Biltong

[Stretch]

 

 

Seasoning is the last thing I do before hanging. Always have.

 

 

How long do you leave it seasoned before hanging?

[Long Wheel Base]

Out of curiosity, Is the vinegar for flavour or to add preservative to the meat? I would say preservative, I am just thinking that vinegar gets used to preserve a lot of food stuff. So in theory you don't need much and if you chow the biltong as quick as I do it doesn't really need much preserving.

[AlanD]

A little of both I think. The vinegar also sterilises the meat and starts the curing process.

Edited October 22, 2019 by AlanD

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

How long do you leave it seasoned before hanging?

 

 

I cut the topside/silverside into the cuts I need.

I then lay it covered in vinegar for around a hour in the fridge.

I then remove the meat from the vinegar and cover it in my blend of brown sugar and coarse sea salt, in the fridge for another hour.

After that I used the vinegar from before to brush off the sugar/salt and put it to one side. I then almost immediately season it. I take coriander seeds and black pepper corns, crush them and sprinkle on a table. I then roll the meat in this and hang it right away.

Never had a bad batch........

[Stretch]

I cut the topside/silverside into the cuts I need.

I then lay it covered in vinegar for around a hour in the fridge.

I then remove the meat from the vinegar and cover it in my blend of brown sugar and coarse sea salt, in the fridge for another hour.

After that I used the vinegar from before to brush off the sugar/salt and put it to one side. I then almost immediately season it. I take coriander seeds and black pepper corns, crush them and sprinkle on a table. I then roll the meat in this and hang it right away.

Never had a bad batch........

Interesting.. So no overnight sitting.. Just a couple of hours before hanging. Gonna try your routine next time.

[DJR]

Out of curiosity, Is the vinegar for flavour or to add preservative to the meat? I would say preservative, I am just thinking that vinegar gets used to preserve a lot of food stuff. So in theory you don't need much and if you chow the biltong as quick as I do it doesn't really need much preserving.

You can do it entirely without vinegar.

 

All you want is to dehydrate the meat with a high salt solution on the outside of the meat. That will draw a lot of the water content out of the meat. You can just rub the meat with lots of salt, as long as it is moist enough for the salt to stick to the outside. Before hanging it, you then have to rinse off the excess salt. I know someone who does this in a bowl of apple cider. Then he seasons it with his spice mix. The rest of the dehydration happens through air drying.

 

I must add that I have not done it this way myself. I use a small bit of vinegar that I sprinkle on the meat, just enough to make it wet, but never a bath of the stuff.

[Goodbadugly]

How long do you leave it seasoned before hanging?

Max 4 hour

[Stretch]

You can do it entirely without vinegar.

 

All you want is to dehydrate the meat with a high salt solution on the outside of the meat. That will draw a lot of the water content out of the meat. You can just rub the meat with lots of salt, as long as it is moist enough for the salt to stick to the outside. Before hanging it, you then have to rinse off the excess salt. I know someone who does this in a bowl of apple cider. Then he seasons it with his spice mix. The rest of the dehydration happens through air drying.

 

I must add that I have not done it this way myself. I use a small bit of vinegar that I sprinkle on the meat, just enough to make it wet, but never a bath of the stuff.

I remember my first batch... The smell of vinegar through the house was overpowering... Nevermind the taste. Every time I've used less and less. I lime the idea of a cider..I might do a half vinegar half cider option.

[GrahamS2]

I don't normally do it that way. I normally let it sit in vinegar for about 4 hours.. Then season and let in sit in the fridge overnight.

 

Going forwarded I'm front going to be lighter on the vinegar. Whatever I did this time worked well

I use a spray bottle to just wet the meat with vinegar and a few dashes of hot sauce, then leave it in the fridge for 12 hours. The job of the vinegar is to extract the blood so the meat doesn't rot when it hangs. I then dunk it in warm water to rinse, pat dry, spice and hang. I find rinsing helps keeps the meaty taste, which I enjoy.

[Goodbadugly]

Another alternative to regular biltong is to spice it, hang it out to dry for 1 day, and slice it into 1cm thick slices.

Fry it in pan with butter. Not Rama.

[mon-goose]

looks so good

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Another alternative to regular biltong is to spice it, hang it out to dry for 1 day, and slice it into 1cm thick slices.

Fry it in pan with butter. Not Rama.

Or, to grab a piece of Chuck and slow-cook it at 60 degrees for ~4 hours. NOM NOM

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Interesting.. So no overnight sitting.. Just a couple of hours before hanging. Gonna try your routine next time.

 

Correct.

I have a normal light in my home-made box. So I leave the light on in the box for the first night. Seals it nicely. Then leave it to hang for another day or 2.

I like my biltong still wet on the inside. Cut it really thin. Delicious!!!

[Stretch]

Correct.

I have a normal light in my home-made box. So I leave the light on in the box for the first night. Seals it nicely. Then leave it to hang for another day or 2.

I like my biltong still wet on the inside. Cut it really thin. Delicious!!!

I generally put the light on overnight for the first night and then turn it off and only use the fan

[AlanD]

All this talk of Biltong got me lus for a batch. Tried some different things as mentioned here:

1) Marinate in Vinegar and Worcester sauce for around 3 hours. Not too much vinegar.

2) Pat dry, rub with some salt. Leave for an hour or two to draw out the moisture.

3) Brush salt off, spice and hang.

 

Came out really good.

[mon-goose]

my mouth is now watering......thank you