G'Day Bruces :becky:
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.....:mod:
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/cuts/beef-cuts/silverside-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.:becky:
Measure out your mix:
Go metric fellas. (It's long overdue). :crazy::mrgreen:
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.:grin:
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!:mrgreen:
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
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.....:mod:
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/cuts/beef-cuts/silverside-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.:becky:
Measure out your mix:
Go metric fellas. (It's long overdue). :crazy::mrgreen:
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.:grin:
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!:mrgreen:
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
