Thread: Biltong Setup

Hi guys. Just wanting to know what your setup is (build) and a good recipe. I've got a variety of meat to try out from venison to chammy so am looking at giving it a go. In Switzerland and Italy, they dry age meat a lot (bündner flesh) etc but I thought biltong might be worth a go. Cheers

My SA workmate has one.
Plywood box, about 600x400x600h.
Has a light bulb with drip cover over it on base.
Computer fan in one side at bottom.
Some fine mesh air outlets on each side at top.

Last lot I made I did a wet marinade but he said he normally does a dry rub from SA shop. I'll try and find a photo.

Make sure it's fly proof.

Originally Posted by Kiwihunter

Hi guys. Just wanting to know what your setup is (build) and a good recipe. I've got a variety of meat to try out from venison to chammy so am looking at giving it a go. In Switzerland and Italy, they dry age meat a lot (bündner flesh) etc but I thought biltong might be worth a go. Cheers

hey mate

You need airflow, and a little bit of warmth.

Easiest way to achieve this is a fan of sort and a lightbulb. and any crate/box you have that's suitable size maybe 800x400x400 or so. if you have a google Biltong Box or Biltong Boks or Biltong Kas you should see plenty of options. in South Africa for the most part we dont use them really, just hang the meat in the garage and put a fan on it as SA is warm/dry enough

Mine is similar to this, i just used the wooden shipping crate form a small massport log splitter from memory https://www.instructables.com/Wooden-Biltong-Box/
In NZ you can just go round the local industrial area, or even Stihl/Massport shops and there are likely to be some suitable crates being left on the sidewalk for waste

This one is more basic, i have never used it but know a few that do here in NZ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlh7...nnel=Xman%26Co

as for spices, as long as you use vinegar (preferably apple) and salt with the water (I prefer W Sauce) to mix the spices in (vinegar helps keep mold off) you can use whatever you want, me grandad just used salt and pepper with vinegar. im lazy so i just buy the pre blended spices form South African Shop, google for brands such as Freddy Hirsch, Crown National, Safari,

But here is a basic recipe too from google that looks like its about right proportions

MAKING 1KG BILTONG

18 g salt
2 g black pepper
1 g brown sugar
4 g coriander
50/50 – vinegar and Worcestershire sauce mixture – enough to just wet and marinade the meat.
https://www.boerandbutcher.co.za/the...iltong-recipe/

Otherwise, just google for South African Shops, there are plenty in Europe that i think should sell the spices, some of them even will sell small countertop biltong boxes. not sure about Germany but i know there are quite a few SA shops in Nederland and Switzerland

My wife has been making it with our fan oven on very low heat. Not sure if it qualifies as the real deal, but seems to work.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app
This thread has some good info, I use his recipe with a few tweaks to it.
Their are a few threads on here with some good recipes and info.

We have a computer fan in the top of our box, a shielded lightbulb in the bottom and air vents.
Works for us.

Sent from my SM-G990E using Tapatalk

- You only need the lightbulb in cool or wet weather. A little computer fan is enough in warm dry weather.
- Put mesh or mozzie or something over the air inlet and outlets to keep bugs out. Staple gun and some glue around the edges works great.
- The grain of the meat is important: A lot of people cock it up by doing steak cuts, when you actually want the grain running with the piece, you cut perpendicular to that once it's dry/done, making little mini steaks. Google the primals you want to source it from, long is good. Lean to not very fatty meat works best. Lamb isn't the go, but goat probably would be (yet to try that actually. Beef and venison is ideal
- Any enclosure works, but having a window helps keep an eye on it without having to touch it.
- Hang the meat on sterile hooks, I use stainless welding wire provided by @Gibo, but anything you can clean in boiling water works.
- You want the meat hanging free, not touching other bits or the wall of the drying enclosure.
- Marinate it in the vinegar/worcestershire/etc mix, then roll in dry chilli flavour once it's been patted dry.
- It doesn't drip as much as you might think, so long as you have the excess patted off adequately. A sheet of wax paper/baking paper is enough. A sheet of handitowel on top of that if you're not convinced.
- A bought one works fine https://www.somethingfromhome.co.nz/...e-biltong-king , but a made one is satisfying too.
- You end up with 30-50% of the wet weight depending on how dry you like it. I trim the majority of the excess fat off, it dries more evenly. Some people like it however.
- The first batch won't last the day, but for subsequent batches, you can store it in a brown paper bag in a ziplock in the freezer more or less indefinitely.
- It makes a surprisingly well received gift. Make fucken heaps once you've got the hang of it.
- It eats chilli, so if you like it hot, go nuts, it's very hard to overdo.
- Find a plane blade or similar to make your cutter, a single bevelled edge works best.

