Thread: Biltong. Preserving Meat Without Refrigeration.

@Bol Tackshin It wouldn't be the rancidity of pork that would worry me as much as the possibility of trichinosis.... although I'd imagine the parasites would have a hard job surviving all that salt and dehydration. I would be nervous about eating traditional cured raw ham for that reason, but I suppose if it was a real problem people wouldn't do it as they have done for decades. I'm probably over-cautious about such things. I tried making Droë Wors maybe fifteen years ago, but it did not impress me. I can't recall what meat I used now, but I was getting a lot of goats around that time. Venison and beef seem like the best choices to me.
@Bill999 Mincing certainly helps to make tough meat more useful, although I would personally be cautious about doing it to make a tramping snack. Mincing increases the surface area of the meat on which bacteria can sit and breed which might be hard to manage in a home-drying situation unless the meat was cooked. Then again, it should dry quickly and I'm just spouting my cautious opinion. I have a hand-powered mincer, but I have been considering getting something with a motor.

I got a big wild sow recently. It looked like it was fairly old. However it was the fattest wild pig I have ever seen or heard of. So I had to keep the meat. We've made two meals from it so far. The first was a stir-fry using a thinly sliced undercut steak. It was delicious, but chewy. So then I slow-cooked a casserole. That tasted wonderful too, but it still required a decent bite to get through the meat. So mincing to make things like patties and meat-loaf may be the answer.

Here is the pig. I shot it with my .223. I could not lift it off the ground. I was thinking about dragging the carcass maybe half a kilometre back to my wagon, but it was too big... so I had to cut it up. It was covered with dirt so I had a big clean up and trim job when I got home. I let the meat hang in the garage overnight before processing it. I would have liked to have hung it longer, but it was dirty and I took comfort from the thought of all the pigs I've processed and frozen straight away that were still tender enough.



Here are the backsteaks in a bowl:



I rendered the trimmings to collect the lard:



I boiled some of the bones and scraps to make stock. I froze this in stainless cups and later transferred the stock to a heavy plastic bag. I've come to believe that stock can help to make some very good casseroles and soups:



And I am curing some to create bacon. It is nearly ready. I probably won't smoke this, but I may rig something up with my barbeque to do the job. I believe that if I dried these slabs, they would keep without being refrigerated. I don't know whether or not the fat would go rancid, and I doubt whether it would remain uneaten long enough to find out.

yeah I had a wild sow that was like that, mine had likely had piglets not long ago

dogs didnt mind chewing haha

as for dried mince used and stored at room temp id totally agree that you would be heading for a problem, my jerkey no matter how much I make Is gone in under 3 days so I havent had the chance to test how long it lasts

I reckon my sow had raised piglets not that long ago too. She looked 'well used'. And just before I shot, another hog (presumably a boar to my unwoke way of thinking) was trying to mount her.

I haven't yet figured out why some pigs carry a fair bit of fat while most wild pigs I deal with are quite lean. My current thinking is that if they are living a relatively quiet life and can feed on pasture, they may be more likely to have some fat.

Some dogs don't eat raw pork, but others aren't so fussy. Nowadays, if I have pork that is going to be be pet food, I cut it into pieces and boil it.

Yeah... any dog I've known has never expressed disgust or disappointment when handed tough meat that I might find inedible.

Originally Posted by Coote

I reckon my sow had raised piglets not that long ago too. She looked 'well used'. And just before I shot, another hog (presumably a boar to my unwoke way of thinking) was trying to mount her.

I haven't yet figured out why some pigs carry a fair bit of fat while most wild pigs I deal with are quite lean. My current thinking is that if they are living a relatively quiet life and can feed on pasture, they may be more likely to have some fat.

Some dogs don't eat raw pork, but others aren't so fussy. Nowadays, if I have pork that is going to be be pet food, I cut it into pieces and boil it.

Yeah... any dog I've known has never expressed disgust or disappointment when handed tough meat that I might find inedible.

mince it bro it will come out fine as long as its not strong tasting
pork mince goes well in patties ect for burgers

its odd how some pigs are just tough as rubber and then when i touch my big fat steers it feels like a marshmallow

Yep, next lot of that pork is likely to go through the mincer. It is not strong tasting at all... it is kinda neutral and if I didn't know it was wild pork I'd have trouble identifying it. Like some possums I've eaten.... a pleasing meal but hard to identify.

Originally Posted by Coote

Yep, next lot of that pork is likely to go through the mincer. It is not strong tasting at all... it is kinda neutral and if I didn't know it was wild pork I'd have trouble identifying it. Like some possums I've eaten.... a pleasing meal but hard to identify.

Iv had possom a few times and you must be(or have) a half decent cook
even in a pie with a truckload of watties I can still very clearly identify the possom

never cooked it myself but Im sure with a little bit of care and selection of a non stinky one like choosing an eating goat it would come out fine

Originally Posted by Bill999

Iv had possom a few times and you must be(or have) a half decent cook
even in a pie with a truckload of watties I can still very clearly identify the possom

never cooked it myself but Im sure with a little bit of care and selection of a non stinky one like choosing an eating goat it would come out fine

soak it in a mix of 95% water 5% vinegar for a night, switch to water/ sodium bicarb the next day then cook it.
also tarragon is your friend for oily/smelly meats like older horse meat

Nice write up, and lots of other great info in the rest of the thread. i really want to try making biltong or other types of jerky but havent decided how to hang the meat. I was thinking on my indoor clothes line with the dehumidifier on (which is on almost every day in winter anyway).

dehydrator................briscoes have a sale on

seriously, i bought one there about a year back, makes great biltong

Originally Posted by JessicaChen

Nice write up, and lots of other great info in the rest of the thread. i really want to try making biltong or other types of jerky but havent decided how to hang the meat. I was thinking on my indoor clothes line with the dehumidifier on (which is on almost every day in winter anyway).

Careful... It's quite addictive when done right!

Put a few newspapers on the floor underneath the wet biltong because it does drip quite a bit initially.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

dehydrator................briscoes have a sale on

seriously, i bought one there about a year back, makes great biltong

Yeah was thinking about it but tightening the belt at the moment.

If you eat enough biltong, the belt seems to tighten itself!

Originally Posted by gonetropo

soak it in a mix of 95% water 5% vinegar for a night, switch to water/ sodium bicarb the next day then cook it.
also tarragon is your friend for oily/smelly meats like older horse meat

have you tried horse(chevaline) as biltong? or any kind of jerky for that matter?

Originally Posted by JessicaChen

Nice write up, and lots of other great info in the rest of the thread. i really want to try making biltong or other types of jerky but havent decided how to hang the meat. I was thinking on my indoor clothes line with the dehumidifier on (which is on almost every day in winter anyway).

Folks have cured and preserved meat for hundreds of years without dehydrators. While a dehydrator is quick and convenient, meat can be hung inside or outside. I've hung stuff above my wood stove to dry. But any dry location should be fine where pets cant grab it. If not using a quick method like an electric dehydrator, I'd be inclined to use plenty of salt and vinegar... but that is just me being cautious.

I was reading an article on the net recently by Hank Shaw who refers to himself as hunter-angler-gardener-cook. He has written a book and he has posted some interesting recipes. He indicated that white mould on curing meat is fine, green mould is, err, not too much of a problem... but black mould is bad. (And I guess red mould is bad too).

So I reckon go for it even without using a dehydrator or oven. Maybe start with thinner slabs of meat that will take less time to dry. I will be interested to learn what you think of your results.