The Official Biltong Enthusiasts Thread

Arthur said:
I fired up the Walmart app and looked through all 138 Food Dehydrators they have. Every single one has horizontal trays on which to lay the food to be dried.

Even though I have zero biltong-making experience, I suspect that's a no-no and that the billies strips must not touch anything else if the meat isn't to go moldy?
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Are the trays not removable?
 
rietrot said:
Are the trays not removable?
Click to expand...
Correct, trays are removable on food dehydrators.
I'm pretty sure a 'boer-maak-n-plan' can work there and hang the meat from those puppies

What I have learnt is dont put too much wind onto the meat otherwise the outside dries too much and is rock hard while the centre is still very very soft. You have to get the airflow just right, very little in actual fact.

I remember growing up on a farm in the Karoo my Dad had an outside room dedicated to just biltong. There was no fans nor lights, nothing, just an empty dark room and it worked, we always had kudu biltong all year round.
 
We have a foldable washing line similar to this one and a potent fan to dry our biltong in a spare room.
Works wonders, no extra gadgets needed. Lot of space to hang the good stuff. Just keep the door closed and locked to keep the dogs and flies out.

1630335301280.png
 
Pineapple Smurf said:
Correct, trays are removable on food dehydrators.
I'm pretty sure a 'boer-maak-n-plan' can work there and hang the meat from those puppies

What I have learnt is dont put too much wind onto the meat otherwise the outside dries too much and is rock hard while the centre is still very very soft. You have to get the airflow just right, very little in actual fact.

I remember growing up on a farm in the Karoo my Dad had an outside room dedicated to just biltong. There was no fans nor lights, nothing, just an empty dark room and it worked, we always had kudu biltong all year round.
Click to expand...
Strange, I like it black on the outside with a dark red softer centre.
 
What's a lekker cheap cut of meat to buy for biltong to make it from scratch? Must I go visit a butcher and ask for something?
Im lazy and always just buy the biltong ready to hang stuff from Fruit and Veg city.
I thought it was cheap but I did a test a coupla years ago and noticed that 5 days after hanging when I take it off the weight was exactly half the weight to start with.
Hence double the price so I wasted time and could have just bought normal biltong and started eating it.
 
Pineapple Smurf said:
What's a lekker cheap cut of meat to buy for biltong to make it from scratch? Must I go visit a butcher and ask for something?
Im lazy and always just buy the biltong ready to hang stuff from Fruit and Veg city.
I thought it was cheap but I did a test a coupla years ago and noticed that 5 days after hanging when I take it off the weight was exactly half the weight to start with.
Hence double the price so I wasted time and could have just bought normal biltong and started eating it.
Click to expand...

silverside, or sirloin, just tell the oke you want a nice peice to make biltong from they will sort you out.
 
Stokstert said:
We have a foldable washing line similar to this one and a potent fan to dry our biltong in a spare room.
Works wonders, no extra gadgets needed. Lot of space to hang the good stuff. Just keep the door closed and locked to keep the dogs and flies out.

View attachment 1137156
Click to expand...
Same. I use the guest bedroom with an oscillating fan on the low setting.
 
Well, my very first attempt with Pilot #1 finished yesterday, four days after hanging. The silverside dried beautifully. But the taste was, frankly, awful. Far too salty. And even though a little moist on the inside, there was no deep red colour - it was dark brown all the way through. This first batch is a write-off; the loss is just over a kilo of prime Karoo silverside. School fees.

I suspect the 24h soak in a bath of vinegar was far too long. And I probably used far too much worcestershire sauce in the vinegar. My intuition had been that the vinegar stops the meat from going vrot so the longer it soaked in the better & safer. Turns out that's not quite right.

For Pilot #2 now underway I'm following Ben Kruger's method as per his YouTube video here.

In about ninety minutes I'll stop the vinegar soak, pat with paper towel, apply homemade billies spice mix, let it stand an hour, and hang the meat by the time wife wakes from her nap at 16h30 or so.
 
Arthur said:
Well, my very first attempt with Pilot #1 finished yesterday, four days after hanging. The silverside dried beautifully. But the taste was, frankly, awful. Far too salty. And even though a little moist on the inside, there was no deep red colour - it was dark brown all the way through. This first batch is a write-off; the loss is just over a kilo of prime Karoo silverside. School fees.

I suspect the 24h soak in a bath of vinegar was far too long. And I probably used far too much worcestershire sauce in the vinegar. My intuition had been that the vinegar stops the meat from going vrot so the longer it soaked in the better & safer. Turns out that's not quite right.

For Pilot #2 now underway I'm following Ben Kruger's method as per his YouTube video here.

In about ninety minutes I'll stop the vinegar soak, pat with paper towel, apply homemade billies spice mix, let it stand an hour, and hang the meat by the time wife wakes from her nap at 16h30 or so.
Click to expand...
Your beef cuts or wors shouldn't be in the vinegar / hot water mix for more than a few minutes; which is more than enough to kill off the bacteria / yeasts. Also the meat / wors won't go rotten if your biltong box is well ventilated.

Always better to under spice than over spice. You'll find that e.g. the spice mix added in shop bought wors is more than adequate... taste some raw for comparison.
 
menticide said:
Your beef cuts or wors shouldn't be in the vinegar / hot water mix for more than a few minutes; which is more than enough to kill off the bacteria / yeasts. Also the meat / wors won't go rotten if your biltong box is well ventilated.

Always better to under spice than over spice. You'll find that e.g. the spice mix added in shop bought wors is more than adequate... taste some raw for comparison.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Menticide. Tips appreciated.
Batch #2 was better, but still not where I'd like it. I've contacted a local commercial biltong-maker who makes delicious billies and have arranged for a personal lesson when they next make a batch.
 
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