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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking.


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Old 02-21-2022, 04:11 AM   #1
SmokinAussie
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Default Tutorial: Biltong For LYU370 Andy

G'Day Bruces

On the back of the "Cured" throwdown, Andy asked in the thread more or less "how do you do it and what's involved".

So, it's been a while since I posted a thread on this. Guy's we don't post every single cook we do after a while. I've done tons of briskets and Pulled pork and burnt a lot of Chicken, but what I do all the time is Biltong.

I've gotten rather good at it, but having done my own mixes a lot it's better to enhance a commercial mix and set that in stone. When we make sausages it's pretty much the same thing. Don't waste 50 pounds of meat on a home made mix and find it's not very good.

Anyway, I think I'm the only bloke here doing this consistently, so here we go.....

First things first. This is the mix I buy:


It's dirt cheap because the SA Rand is worth nothing. I get it in the 1 kg bags and buy 2 at a time.

Please search your local South African Supplier. A quick search last week I found everything available.

Cut your meat:


I use a cut called Silverside in Commonwealth Countries... linkies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverside_(beef)

https://www.simplybeefandlamb.co.uk/...lverside-beef/

It is commonly corned / pickled as it's very tough meat but it's certainly also good for dry curing for biltong. Same reason... it's got poor flavor as a cut of meat. You have to do something with it. We do. It's just a matter of what.

Measure out your mix:


Go metric fellas. (It's long overdue).

Here's the recipe:

65 grams per kilo of trimmed and sliced Silverside. Average sliced cut would be 1/2 to 3/4 inch along the grain... damn. Went back to Imperial.

What additional you see in the bowl is my enhancements and you'll have to work that out yourselves. For me, this combo has never been beat, through trial and error. A Hint... all of the ingredients add heat and additional flavor.

Then add 50:50 Worcestershire Sauce and Malt Vinegar at 50ml/kilo:


Depending on how much extra spicing you add to the mix you might need to add more fluid. Just up the 50:50 mix. You will get the hang of it.

Directly after mixing with the meat:


I did add about another 30 mL of the 50:50 mix.

I marinade mine in the fridge for a full 24 hours. After hanging it, I get this in the pan. This is what you are looking for:


It means you've had enough fluid come out of the meat.

It get's hung in the Biltong box.


Again, you can find these anywhere if you know what you are looking for and even make one yourself. They are cheap... so I'm not fabricating one. I've had this one for 5 years.

Pretty yucky in the box, but I've never seen a clean one:


After a day (as it's summer here) I take one out and check moisture by feel on a bigger piece.


You can dry these out too fast in the box because of the fan and the incandescent light bulb, so once the crust is formed I transfer it to the rafters of the shed.


I have an oscillating fan very gently blowing over these. It's a slower process but it wont take you by surprise and dry out too much.

2 days Later we are done:


Ready by feel and weighing it up I started with 2 kilos wet weight and ended up with just under 1300grams dry weight for bang on 35% moisture loss. Some cuts are large and some smaller, so that kind of caters for those who like dry and those who like a little wetter.

Yum:


Always take a small cut and slice it up for QC!


This little piece looks nice. THIS is what you are looking for.


Another nice shot:


Then it's time for a bag and tag with my Chamber sealer.




Now it does not really need vac sealing but I like to give it as gifts to people and it stops it drying out further. If you vac seal it (that is if it makes it to the sealer in the first place) then when unsealing it, the surface will have lost it's crust. Unseal it in the morning and let it dry out through the day till the guests arrive, then slice and serve.

You blokes are well placed to have a crack at this. It's cheap, easy and the results are amazing.

I challenge anyone to try this and tell me you like your jerky more. It's a different thing and well worth the effort.

Thanks for looking.

Please try this.

Cheers!

Bill
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Old 02-21-2022, 08:36 AM   #2
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Man that sounds good! I have never tried biltong but I want to try making it after seeing this. Thanks for sharing your tutorial.
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Old 02-21-2022, 09:01 AM   #3
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Jerky fight, jerky fight!!!!!
I thought the title of the thread was "it's a bit long."
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Old 02-21-2022, 09:20 AM   #4
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That biltong looks amazing. I have to admit it was an acquired taste for me to go from US style beef jerky to biltong, but once I got used to it, it was so much better. Especially love mine a little bit wetter. Might have to look into buying one of those machines.
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Old 02-21-2022, 10:41 AM   #5
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Very Nice Bill Thanks May have to give that a shot
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Old 02-21-2022, 11:25 AM   #6
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Looks fantastic, Bill!!
Thanks for taking the time to post your process. I bet the flavor is outstanding!
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Old 02-21-2022, 02:03 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big George's BBQ View Post
Very Nice Bill Thanks May have to give that a shot
George if I may be so bold, Biltong is an excellent way to prevent weight gain during smoking cessation. It has no sugar content. Just protein and fat. You can snack away on little slices of that all day and not get the munchies.

It was a great assistant for me a few years ago when I lost nearly 50 kilos. I wasn't smoking back then but it sure helped me get through the day without caving in to something sweet or loaded with carbs several times a day.
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Old 02-21-2022, 04:20 PM   #8
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Thanks for this post. I first heard of Biltong from a South African gentleman. Sounded interesting, now I have an example to follow. Does the end product have a twang to it? I don't mean salty, but rather like a craft beer sour is to traditional IPA?
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Old 02-21-2022, 08:42 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldgfbbq View Post
Thanks for this post. I first heard of Biltong from a South African gentleman. Sounded interesting, now I have an example to follow. Does the end product have a twang to it? I don't mean salty, but rather like a craft beer sour is to traditional IPA?
G-man, if you get the recipe right it has more of a "tang" than a twang. Maybe we mean the same thing. The Worcestershire sauce adds the Unami. The Vinegar is in balance. It's not sour. I've had a sour craft beer and didn't like it. I would have enjoyed some Biltong with it though to take the taste away, if that helps.

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Old 02-21-2022, 09:21 PM   #10
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Thanks Bill! Looks like a silverside is called a rump roast in the states, which sounds like it's something totally different in the UK/AUS. Haven't run across any Biltong boxes for purchase, but I did find something to build one from IKEA parts.
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Old 02-21-2022, 09:44 PM   #11
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I’ve never heard of bitlong before but would like to taste it if I had the chance. Thanks for the info!
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Old 02-21-2022, 10:42 PM   #12
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As a kid I spent time in Southern Africa. When I came to Canada and was introduced to jerky, it was... not the same. I've just never developed a taste for meat being flavoured with sugar. I much prefer the biltong style. I do tend to eat it too fast, however.
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Old 02-22-2022, 09:26 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LYU370 View Post
Thanks Bill! Looks like a silverside is called a rump roast in the states, which sounds like it's something totally different in the UK/AUS. Haven't run across any Biltong boxes for purchase, but I did find something to build one from IKEA parts.
Not sure if you're seriously interested in buying a box, but I found this yesterday when I started searching for one after reading Bill's post. It looks like these might be made to order and I'm not sure how much you want to spend and if he still makes them, but it looks like its high quality and has decent reviews.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/8219499...waAi1dEALw_wcB

Of course, the ikea version might be cheaper to build.
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Old 02-22-2022, 05:14 PM   #14
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^^^ Very expensive.

Maybe get a quote for one of these. They ship from South Africa
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Old 02-22-2022, 06:07 PM   #15
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I'm thinking something more along these lines. Under $45.

https://meately.com/how-to-build-biltong-box/
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