Biltong For Dummies

i am in the middle of an experiment with using beef brisket instead of round steak. i am just now putting in the dryer, will get back and give an update of how it ended up. i just thought brisket has lots of fat and might make a superior piece of biltong. will see.

has anyone else used brisket for biltong?
I'm always available to provide you my address, so I can be your testing ground... wouldn't want you to have a belly ache in case the meat is not tender enough...
 
well,

the brisket experiment was a success. lots of fat and ended up as an excellent form of biltong! i will use brisket again!

been out snow machining with my uncle for the last week, finally got back and was able to give a report on the biltong that i took with me on the trip.

as Bill and Ted would of said "most excellent, dude!!"
 
Just two things to add to the sterling work done by you all...

1. Biltong pieces should not touch each other or the bottom or sides of the drying container as it promotes mouldy spots.

2. When cutting up your biltong ALWAYS cut several small thin pieces and some slightly bigger until you have your normal size pieces. That way the smaller ones are ready in 24-36 hours and you can start nibbling almost from day one! ;)
 
Well, I am hoping I figure out how to attach some photos that will go along with this.

When I went to SA the first time I was offered biltong and dryworse as a pre dinner snack. Hmmm, i thought to myself, not too bad. BUT, some of the biltong had fat on it, not for me! I asked a couple of the ph's about the fat and they all smiled and said, yes a nice piece of fat on the biltong is the best.

Oddly enough, before I returned to the good old USA, I became a fan of FAT on the biltong! I also bought 2 kgs of beef biltong that was vacuum sealed and I was assured it would be ok to take thru customs. They were wrong and I passed thru customs as a bitter American, knowing in my heart of hearts that some customs bastard was going to be eating MY biltong that evening!!!

The craving for biltong continued, gnawing at me like a squirrel on a corn cob, so I finally got off my dead ass and spent about a week on youtube researching how to make it, and where to get a biltong maker. I ended up settling on a home made biltong box ( I call it the "Biltonganator 4000) and the Crown National brand of biltong spice that can be purchased from Amazon or Jimmy’s Sauces on line.

THE BOX:
They can be purchased directly from SA already to go.... I decided to make mine.

The biltong box is pretty easily made, a good sized tote from walmart is purchased. About a 1/2" from the top, drill 3/8"ish holes (to put wood dowel hangers in) at matching distances across the narrow width of the tote. On one end near the bottom I put a 3" hole in the box on both sides (I used a hole saw), and placed a PVC plumbing flange in both holes (a filter is place inside the flange, keeps out flies) on the same end of the tote in the center of the end, I drilled a hole in the tote to fit thru a simple light fixture that is held in place with merely a zip tie. (the hole about 1 1/4”) splice an electric cord onto the light fixture and put a 40-60 watt bulb in there and you have a low heat solution for drying ever so slightly the air going thru your biltong.

For the fan on the lid, a computer fan works great. I went to Best Buy and got a computer fan and a small power supply, cut a hole in the lid for the fan to fit over, and mounted the fan to the lid. Now you have a quiet air supply moving air to be drawn thru your biltong. Mount the fan so the air is sucked out of the tote, not pushed into it.

I made small S hooks out of plastic covered paper clips. These hang on the wood dowels that stretch across the tote (I used 5 dowels in mine) also, wrap the dowels in saran wrap, when they get all gunky (and they eventually will) it is easy to re-wrap with clean plastic wrap. Cover the bottom and lower sides with aluminum foil, easy to change out once in a while when you get a build up of drippings.

THE MEAT:
I started using beef eye of round, other parts of the round roasts will do as well. (buy it on sale!) I usually freeze the meat, then slice it when it is 1/2 frozen, I make more uniform slices that way. Cut your meat 3/4" or 1" in thickness ALONG the grain. Make em about the same width. The big reason for uniform meat thickness is to enable you to dry most of the meat uniformly.

