Cold Smoked Biltong (Jerky) Jerky (Perfected!)

SmokinAussie · 10-25-2011, 05:40 AM

G'Day Bruces!

Some of you will remember I've made a few attempts at Jerky, with some success and a failure or two. Since I last posted Jerky, I've made several smaller batches. Now I've got the technique right and I think I can start giving some away for taste testing etc.

Making this Jerky is different from the way it is commonly done in the US. This is really "biltong" which is more common in South Africa and Australia, where the meat is dried as whole slices over a greater time rather than drying slivers of ground and spiced meat in a dehydrator....

I think this process is better. Hope you like it too..

I started by getting the spices, salts and sugar ready...

And here is the whole topside I had for the job...

First I removed the more fatty muscle that wraps around almost the entire topside. (this went on the Weber that night as a fantastic medium rare bef roast.. almost like a flank!)

And that left me with the main muscle... about 12 pounds

This was sliced into large strips.

Ready for dusting in the Jerky cure..

All coated and then into the fridge covered for 4 days!

4 Days Later, here they are.

The steaks were rinsed well in a mix of 1 Gallon of water and 1 Quart Malt vinegar

In a small aluminium basket, I put 1 small lit chunk of lump and added a block of pure compressed oak sawdust. This came from a factory that cuts French oak down to make flooring. He sells this stuff on eBay! The smell is awesome, the smoke is blue, and it burns long and cool!

Note the temp.. well under 100F... all night!

Next morning, I had ash...

and I had some WONDERFUL smelling cold smoked jerky, still moist, for the next part of the process.

Then the jerky was hung in my Redneck Jerky drying cabinet with a decent fan to blow the moisture out of it for the next few days.

Day 2...

Day 3

Day 4... Done:

Nice and glossy!

Here's the best part... the slice. Note the colour and the transluscent texture... that's what I'm looking for

And the flavour??? Really good. Nice amount of smoke. The fact is that biltong is not generally cold smoked, so this is an addition to the process which I think has really worked well here.

The smaller pieces were a little salty, but really not overly salty... that just makes you drink more beer!. Also, nice and chewy, but not hard.

Really, the best result so far!

Thanks for looking.

Cheers!

Bill

DaveMW · 10-25-2011, 06:26 AM

VERY NICE! I too am a fan of jerky that has not been ground up and pushed through a jerky gun. I slice it thin, marinade and then use a dehrydrator but I gotta tell you this jerky you made looks primo! Nicely done Bill.

bignburlyman · 10-25-2011, 06:54 AM

That looks great, and nice info. I have read about biltong but have not tried to make it. My attempts at jerky are still a work in progress. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

southernstyle · 10-25-2011, 06:56 AM

the process is very interesting. what kinda humidity did you have the days you were hanging them. dont really know if it would make a differance, but i think i would like to try this. i live in south florida so we have high humidity "80%" or higher most of the time so 4 days might not work for me, but i love the process

SmokinAussie · 10-25-2011, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southernstyle

the process is very interesting. what kinda humidity did you have the days you were hanging them. dont really know if it would make a differance, but i think i would like to try this. i live in south florida so we have high humidity "80%" or higher most of the time so 4 days might not work for me, but i love the process

The fan definately makes a difference and speeds up the process. Florida is a lot more humid than Melbourne, but I learnt this process througha businss in Brisbane (about the same humidity as Florida) that does it this way... they use real Big Arse fans and it dries in 96 hours.

You should give this a try!

Cheers!

Bill

Garyclaw · 10-25-2011, 07:27 AM

Nice job Bill!

Phubar · 10-25-2011, 07:37 AM

I love me some biltong!
Nice snack!

deguerre · 10-25-2011, 07:39 AM

That doesn't look like wood. Who are and what did you do with Bill?!?

AWESOME post!

SmokinAussie · 10-25-2011, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deguerre

That doesn't look like wood. Who are and what did you do with Bill?!?

AWESOME post!

A velociraptor ate him

No, but seriously... that fossil I sent you was my first attempt. Are your cats still batting that around the living room???

deguerre · 10-25-2011, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SmokinAussie

A velociraptor ate him

No, but seriously... that fossil I sent you was my first attempt. Are your cats still batting that around the living room???

I sent it to The Museum of Natural History as an artifact.

bluetang · 10-25-2011, 08:17 AM

Nice results there, Bill! Gonna try it here with an impromptu biltong box myself. Love the addition of smoke too. BTW, did you also use the pink stuff?

Al Czervik · 10-25-2011, 08:21 AM

Great looking jerky Bill, and thanks for sharing the whole process. I'd love to give it a try.

