Wanted - Tips and recipe for biltong

[Richierich]

To date I have shyed away from Biltong having tried Jerky and not being a fan, at the weekend a guy from South Africa let me try some shop bought traditional SA Biltong, I am amazed at the difference. We got discussing the merits of home made cured meat products and I suggested the best thing is to make my own.

I just need a recipe and some advice, I have tried a search but to no look, can anyone point me in the direction of a good "traditional" biltong cure and method?

Look forward to info.

Richard

[wheels]

Richard

Aris is your man for this. See his website at

http://www.biltongbox.com/

Phil

[saucisson]

I was halfway through posting "Aris is your man... when I stopped to read the previous post

[Richierich]

Thx guys, will have a look....

[Richierich]

Having looked at the website I am very tempted to give this a go....however I think the hassle of making a box for a one off attempt might be prohibitive. Do you think I could use a Brinkmann Hot Smoker as a chamber, with a light bulb in the bottom instead of a wooden box, or can it be hung at room temperature, I have a net clothes basket I used to hang my chorizo in that I could use, I guess it will take longer, is the time crucial to getting the product dry quickly before mould grows?

The latter suggestion would be less hassle as indoors I don't need to worry about bugs, although the house might stink a bit. Maybe what is left of the unused bits of kitchen cabinets might have to be sacrificed....

All thoughts welcome.

[Batman]

I don't see any reason why you can't do it indoors although as ou say it does have a certain aroma I slightly modified a new large plastic wastebin which I also now use for other curing projects.

One recommendation I would make is to make sure you eat small slivers of the biltong, I made the mistake of taking a large piece, being a little greedy when it comes to food, and was still chewing the damn thing 30 minutes later when I finally conceded defeat

[Richierich]

Thanks for the advice, I can understand your problem, I had some on Sunday and just left the chunk in the side of my mouth for about 3 - 4 minutes, that softened it up lovely!!

[aris]

Hi,

I don't visit the forums as often as I would like - so if you have any biltong questions, feel free to PM me.

Aris

[Richierich]

I certainly will!

[Zulululu]

Mistake often made when cutting your meat for biltong is that people cut across the grain, the right way is to cut with the grain.That is why we all have our favourite little biltong knife which you use to cut slices across the grain.Enjoy.