THE SEASONING:
The traditional biltong spice is pretty simple, coarse salt (I use kosher salt) and toasted coriander. Simply put coriander in a fry pan and heat it up, it will smoke a bit but just keep shaking the pan, when it is starting to brown a bit, pour the spice into a pan and allow to cool for a few minutes. Throw the seeds in a coffee grinder and grind in up. I One can simply bypass this and use Crown National biltong spice. The final ingredient is vinegar. A malt vinegar is nice, but I also like balsamic vinegar. There are directions on the Crown National spice packet as well.

THE BATH:
A liquid proof tupperwear container or small tote works well as a place for a bath for the meat. Simply, sprinkle vinegar on the bottom of the container then liberally sprinkle spice on the bottom as well. Lay the meat on the vinegar/spice, sprinkle the vinegar on the top of the meat, sprinkle a generous amount of seasoning on the meat, and layer the meat in the same fashion till it is all in the “bath” tote.

Put the “bath tub” into the fridge overnight. My “Biltonginator 4000” will hold between 8-10 lbs of meat when fully loaded. (much depends on how long the meat pieces are)

LOADING THE BILTONG BOX:
I use the paperclip “s” hooks to vertically hang the meat on the wood dowels in the tote. Try to evenly space the meat in the box. Then, place the lid on the box with the fan on the opposite end from the light. Plug in the light, plug in the fan and WALK AWAY!

DRYING THE BILTONG:
3/4 - 1” thick meat usually takes between 3 to 5 days to dry properly. I find the skinnier pieces will dry to my liking in 3 days, the pieces with fat take a little longer, 4-5 days again depending on the thickness of the biltong and how dry you prefer yours. The best part is: YOU CANNOT DO THIS WRONG!! You can repeat and make your biltong nearly exactly the same as the last batch. It takes very little attention when making it, when it is “done” I throw it into a bowl until it is all “done”.

PREPARING AND EATING THE BILTONG:
I always leave some biltong off to the side for immediate consumption. (it would be a shame not to sample the goods!) The rest, that I plan on storing for a while, (biltong never lasts very long) I put into vacuum seal bags, seal them and place in the freezer with the month and year put on with a permanent marker.

The biltong that is for consumption is simply cut in small slices across the grain. This results in the biltong experience that was worth all the work. Actually, once the box is built, making biltong is a very simple, repeatable and extremely tasty pastime.

If you have never eaten biltong, make it. If you have not had it since you were in Africa, MAKE IT! If you are already making it, then this little discussion is not for you. FEAR NOT, you will not get it wrong if you follow these simple directions.

1. Cut meat to the same thickness.
2. Use good seasoning and vinegar you like.
3. Dry it to exactly the way YOU like it.
4. Enjoy the process.

View attachment 391080
:love: You are making me hungry. I love biltong. My PH knows that I love it some much he will bring a full bag of cut biltong when he picks us up at the airport. His wife asks if this is enough. My answer is NO. We have a favorite market and biltong store going from Polokwane to Alldays. We will buy Sable, Kudu, and Eland biltong and top up our biltong supply for our 10 days hunt. I do like a little fat and a little red i.e., not completely dried. But this is a matter of preference.

We are leaving to SA within a few weeks for our PAC elephant hunt. My PH said he will have a trailer behind his truck full of biltong:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
I had an awesome trip in June to South Africa. The owner of the lodge served us Biltong every night before dinner. Tried some in Cape Town as well. I saw this machine at the shop and thought how nice it was, as I watch the guy put the Biltong into the machine. I’m on my fifth batch and got tired of using the meat slicer. So I bought this and had it shipped over. Just changed the plug out for USA use. Will let you know how it works when this batch is done.

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Just got a commercial food dehydrator. Can’t wait to start making biltong.
I’m envious of the biltong cutter above!

If you want to see a classy biltong cutter, albeit manual, check out @Tokoloshe Safaris land rover branded biltong chopper. It’s awesome!
 
I had an awesome trip in June to South Africa. The owner of the lodge served us Biltong every night before dinner. Tried some in Cape Town as well. I saw this machine at the shop and thought how nice it was, as I watch the guy put the Biltong into the machine. I’m on my fifth batch and got tired of using the meat slicer. So I bought this and had it shipped over. Just changed the plug out for USA use. Will let you know how it works when this batch is done.