SmokinAussie · 10-25-2011, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluetang

Nice results there, Bill! Gonna try it here with an impromptu biltong box myself. Love the addition of smoke too. BTW, did you also use the pink stuff?

Yesssiree... Cure #2 fer farkin Air Dried Meats!

Cheers!

Bill

Johnny_Crunch · 10-25-2011, 08:54 AM

Looks great. The good jerky shops here sell a nice thick product like that as well.

ezoliver · 10-25-2011, 09:04 AM

Oh my gosh that looks good! I am a jerky fan and am going to get the stuff to try this!

10-25-2011, 05:40 AM	#1
SmokinAussie somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 10-19-09 Location: Gold Coast, Queensland! (Finally Escaped Melbourne) Name/Nickname : Bill	Cold Smoked Biltong (Jerky) Jerky (Perfected!) G'Day Bruces! Some of you will remember I've made a few attempts at Jerky, with some success and a failure or two. Since I last posted Jerky, I've made several smaller batches. Now I've got the technique right and I think I can start giving some away for taste testing etc. Making this Jerky is different from the way it is commonly done in the US. This is really "biltong" which is more common in South Africa and Australia, where the meat is dried as whole slices over a greater time rather than drying slivers of ground and spiced meat in a dehydrator.... I think this process is better. Hope you like it too.. I started by getting the spices, salts and sugar ready... And here is the whole topside I had for the job... First I removed the more fatty muscle that wraps around almost the entire topside. (this went on the Weber that night as a fantastic medium rare bef roast.. almost like a flank!) And that left me with the main muscle... about 12 pounds This was sliced into large strips. Ready for dusting in the Jerky cure.. All coated and then into the fridge covered for 4 days! 4 Days Later, here they are. The steaks were rinsed well in a mix of 1 Gallon of water and 1 Quart Malt vinegar In a small aluminium basket, I put 1 small lit chunk of lump and added a block of pure compressed oak sawdust. This came from a factory that cuts French oak down to make flooring. He sells this stuff on eBay! The smell is awesome, the smoke is blue, and it burns long and cool! Note the temp.. well under 100F... all night! Next morning, I had ash... and I had some WONDERFUL smelling cold smoked jerky, still moist, for the next part of the process. Then the jerky was hung in my Redneck Jerky drying cabinet with a decent fan to blow the moisture out of it for the next few days. Day 2... Day 3 Day 4... Done: Nice and glossy! Here's the best part... the slice. Note the colour and the transluscent texture... that's what I'm looking for And the flavour??? Really good. Nice amount of smoke. The fact is that biltong is not generally cold smoked, so this is an addition to the process which I think has really worked well here. The smaller pieces were a little salty, but really not overly salty... that just makes you drink more beer!. Also, nice and chewy, but not hard. Really, the best result so far! Thanks for looking. Cheers! Bill __________________ A butterflies wings. About to bring down everything...
	1 members found this post helpful.

10-25-2011, 06:54 AM	#3
bignburlyman is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 09-10-03 Location: Great Bend, Kansas	That looks great, and nice info. I have read about biltong but have not tried to make it. My attempts at jerky are still a work in progress. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. __________________ David MCBJ & CTC #5112 Traeger Texas 075 Blackstone Tailgater Family: Where Life Begins, and Love Never Ends.

10-25-2011, 06:56 AM	#4
southernstyle is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 08-26-11 Location: okeechobee, fl.	the process is very interesting. what kinda humidity did you have the days you were hanging them. dont really know if it would make a differance, but i think i would like to try this. i live in south florida so we have high humidity "80%" or higher most of the time so 4 days might not work for me, but i love the process __________________ roger. Sponsored by oakridge bbq. stumps baby with digi q 2. doublebarrel 250 gallon offset

10-25-2011, 07:27 AM	#6
Garyclaw Babbling Farker Join Date: 08-05-09 Location: NE OH-IO	Nice job Bill! __________________ Gary ____________________________________ Big BarBChef built in to the Outdoor Kitchen, 2 Weber kettles, 1 UDS, Little Chief Electric, 2 Propane Fish Cookers/Turkey Fryers, a swinging grate over my [COLOR=red]Fire pit,[/COLOR][COLOR=black] Big Pig Cooker, SJS, Big Easy Oil Less. Blackstone Pizza Oven[/COLOR] "Nice talkin' to ya" :yo:

