football. To show our gratitude, we promise to reward you handsomely with the coolest grill since the discovery of fire.
Heck yeah we can! We believe strongly in our product and what it can do for people who love to cook and entertain. Let’s be honest – everyone is moving away from flavorless gas grills and outdoor ovens and toward the earthy goodness of real fire cooking. We’ve already done much of the heavy lifting, now we’re ready to begin fulfilling orders. What are you waiting for?
Mercer University’s Innovation Center is dedicated to fueling the thriving middle Georgia startup economy and empowering entrepreneurs with resources to help bring their dreams to fruition; the center threw its support behind the KUDU Safari Braai this July when it named Stebin Horne as one of its 2016 Mercer Innovation Fellows. As a fellow, Horne is granted access to Mercer facilities, students, and faculty, which will go a long way in making the KUDU the most impeccably designed and executed grill of its kind. Dr. Samatha Lankford, director of the Center, said of Horne that he “stands as testament to the high caliber of our own homegrown talent in Macon.”
Mercer Innovator Debuts African-inspired Grill
We have spent over 18 months developing the KUDU Safari Braai and brand. Along the way we have overcome many of the manufacturing and operational challenges and we are ready to deliver in as little as 45 days on our rewards. That isn’t to say we couldn’t face unexpected challenges ahead.
To manage those risks we have put together a team of business experts and engineers to quickly resolve any issues and meet the customer demand.
At this point we just need the Kickstarter community to get behind us and support our efforts to help America slow down and enjoy some great food over a warm fire.