Biltong Baby!!

[Dingo]

Howdy all...it's been a while since i've posted. I decided to sell sausage "under the table" this winter...so been busy making stock to keep up with demand. Unfortunately, it has not left much time for my curing antics.,..so with a curing cabinet sitting idle and not much time....i thought....Biltong! NIce and easy to prepare only a week or so in the cabinet for results. Here's how it went down;

Got a small Top Round roast....trimmed any visible fat.. Cut into strip and salt;



Let sit in a non reactive vessel in the fridge for 3-4 hours.. then rinse salt from the strip using vinegar (i used red wine vinegar). Pat dry with a paper towel..



Next i took 1/4 cup of whole coriander seeds... toasted them...then put them through the spice mill. Also a 1/4 cup of whole black pepper corns through the spice mill. Press the meat strips into the spice mix nice and hard. Get a good coating to stick to them (Note: i believe traditional biltong requires a coarse grind...i find a fine grind sticks to the meat better)



Noe typically you would use a biltong box to cure the meat. However here in Colorado the average RH is around 25% and the meat dries to quickly. I'm trying them in my curing cabinet at 60F - 50% RH.....



I'll update in a week or so...hopefully with some good results..

[warston]

Hey Dingo
Just a question, did you use only salt in the curing process ? Or you added some cure#1 ?
thanks

[crustyo44]

Dingo,
Biltong needs Cure #1 to be safe for human consumption.
Too many health risks involved if you don't.
Jan.

[Dingo]

Hey Dingo
Just a question, did you use only salt in the curing process ? Or you added some cure#1 ?
thanks

Hey Warston....just salt....read on....

Dingo,
Biltong needs Cure #1 to be safe for human consumption.
Too many health risks involved if you don't.
Jan.

Hey Jan... i pondered this dilemma. Prior to getting into salami etc...i made many different types of Biltong when we lived back in Gympie. Had some fail (mostly due to the ridiculous humidity in QLD) but generally only success. Also, i was perusing the Biltongbox.com website and found someone over there that mentioned that biltong done with Cure #1 wasn't the same. Whilst I understand the logic behind your recommendation, as I'm sure you're aware, biltong has been made this way for many many years. Maybe not using Cure is a form of population control in SA? Either way, my thoughts are that the salt, vinegar and short dry time lead me to believe/hope that the risk is less. I guess we'll find out in a week or so...hence..if you don't hear from me in two weeks...assume I'm dead.

How's the big wet treating ya over there?

[crustyo44]

Dingo,
It's wet here alright and hot and humid but luckily we are high and dry. I have made plenty of salamis without any cure at all with Italian friends when I lived in Victoria. After some people died in Adelaide from eating commercial salami made without a cure (accidentally forgotten) I changed my mind.
I have a lot of fairdinkum "fully imported" South African friends and they all use cure for safety reasons.
I use it because I give a lot of my goodies away to my kids, grandkids and friends. I hate to be the cause of sickness or worse. Fruitsbats are bad enough to have around.
I am now too old to play Russian Roulette.
Cheers Mate. Jan.

[Dingo]

Here are the results....





The taste is great...the texture is perfect..chewy outside and almost creamy inside...

Next time I will include cure to be safe....as Jan said....to old for russian roulette

[crustyo44]

Dingo,
The biltong looks great, especially the texture. Just how I make it. I just noticed that the biltong I kept in the fridge for a couple of weeks actually lost it's reddish inside colour.
The texture even got better a well.
Good luck Mate,
Cheers,
Jan.