My Biltong recipe

[FrannaM]

Just wanted to share my method and recipe for making biltong.

As soon as we moved to the US, I knew I’d have to make a plan to make my own biltong. I’ve been using this recipe for the past two years and, in my opinion, it works really well.

The cut of meat in the pictures is a chuck roast that was quite lean and fairly uniform in size. This is not the traditional cut of meat used for biltong. Bottom round, top round, or eye of round will probably give you better results, but chuck actually works surprisingly well. 1" - 1.25" thickness is what I normally go for. Too thick and you may risk the meat taking too long to dry and go bad.

I like thicker pieces because I prefer my beef biltong quite moist. Cutting with the grain can be a little more difficult with chuck, but it still works.

My process:

• Cut the meat with the grain into fairly thick strips.
• Give the meat a malt vinegar bath, then let the excess vinegar drip off.
• Coat each piece on all four sides with biltong spice. I use Biltongmate Traditional, and in my opinion it’s on par with the traditional biltong spice you get in South Africa.
• Lay the pieces flat in a container, close it, and leave them overnight in the fridge. This allows the meat to marinate further.
• The next day, hook the pieces and hang them vertically in the biltong box.
• I run my extractor fan on medium. The biltong in the pictures took about 6 days to reach the level of dryness I like.

One important thing, you do not want too much air moving over the meat too quick. Too much airflow can cause case hardening, where the outside dries too quickly while the inside stays too wet.

My homemade biltong box runs at normal room temperature, and I’ve never had problems with mold or anything similar. Just avoid drying biltong in a humid environment.

Also, do not spend a fortune on a fancy biltong box. You can easily build your own in about 1–2 hours, and pretty much everything you need is available on Amazon. You want the air intake in the bottom of the box and the fan to extract the air through the top. A variable speed fan works best.

The biltong in the bowl is from a previous batch.

 

[cpaysonc]

Beautiful! I appreciate you posting this, I've got a homemade biltong box similar to what you show but never felt quite right about the results, now I have what looks like a stellar road map!

 

[FrannaM]

Beautiful! I appreciate you posting this, I've got a homemade biltong box similar to what you show but never felt quite right about the results, now I have what looks like a stellar road map!

Glad you found this post useful. Hope yours turns out great too!

 

[mneeley490]

Interesting. Biltong is not common in the US, and it's cool to see exactly how it's made.

 

[SmokinAussie]

Looks really good.

Your home made biltong box does the job, I agree. I did however buy a cheap one here in Australia and it has served me really well. Over the 10 + years I have had it, I have replaced the fan and light fitting. Here it is as of a few years ago.

I do use the proper cut which is Silverside that includes bottom round and eye of round.
My recipe is a bit different, but we all do our own things.

Here's a sample of mine sliced. It's really good.

Biltong is so much better than Jerky... I know you didn't say that, but you know it..

Cheers!

Bill

 

[cpaysonc]

Looks really good.

Your home made biltong box does the job, I agree. I did however buy a cheap one here in Australia and it has served me really well. Over the 10 + years I have had it, I have replaced the fan and light fitting. Here it is as of a few years ago.

I do use the proper cut which is Silverside that includes bottom round and eye of round.
My recipe is a bit different, but we all do our own things.

Here's a sample of mine sliced. It's really good.

Biltong is so much better than Jerky... I know you didn't say that, but you know it..

Cheers!

Bill

Jerky done properly is such a thing of beauty though, in the end, biltong would fall under the jerky umbrella, would it not?

 

[SmokinAussie]

Jerky done properly is such a thing of beauty though, in the end, biltong would fall under the jerky umbrella, would it not?

Hi Chris,

No it doesn't. It is air dried, never heated. The spice mixes use cure#2. Traditionally it's just salted and dried. No heat treatment involved and absolutely no sweetness either. It's a very different thing. Seek it out if you can. It's well worth it.

I suppose when I criticise something like Jerky, there can be a bit of a backlash, so let's call them two completely different things, both with their own qualities.

I'll do some soon myself and post it up in depth.

Cheers

Bill

 

[cpaysonc]

Hi Chris,

No it doesn't. It is air dried, never heated. The spice mixes use cure#2. Traditionally it's just salted and dried. No heat treatment involved and absolutely no sweetness either. It's a very different thing. Seek it out if you can. It's well worth it.

I suppose when I criticise something like Jerky, there can be a bit of a backlash, so let's call them two completely different things, both with their own qualities.

I'll do some soon myself and post it up in depth.

Cheers

Bill

No backlash intended! For what it's worth, I typically never heat my jerky. I think there's a misconception that jerky requires heat. I typically make jerky that dries by means of nothing other than airflow, with cool smoke added. Cured jerky requires no heat whatsoever. My heat source for the smoke so far removed it's not a factor. Temp might hit 120F or so, tops. Likewise, I use cure #2 or appropriate tender quick. It truly sounds like a difference in seasoning blends. You've got me on the sweetness though, I definitely add something sweet to my jerky. Was fortunate enough to try biltong from a small speciality meat market some time ago, love the coriander. Texturally different output as well, which was equally a nice change of pace. Regardless, looking forward to trying your recipe!