Biltong

[ksidener]

Anyone have any suggestions for a good Biltong recipe? Preferrably one they've had great success with.

Any help most apprceciated.

Thanks in advance,

Kelly

[JollyJohn]

I've made biltong using the following recipe many times, and it is good. One word of caution, don't let your butcher put the meat on the tenderiser, this pushes lots of spikes through the meat, and allows too much salt into it.

Good luck, John.

Biltong
• 2.5kg. Topside
• 200ml. Cider, or wine vinegar
• 50ml. Worcestershire sauce
• 3 Fresh chillies
• 3 Cloves of garlic
• 1 Oxo cube
• Large handful coriander seeds (roasted & coarsely ground)
• 4 tbsp black peppercorns (roasted & coarsely ground)
• 500 g. course sea salt
• 150g brown sugar
• 1 tsp Bicarbonate soda

Zuzz the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chillies, garlic and Oxo cube in a food processor.
Cut the beef into strips about 4cm thick. Pack the meat into a smallish bowl, so that it fits tightly
Add the vinegar mixture. Leave for one hour.

Meanwhile, mix the coriander and pepper together in another bowl.

In a third bowl, mix the salt, sugar and bicarbonate of soda together.

Remove the meat from the marinade, but reserve the marinade for later use.

Add the beef to the bowl of spices, mixing it around until evenly coated. Save any spices that don't stick.

Bury the spiced beef in the salt and the sugar mixture and leave it for a maximum of 6 hours.

Remove the beef from the brine and dip it back into the reserved vinegar marinade for another 15 minutes.

Remove the beef from the marinade and using the vinegar, wash all the salt off (don't skip this bit or the biltong will be unbearably salty).

Squeeze the beef to remove as much liquid as possible. Roll in the spices once more (grind extra if necessary). The meat is now ready for hanging.

Cut lengths of string, and tie them tightly around one end of each beef strip. Tie the string to the top of your hanging contraption and make sure that they hang freely without touching anything on the sides or bottom.

[mitchamus]

large Paper clips work pretty good instead of string....

[ksidener]

Thanks Jolly John and Mitchamus,

Recipe looks great! The paper clips idea is pretty cool too!

Much appreciated!

Kelly

[Zulululu]

I tend to keep it simple,I cut the meat about 10 mm thick, place the meat in a shallow container, sprinkle some brown grape vinegar (5%) over the meat until it is wet then rub the salt +- 1.5 to 2% into the meat.Fine white pepper and cracked black pepper and some cracked corriander which I toast lightly in a pan, massage into the meat then hang.Remember to cut the meat with the grain you slice across the grain when you eat it.

[SumpRat]

Hello, its the Rat again.

I have just made some biltong, actually it is still in the dehumidifier as I type.
I used the Chilli and Garlic seasoning/cure from sausagemaking.org. I am sure I used enough cure and followed the instructions properly but the biltong (I had a test taste) has no real chilli or garlic flavour.

Any comments?
Thanks.

SumpRat

[crustyo44]

Hi SumpRat,
I have made biltong for many years now, the best way is to try out every recipe and stick with the one that suits you.
Smoked biltong is my favourite as well as many of my South African friends.
I use Crown National Safari biltong seasoning with my addition of lots of garlic powder, more white pepper and a fair amount of chilli powder.
Drying is done in my smoker as I have a small exhaustfan in the smoke stack.
It all takes about 3 days to dry to my liking, I smoke the biltong a bit every day for 3 days.
Hope this helps, it's all trial and error.
Regards,
Jan.

[SteveW]

crusty044's hit the nail on the head. Try out different recipes until you get one you're happy with, there's loads of variations out there. I've tried several, some being quite complicated and long winded. I now stick to a very simple one but it gives me the best end product for my own tastes. I use either flank or topside, cut with the grain into thick strips, I prefer thicker strips as I like mine still softish in the middle. I then cover the strips in fine sea salt, can't give you a weight as I go by eye, but a fair covering. Then into the fridge for 3 hours. Out of the fridge and rinse down with cider vinegar, dry on a tea towel and it gets a coating of freshly ground fine black pepper and ground coriander. Some people will tell you it HAS to be coarsely ground, but I prefer fine as the coating tends to stay on better. It then goes into the biltong box (mine's homemade from an old packing case) for anywhere from 4 -6 days. I generally can't help myself and start munching on the odd bit that's dry enough by day 3. I have to make 4 or 5kg at a time or I end up with nothing left after day 5

[SumpRat]

Interesting comments, thank you folks.

I cut mine fairly thin, like thick UK style chips (Fries (US)) and then put them in the dehumidifier. They are done in about 5 hours

I now have three 150gm vacuum packs in the fridge. Each pack also has an oxygen absorber in it to preserve them longer (like hell it will )

A good supplier for absorbers is here http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product3_10704_10551_21003_-1__195877 They are the Mormons AKA Church of the Latter Day Saints. £7.45 for 100 posted. By far the cheapest I have seen.

SumpRat

[SteveW]

If it's cut thin and dried quickly in a de-hydrator then you've made biltong flavoured jerky.

[SumpRat]

If it's cut thin and dried quickly in a de-hydrator then you've made biltong flavoured jerky.

Yeah that'll be the stuff

[crustyo44]

I don't see any mention of Cure #1 used in making biltong. All commercial cures has it mentioned on the ingredient list.
Here in Brisbane, due to the heat and high humidity, I think it is mandatory for a long and happy life.
Maybe Phil could could give us some advise as to the neccesity of using it.
Regards,
Jan.

[wheels]

Sorry, Biltong is not one of my areas. My only experience of it is reading Wilbur Smith's novels!

Phil

[SteveW]

I've also had concerns in the past when it comes to biltong. I have tried making it with cure#1 and while it was still a nice product it didn't have the deep beefy flavour that I've come to expect from biltong. I'm guessing that the salt content and rapid moisture loss are providing a safe environment for the meat. I use a 60W light bulb in my box to provide a thermal updraft and I would say the temperature in the box is about 25C, can't comment on the humidity. I've not had any problems with mold or any off smells/flavours so I'm assuming it's a safe process.

[BriCan]

Hello, its the Rat again.

I have just made some biltong, actually it is still in the dehumidifier as I type.
I used the Chilli and Garlic seasoning/cure from sausagemaking.org. I am sure I used enough cure and followed the instructions properly but the biltong (I had a test taste) has no real chilli or garlic flavour.

Any comments?

how much dose it call for --- I could given a couple of days check my recipes if you like?