Don't do pork.
An incandescent light bulb (not energy saving or LED) at the bottom creates warm air that rises, giving the airflow you need without a fan. Just be sure to protect the bulb from drips of curing mix.
Traditionally it was just hung to dry in a shed or somewhere out of direct sun during the cool, dry winters in South Africa when there are very few flies about.

Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

Don't do pork.

I had various dried pork products in Thailand and Laos, it was bloody delicious, but unwise in hindsight. Some variations dry it to make it keep, and it's cooked before eating, very very tasty

An incandescent light bulb (not energy saving or LED) at the bottom creates warm air that rises, giving the airflow you need without a fan. Just be sure to protect the bulb from drips of curing mix.

Actually yes that's a good method, 40W takes a bit more energy than a fan though. I'll give it a go (fan off, bulb on)

Traditionally it was just hung to dry in a shed or somewhere out of direct sun during the cool, dry winters in South Africa when there are very few flies about.

Hung from a saddle during the trek even. Saffa winters are the thing I miss most

Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

Don't do pork.
An incandescent light bulb (not energy saving or LED) at the bottom creates warm air that rises, giving the airflow you need without a fan. Just be sure to protect the bulb from drips of curing mix.
Traditionally it was just hung to dry in a shed or somewhere out of direct sun during the cool, dry winters in South Africa when there are very few flies about.

Due to trichinella in pork I assume?

Cheers guys I'll give it a go. I have quite a few computer fans lying about from previous builds (I wonder if an old computer case would do it lol) I might try some chammy and venison and see how it turns out.

Originally Posted by Ned

Due to trichinella in pork I assume?

Not specifically, but pork goes off - something to do with the fat going rancid. It may be possible, but chicken / pork aren't traditional biltong raw material for a reason. Ostritch is though.

Youse all over engineering it
Just brine it hang it ,eat it
Reckon the old blokes cared , the old blokes won wars on this
I'll chuck up recipe that came from the old coders, original recipe cut to 2cm x whatever , lay in 20g salt/kg meat
Now if u want add Chilli, coriander seeds etc
Fk they didn't live in today's Woke society. Also used to hang in full sun for 2 days , then moved inside the wagon till needed

It was a survival / away from main camp food, won them a war 3000 vs 300000 , ghe original ration pack

Originally Posted by NewbieZAR

hey mate

You need airflow, and a little bit of warmth.

Easiest way to achieve this is a fan of sort and a lightbulb. and any crate/box you have that's suitable size maybe 800x400x400 or so. if you have a google Biltong Box or Biltong Boks or Biltong Kas you should see plenty of options. in South Africa for the most part we dont use them really, just hang the meat in the garage and put a fan on it as SA is warm/dry enough

Mine is similar to this, i just used the wooden shipping crate form a small massport log splitter from memory https://www.instructables.com/Wooden-Biltong-Box/
In NZ you can just go round the local industrial area, or even Stihl/Massport shops and there are likely to be some suitable crates being left on the sidewalk for waste

This one is more basic, i have never used it but know a few that do here in NZ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlh7...nnel=Xman%26Co

as for spices, as long as you use vinegar (preferably apple) and salt with the water (I prefer W Sauce) to mix the spices in (vinegar helps keep mold off) you can use whatever you want, me grandad just used salt and pepper with vinegar. im lazy so i just buy the pre blended spices form South African Shop, google for brands such as Freddy Hirsch, Crown National, Safari,

But here is a basic recipe too from google that looks like its about right proportions

MAKING 1KG BILTONG

18 g salt
2 g black pepper
1 g brown sugar
4 g coriander
50/50 – vinegar and Worcestershire sauce mixture – enough to just wet and marinade the meat.
https://www.boerandbutcher.co.za/the...iltong-recipe/

Otherwise, just google for South African Shops, there are plenty in Europe that i think should sell the spices, some of them even will sell small countertop biltong boxes. not sure about Germany but i know there are quite a few SA shops in Nederland and Switzerland

I haven't tried it for a few years now but i couldn't get it right. I just found it so bland - the seasoning seemed to mostly fall off and the inner meat was just a plain meat flavour. Do you soak your biltong in the wet mixture or just dab it on? I feel like I need something to penetrate into the meat for a bit of zing.

We used to soak it for a day or 2 (in the fridge) and it held good flavour - not sure how the safas do it thought