The Official Biltong Enthusiasts Thread

[faniebraai]

Well I like my biltong very wet, but fir the last two batches I ran out of official spice (crown or freddy hirsch) so I had to make my own concoction.

Our local spar actually sells what they call biltongsteaks, which is basically just their own meat they use for biltong, already cut, marinated in vinegar and spice. I bought two strips (R52 worth at R72pk) to try. I noticed it has quite a matured smell to it which may be why their biltong is so tasty.

Whatever you use in your own concoction, just make sure there is always some koljander and black pepper in there... main ingredients in any good biltong spice imo.

 

[faniebraai]

O, and I used Worceshire sauce and brown sugar in my last batch... the sugar makes for a nice change

 

[Stefanmuller]

Yes definately coriander. Just a pity that when in a hurry you never seem to find whole coriander, and the powdered version just dont work that well. Do you think I can have meat and not hang it to rather buy spice the next day? Nope, one day longer to wait! Has to go on immediately

 

[faniebraai]

Yes definately coriander. Just a pity that when in a hurry you never seem to find whole coriander, and the powdered version just dont work that well. Do you think I can have meat and not hang it to rather buy spice the next day? Nope, one day longer to wait! Has to go on immediately

I know the feeling....

 

[Stefanmuller]

This is what the two biltong steak strips look like. Been in about 26hours so will check tomorrow as it is not very thick

 

[pulling wire]

So I went along to pres hyper and I bought topside by mistake. Oh well.

 

[Whiskers81]

So I went along to pres hyper and I bought topside by mistake. Oh well.

Make dry wors

 

[faniebraai]

So I went along to pres hyper and I bought topside by mistake. Oh well.

it could be worse... just go with it

 

[pulling wire]

Make dry wors

Will give it a go, have cut up and put the meat in the freezer, all 15 kg.

 

[I.am.Sam]

mum was meant to buy me meat ..she forgot

so now i need to go "hunting" again

 

[Slingshot]

I'm ashamed to say that my supper last night was only biltong, as was my breakfast this morning.
My first batch doesn't taste too bad, but it needs some work. The meat is a bit pale on the inside, and dry on the outside. This is what I did, please tell me what I should do different next time:

Bought silverside from two different butcheries, both at R69/kg, to compare them. The one is thinner cut than the other.
Made a mix of 2:1 vinegar and Worcestershire sauce and soaked the meat in it for about 2 hours
Drained the meat and coated with spices (Crown National)
Left in fridge for 3-4 hours
Put meat in biltong drier (the Mellerware one) with 40W bulb - Friday evening
Started eating the thinner pieces on Sunday afternoon
Took out the thicker pieces this morning

Should I soak it in the vinegar mix or just cover it with a thin coating like some recipes say?
To stop it from going so dry on the outside, should I leave the bulb off for the first 24 hours? i think I read that somewhere. I thought because this is Durban and the humidity is higher, it should be fine with the bulb on all the time. Guess not.

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My second batch was without the lightbulb, but same results: very dry on the outside and still "raw" on the inside. I left it for 5 days with the fan on, checking it every day from day 2, but it just got worse.
Maybe my meat preparation has something to do with it locking in the moisture. What can I do differently next time?

 

[pulling wire]

My second batch was without the lightbulb, but same results: very dry on the outside and still "raw" on the inside. I left it for 5 days with the fan on, checking it every day from day 2, but it just got worse.
Maybe my meat preparation has something to do with it locking in the moisture. What can I do differently next time?

I don't have an aircon, but I have thought of putting the biltong box in the way of the cool air from an aircon, Have no ides if it will work, but still prepared to give it a go.

 

[faniebraai]

My second batch was without the lightbulb, but same results: very dry on the outside and still "raw" on the inside. I left it for 5 days with the fan on, checking it every day from day 2, but it just got worse.
Maybe my meat preparation has something to do with it locking in the moisture. What can I do differently next time?

nah, your preparation is is fine, a lot the same as mine...

You are in a high humidity area (durban) so that might be your problem. From the pics your biltong does not look too hard and the consistency to the middle looks fine to me, but yeh, kinda hard to tell from a pitcher. Maybe try and measure the temperature in the box so we can see what it is. From my understanding it should be around 28-ish, which draws the moisture to the surface, with the fan drying off the moisture. Maybe you need something that brings down the humidity in the box (if something like that even exists) Maybe try putting the box in an aircon'ed room? Not sure that will help.

 

[I.am.Sam]

that biltong looks good

whats the problem

but 5 days dammit

most i left mine was 2 and half days

 

[faniebraai]

that biltong looks good

whats the problem

but 5 days dammit

most i left mine was 2 and half days

mine goes about 5 as well. depends on the thickness.

 

[I.am.Sam]

mine goes about 5 as well. depends on the thickness.

your phone size is what i cut my pieces to

thickness well about quarter finger thick

and i like my biltong pink on the inside

but yeah different areas probably

 

[Slingshot]

Thanks for the tips. I'll put the biltong box in my office at work where the aircon runs the whole day, and it's cooler at night than at my flat. I'll just have to fight off the staff oogling my meat

 

[faniebraai]

your phone size is what i cut my pieces to

thickness well about quarter finger thick

and i like my biltong pink on the inside

but yeah different areas probably

jeez, that's really thin.

 

[I.am.Sam]

jeez, that's really thin.

lenght wise is your phone size

and thickness yeah around a quarter finger thats like what 3cm thick

 

[faniebraai]

Thanks for the tips. I'll put the biltong box in my office at work where the aircon runs the whole day, and it's cooler at night than at my flat. I'll just have to fight off the staff oogling my meat

LOL yeh try that. It should go better with less humidity, because the of the humidity in the air (moisture in the air), the moisture in the meat is not coming to the surface so that the fan can dry it out.