10-25-2011, 07:37 AM	#7
Phubar somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 04-24-09 Location: Utrecht,TheNetherPharkinglands	I love me some biltong! Nice snack! __________________ -TG -WGA (3) -UDS (S,M,L) All fueled by [COLOR=lime]Ecobrasa[/COLOR] Coco Briquettes [URL="http://lowlandsmokers.blogspot.com/2011/06/lowland-smokers-workshop-hei-en-boeicop.html"]Lowland Smokers[/URL] Dutch BBQ Champion 2011 - 2012 [URL="http://lowlandsmokers.blogspot.com/2011/06/lowland-smokers-workshop-hei-en-boeicop.html"]Lowland Smokers[/URL] Dutch BBQ Champion 2013 Low 'n Slow WGA Ambassador

10-25-2011, 06:26 AM	#2
DaveMW is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 07-31-10 Location: Livngston, Montana	VERY NICE! I too am a fan of jerky that has not been ground up and pushed through a jerky gun. I slice it thin, marinade and then use a dehrydrator but I gotta tell you this jerky you made looks primo! Nicely done Bill. __________________ [FONT=Century Gothic]Weber Kettle 22.5" Restored "J" - Black[/FONT] [FONT=Century Gothic]Weber Kettle 22.5" "AT" - Black[/FONT] Weber Kettle 18.5" "DR" - Black Weber Jumbo Joe "AH" - Black [FONT=Century Gothic]Weber Smoky Joe "F"- Black[/FONT] [FONT=Century Gothic]Weber Genesis - Black[/FONT] [FONT=Century Gothic]Weber Go-Anywhere - Black[/FONT] [FONT=Century Gothic]UDS - which surprisingly is not black[/FONT] [FONT=Century Gothic]Great Outdoors Smoky Mountain Smoker[/FONT]

10-25-2011, 07:39 AM	#8
deguerre somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 07-15-09 Location: Memphis, TN...Formerly of Decatur, AL	That doesn't look like wood. Who are and what did you do with Bill?!? AWESOME post! __________________ Guerry [FONT=Book Antiqua]Pit Beeatch for Team Munchkin[/FONT] [FONT=Book Antiqua][B]Avatar by Northwest BBQ [/B][/FONT]"...In nature, there are predators. I believe the common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility and murder..." Werner Herzog

10-25-2011, 08:17 AM	#11
bluetang somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 08-06-10 Location: Stuart, Fl Name/Nickname : Mike	Nice results there, Bill! Gonna try it here with an impromptu biltong box myself. Love the addition of smoke too. BTW, did you also use the pink stuff? __________________ Homey, the Homegrown frier, 22" WSM, 18.5" Elderly(but not retired) WSM,Homegrown Electric, Weber gasserrrr,Weber Performer, Gravity feed smoker, Blackstone, Indisputably Fastest [COLOR=purple]Purple[/COLOR] Thermapen, SAI Satay Grill Avatar by landarc, thanky!

10-25-2011, 08:21 AM	#12
Al Czervik somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 05-17-11 Location: 17h 45m 40.036 and -29° 00` 28.17 Name/Nickname : Scott/Mongo	Great looking jerky Bill, and thanks for sharing the whole process. I'd love to give it a try. __________________ Primo Oval XL, Weber Performer, Weber Genesis Gaser, ThermoWorks Smoke X4 w/ Billows, Gandalf Grey Thermapen ONE, Limited Edition Neutrino Fast Blue Thermapen Classic, Little Buddy ThermoPop *Zero Club Member* *qualifying in the 2011 Special Summer of Spam TD with the Coveted Double Ought...* (\__/) (='.'=) Avatar by Chalupa (")_(")

10-25-2011, 08:54 AM	#14
Johnny_Crunch Babbling Farker Join Date: 04-03-10 Location: Cypress TX	Looks great. The good jerky shops here sell a nice thick product like that as well. __________________ J Crunch

10-25-2011, 09:04 AM	#15
ezoliver Got Wood. Join Date: 08-22-11 Location: Parker, CO	Oh my gosh that looks good! I am a jerky fan and am going to get the stuff to try this! __________________ Eric O. Blog - [URL="http://smokeontherockies.com/"]Smoke On The Rockies[/URL] Owner - [URL="http://coloradobbqsupply.com/"]Colorado BBQ Supply[/URL]

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
• Biltong // Thick Beef Jerky Pt 1	Phrasty	Q-talk	9	02-01-2012 07:10 PM
Cold smoked Jerky & Trout	Phrasty	Q-talk	8	12-23-2010 02:47 AM
Smoked jerky	wannchef	Q-talk	8	07-29-2010 05:00 PM
Smoked Jerky Help.	DavidEHickey	Q-talk	1	08-19-2008 04:43 PM
Smoked jerky disaster...	Stucue74	Q-talk	24	02-11-2004 01:42 PM