The Official Biltong Enthusiasts Thread

[Captain Beer]

My recently bought BiltongKing's fan lasted 4 days :-\ ... maybe this will motivate me to begin designing a dehydrator (heat/fan) controller, that will would probably use a different (DC) fan, sooner than I thought.

Friedman and Cohen perhaps? I spoke to a lady at Mellerware and their solution was that I drive to Parow and have them fit a new fan

 

[chopsuey]

Friedman and Cohen perhaps?

Nope, Tafelberg Furnishers S-West

Also had a bad experience with the purchase, so not even going to waste my time trying to return it.

 

[Badprop_za]

/subscribed

 

[I.am.Sam]

fruit n veg had on special for R130/kg

was ok

the one i make at home is so much better

 

[faniebraai]

I put in a fresh batch this morning for the first time in a very long time.

 

[wetkit]

Guys, I need some help.
My biltong taste great, but it tends to go rock hard. Not dry, just hard.
Anybody else have a similar problem?

 

[faniebraai]

Guys, I need some help.
My biltong taste great, but it tends to go rock hard. Not dry, just hard.
Anybody else have a similar problem?

Describe your process step by step, and your drier in terms of light bulb wattage, airflow etc.

 

[wetkit]

Okidoki.
I do about 5kg silverside in a batch.
Using Crown Safari Biltong mix. I tried my own mix, but it is just too much problems.
About 35g spice to 1kg meat.
Add one cup brown vinegar and 25ml worcester sauce to 5kg meat.
Coat the meat in dry spice and once done pour over the wet mix.
I let it soak for 3 days in the fridge. Shake container at least 2 times a day.

Before I hang it, I pull the meat strips through warm water. This removes most of the spices and biltong is clean and shiny once done.
Hang in "drying" box. Fans run till outside of meat forms a dry film. Then they hang without fans for another 2 to 3 days. No heaters or globes.
"New" batch is great, but after about a week they start going rock hard

 

[Ancalagon]

Soaking it for 3 days in a vinegar solution sounds too long to me. Remember acids will denature protein - ie vinegar basically "cooks" meat.

 

[I.am.Sam]

and yeah i prefer spice on the meat ..not washing them off and allowing the little flavour to stay on cause you soaked it for 3 days

 

[pulling wire]

Okidoki.
I do about 5kg silverside in a batch.
Using Crown Safari Biltong mix. I tried my own mix, but it is just too much problems.
About 35g spice to 1kg meat.
Add one cup brown vinegar and 25ml worcester sauce to 5kg meat.
Coat the meat in dry spice and once done pour over the wet mix.
I let it soak for 3 days in the fridge. Shake container at least 2 times a day.

Before I hang it, I pull the meat strips through warm water. This removes most of the spices and biltong is clean and shiny once done.
Hang in "drying" box. Fans run till outside of meat forms a dry film. Then they hang without fans for another 2 to 3 days. No heaters or globes.
"New" batch is great, but after about a week they start going rock hard

I would make up my own spice mix. Salt, Pepper, Coriander (Roasted) and Sugar.
Skip the vinegar, use only worcester sauce, about a cup
Down wash off the spice when hanging your meat, allow to drip dry.
Can alternate fan on/off say every four ours, the moisture will rise to the surface of the meat.
I would marinade the meat for a total of 24 hours, turning the meat in the marinade every 2 hours or so.
I would hang the meat for no longer than 3 -5 days depending on thickness of meat.

 

[faniebraai]

Okidoki.
I do about 5kg silverside in a batch.
Using Crown Safari Biltong mix. I tried my own mix, but it is just too much problems.
About 35g spice to 1kg meat.
Add one cup brown vinegar and 25ml worcester sauce to 5kg meat.
Coat the meat in dry spice and once done pour over the wet mix.
I let it soak for 3 days in the fridge. Shake container at least 2 times a day.

Before I hang it, I pull the meat strips through warm water. This removes most of the spices and biltong is clean and shiny once done.
Hang in "drying" box. Fans run till outside of meat forms a dry film. Then they hang without fans for another 2 to 3 days. No heaters or globes.
"New" batch is great, but after about a week they start going rock hard

Your "marinade" process is way different than mine. I let it lie in brown vinegar for about 2 hours. take it out, rub the spice in (i use the same spice), leave it over night in the fridge, next morning hang it.

 

[BaTouSai]

My first batch in ages. This time I decided to do it all myself. Made my own spice mix just hoping that the end product comes out ok.

Did a roasted coriander seed with coarse sea salt and crushed black pepper corns with a bit of treacle sugar.

Basted the meat with a wet mix of 1/2 cup brown vinegar and 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce and then did the dry rub with my spice mix.

In the fridge now until tomorrow after work then I am going to drain excess moisture and hang the beauties.

 

[bwana]

I recently lost the fan in my biltong box. Common problem I've learned.

I've replaced it with a 12v dc computer fan which seems to be doing an even better job. Until I find a rheostat I'm using various power supplies, ranging from 6-12v to increase/decrease the fan speed. A bonus is I can run the light and fan independently of one another.

 

[Hemi300c]

I think your problem is 3 things
I don't keep in fridge but rather a cool place
Lie in spice vinegar, wosterscher sauce for 24 hours and turn every 4 hours
Don't rinse it off but hang as is.

 

[bwana]

Okidoki.
"New" batch is great, but after about a week they start going rock hard

Instead of hanging the whole 5kg in one go consider staggering it according to consumption.

 

[faniebraai]

My first batch in ages. This time I decided to do it all myself. Made my own spice mix just hoping that the end product comes out ok.

Did a roasted coriander seed with coarse sea salt and crushed black pepper corns with a bit of treacle sugar.

Basted the meat with a wet mix of 1/2 cup brown vinegar and 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce and then did the dry rub with my spice mix.

In the fridge now until tomorrow after work then I am going to drain excess moisture and hang the beauties.

View attachment 205578

Looks good. Question though, the coriander, is it roasted? And crushed afterwards?

 

[BaTouSai]

Looks good. Question though, the coriander, is it roasted? And crushed afterwards?

I roasted first and then crushed it with a rolling pin but I think I missed a few seeds that is still whole. Hopefully that wil not ruin the batch?

 

[faniebraai]

I roasted first and then crushed it with a rolling pin but I think I missed a few seeds that is still whole. Hopefully that wil not ruin the batch?

Nah, won't ruin it. Just better flavour release if crushed properly. Also, if they are still whole, and you bite into them while chewing on a piece of biltong, they don't come across as too tasty

 

[BaTouSai]

Nah, won't ruin it. Just better flavour release if crushed properly. Also, if they are still whole, and you bite into them while chewing on a piece of biltong, they don't come across as too tasty

I think I will take most of the seeds off then before hanging this afternoon.

Meat is still in the fridge so I can rub off most of it before hanging.