The Official Biltong Enthusiasts Thread

IceQB said:
Ok so I put in at 6am wed, phoned home wife says its still not ready.
Now I don't know, only home tomorrow night to have a look myself.
Told her to leave fan & light running & check in the morning.
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6am wed? So its been 1.5 days? In a rush much? LOL takes between 3-6 days depending...
 
IceQB said:
Ok so I put in at 6am wed, phoned home wife says its still not ready.
Now I don't know, only home tomorrow night to have a look myself.
Told her to leave fan & light running & check in the morning.
Click to expand...

Drying time is determined by the volume of air moving through your dryer, also how thick your meat is sliced.
Preference - how wet do you like your biltong, biltong always going to be substantially wetter on the inside than the surface of the meat. Meat will feel hard to the touch on the outside and soft when depressed. Meat should feel soft throughout.
My suggestion would be to leave the light (heat source) off for first 24 hours. Let the fan do its job. temperature in box should be 28 degrees. I would not use the light bulb if air is dry, I would recommend only using fan in humid climates. Then again many of us are impatient and a light bulb speeds up the process, I don't like the end result, light bulb makes box far too hot, meat hardens (cooks) on the outside.
 
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pulling wire said:
Drying time is determined by the volume of air moving through your dryer, also how thick your meat is sliced.
Preference - how wet do you like your biltong, biltong always going to be substantially wetter on the inside than the surface of the meat. Meat will feel hard to the touch on the outside and soft when depressed. Meat should feel soft throughout.
My suggestion would be to leave the light (heat source) off for first 24 hours. Let the fan do its job. temperature in box should be 28 degrees. I would not use the light bulb if air is dry, I would recommend only using fan in humid climates. Then again many of us are impatient and a light bulb speeds up the process, I don't like the end result, light bulb makes box far too hot, meat hardens (cooks) on the outside.
Click to expand...

Downside of making biltong:

1) longest 2 to 3 days of my life while waiting to dry

2) I end up eating the whole batch of 2kg within 2 days. Cant stop.

I see our local spar meat deli sells what they call "biltong steaks". Basically they cut big pieces of meat they themselves use to make biltong (which is very good by the way) and you can buy it raw already spiced and lying in the spices for a while for R72 per kg. Not a bad price seeing as their finished biltong go for R189. Will try it sometime. It takes the effort and mess of cutting out of it. Can still add a bit of my own spice if I want.
 
Stefanmuller said:
Downside of making biltong:

1) longest 2 to 3 days of my life while waiting to dry

2) I end up eating the whole batch of 2kg within 2 days. Cant stop.

I see our local spar meat deli sells what they call "biltong steaks". Basically they cut big pieces of meat they themselves use to make biltong (which is very good by the way) and you can buy it raw already spiced and lying in the spices for a while for R72 per kg. Not a bad price seeing as their finished biltong go for R189. Will try it sometime. It takes the effort and mess of cutting out of it. Can still add a bit of my own spice if I want.
Click to expand...

I have the same issue regarding the wait and then consuming the biltong as soon as its dry. Gets expensive but I guess that you need to time it so that a day before the batch in the dryer is dry, you have already proceeded to marinade the next batch.

R72/kg not too bad, considering they have included vinegar, Worcester sauce and spices. Remember they weigh the meat after they have added spices and marinade. I think you can get the meat for R60, but then you still got to marinade and spice.
 
Ok an update.
Bought about R100 Silverside. The butcher was kind enough to cut into strips for biltong not too thick.
Mixed 1 cup of worcester sauce with 2 cups of vinegar.
Then sprinkled spices in bottom of dish.
Layed down a few strips of meat, spooned some worcester + vinegar mix over, then some spice.
Layed down next layer of meat, repeat process.
Covered in cling in for 2/3 hours.
Took out mixed well & in fridge overnight.
Went in Wed at 6:30am took out Fri at 18:30.
Left the wors in till next morning & removed that at around 8:am Sat.
Came out very nice for a first attempt I must say!!!

Going to try some sticks, need more spice first & a chilli stick recipe/spice.
It should go a bit faster as its thinner.
The waiting is a b*tch!!!
 
Oh & thanks for all the help so far guys.
 
Just spiced a batch now, in the fridge, hanging later.

Haven't had some in a while, been spending the cash on lion lager. Lion out of stock, so back to biltong.

Anybody know of a good way to do both at the same time?

:D
 
Hi guys

Just put 2.2kg of succulent topside up to dry a couple of minutes ago.

This is my 2nd attempt at biltong. Let's hope it's as good as the first.... The wait begins.

Want to try to make droe wors... any tips or tricks I should know about? Do I just hang out normal work bought at the local butcher or should I treat first?
 
Get good thin wors, luckily I have a great butcher who gave me same wors he uses for his dry wors.
Tastes exactly like his, no need to spice/dip. Just hang & dry.
No I just have to get my biltong like his. Taking him a taste of mine tomorrow.
 
Good idea man! Butchers are normally quick to tell what exactly it is that you need in your recipe.

I myself haven't done a batch in a long time. Been spending my money on pc parts.
 
Said its not far off & quite good for a first attempt.
My drywors is exactly like his :)
I won't be able to make for next 2 weeks (not home) but will be getting ingredients (spices) together for when i get my topside for next batch.

My dryer is 1.5m H x 0.5m W & D so it can a quite a bit!
 
Haven't been following this thread but some of the best biltong I've had is from the biltong stall at the Thursday market in St George's Mall in Cape Town... Anyone tried from there?
 
d7e7r7 said:
Haven't been following this thread but some of the best biltong I've had is from the biltong stall at the Thursday market in St George's Mall in Cape Town... Anyone tried from there?
Click to expand...
Pffft buy biltong? Aint nobody got time for that!

In here we make it ourselves son!
 
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