It is said that South Africans cut their first teeth using a piece of biltong. When asking a South African living abroad what they miss most about SA, biltong will be among the top 3 things. Try your hand at making your own. Hang in a well ventilated room or in front of a fan; or make your own biltong box out of wood/cardboard in summer or if you live in a humid area.
A biltong box is essentially a sealed 6 sided box with holes cut in it and a fan blowing air through it. Traditional biltong does not use heat for the drying process, so avoid using the designs that incorporate a bulb.
Be sure to sterilize all your hooks, knives, and working surfaces by washing well in hot water and soap.
Nelson’s Recipe
Mike learnt to make biltong alongside his Dad (Nelson Keeny) using this recipe and it is still our go-to recipe more than 45 years later. Mike and his Dad worked on “feel”, but I recently came across the measurements of the same ingredients they used.
For every 1kg of biltong, use the following mix
- 18g salt
- 2g black pepper
- 1g brown sugar
- 4 g course coriander
- Vinegar
Cut the meat along the grain into strips – thickness and length as you desire. Sprinkle one side of the meat with the mix and then the vinegar (a bottle with holes punched in the lid works well), layer the meat spiced side down in a plastic container. Let it rest for 12 hours, mix the meat in the bowl and let rest for another 12 hours. Hang in a well-ventilated room or in front of a fan. In humid conditions, use a biltong box set up with a fan only.
Hartman’s Biltong Recipe
Meat- Rock Salt
- Coarse Ground Black Pepper
- Coarse Ground Coriander
- Vinegar (preferably Apple-Cider vinegar)
Use half-inch thick strips of beef or venison. Make sure it’s cut with the grain. The pieces should be about 6 inches long. Liberally sprinkle rock-salt on each side of the pieces of meat and let them stand for an hour. The longer you let it stand the saltier it will become. After the hour, scrape off all the excess salt with a knife (don’t soak it in water!).
Using a basting brush, coat the surface of the meat with vinegar (preferably apple-cider vinegar) – do not dip the meat into the vinegar. Hold the biltong up so that the excess vinegar can drip off.
Then sprinkle ground pepper and ground coriander over the meat on all sides. Alternatively, try the special spice mixtures used by South African butchers which is available from most butcher shops. These spice mixtures give excellent and consistent results with no salting necessary – just sprinkle the spice on, and hang.
Storage of Your Biltong
Should you need to store your excess biltong you can do so using the following guidelines:
- Week: Store at room temperature in a cool, dry area in a sealed plastic container or Ziploc bag. You can also use a paper bag but this will cause the biltong to dry out more.
- Several Weeks: Store in a sealed plastic container or Ziploc bag, and refrigerate 32 -38 degrees F.
- 1 Year: Store in a sealed plastic container or Ziploc bag, or preferably vacuum seal, then freeze.