View attachment 418148
Is there a voltage selection on the slicer(220v/110v)?
 
Does the bolting have to hang?

The reason I ask is I have a dehydrator that has a fan... and I can run it with the heat completely off.. or the lowest temp if I turn it on is 130...

It’s big enough for me to do 5 lbs of jerky at a time... but it’s a long rectangle... not tall enough to hang anything in there even if I rigged something up.. but I can lay flat 8 trays that are ventilated full of meat
I have made biltong on a metal rack layed flat over the grating. It was good. But air dried at room temperature with a fan on it. No heat at all.

I make biltong in my wifes pantry. Just a string above the fridge and a tray to catch the drips. Ordinary desk fan blowing on it to keep away the flies.

I have been making biltong on every kids camp I take, we go at least once a year with kids to RIFA safari area on the Zambezi or Save Conservancy. The children love making biltong from the impala that we shoot for dissection. Bit of string and some bent paper clips and you are good to go. I have found that you can sprinkle just vinegar on the meat and put it in a plastic dish. Take the dish out the fridge every hour or so and shake it around to ensure that it is all coated. In the morning sprinkle coriander, salt and black pepper on it and hang it. I find that helps to get the salt quantity right. Just make sure you hang it high enough that the hyena dont get it.
 
i am in the middle of an experiment with using beef brisket instead of round steak. i am just now putting in the dryer, will get back and give an update of how it ended up. i just thought brisket has lots of fat and might make a superior piece of biltong. will see.

has anyone else used brisket for biltong?
I like silverside- not sure what they call it in the States. It is a rump roast cut i think.
 
I like silverside- not sure what they call it in the States. It is a rump roast cut i think.

It's called the bottom round or "Rump roast" in the US. I realize "rump roast" means something else everywhere else.
 
Is there a voltage selection on the slicer(220v/110v)?
It’s 220v. Only, 50 hertz. I have 220v in my kitchen so I just bought a new plug from Amazon and replaced it to fit ours. Going from 50 to 60 hertz is no big deal as it will run a little faster. They do sell a converter here, you have to use two separate 120v outlets to get the 220v. Hope this helps
 
It’s 220v. Only, 50 hertz. I have 220v in my kitchen so I just bought a new plug from Amazon and replaced it to fit ours. Going from 50 to 60 hertz is no big deal as it will run a little faster. They do sell a converter here, you have to use two separate 120v outlets to get the 220v. Hope this helps
Great. I didnt know you had 220V there. Would want to see sparks out of your new slicer
 
I’m on my fifth batch and got tired of using the meat slicer. So I bought this and had it shipped over. Just changed the plug out for USA use. Will let you know how it works when this batch is done.
that slicer looks badass!!
 
Will I’m using the rest of my ground elk and ground wild boar to make some fresh DRY WORS! I might have bought the dry mix while in Port Elizabeth? I have to learn how to hang it properly? The mix is hunter dry wors. Let you know in a few days.

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Will I’m using the rest of my ground elk and ground wild boar to make some fresh DRY WORS! I might have bought the dry mix while in Port Elizabeth? I have to learn how to hang it properly? The mix is hunter dry wors. Let you know in a few days.
The spacing looks good. They must just not touch each other.
 
This thread has been really helpful. Thought I would share my attempt after a bit of research.
I found a dehydrator that has some nifty features, including a "raw" mode that you can set a maximum temperature (can be set all the way down to 77F I believe). It also has a replaceable filter for the fan inlet air that should keep out any dust or contaminants. I set it to 80F just to get the humidity down enough but I'll adjust as I learn more. I placed a temp/humidity sensor inside as a verification, and indeed the temp has never exceeded the setting by more than 1 deg F. Next time I will find a way to reinforce the jerky rack I'm hanging the meat from in order to hang more than 5 pounds at a time. This is deer meat and I just used the Crown Safari Biltong Seasoning and followed instructions on the bag.
The dehydrator model is "Tribest Sedona Supreme Commercial Dehydrator" though I doubt it's really "commercial" it seems to be well made. $480 after discount code online.
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