Ridiculously easy home made South African BILTONG

[7SFCW4]

Good Morning, this was to be my first draft beta test recipe of South African BILTONG. It is ridiculously easy to make (if you have a food dehydrator), with frozen meat prices low at Cash & Carry, now is the time. I work with many fresh off the boat South African's who have pronounced this "...just like mother makes...".

Home-Made South African Biltong (dried meat)[1] [Test Recipe] 24 AUG 2014


2 LB Lean Beef, such as London Broil cut into very thin long strips, trim off fat.

3.0 Cup Cider Vinegar

3 ½ Cup Soy Sauce

3 ½ Cup El Cheap-O white wine

2 TBSP Some good quality coarse salt

1 TBSP Brown sugar

1 TBSP Pepper

4 TBSP Onion Powder

2 TBSP Dried / Powdered or Fresh Garlic

3 Cubes Dried Chipotle or TBSP's Chilli powder

8 TPSP Good Quality Fresh Ground Coriander.(a very important spice in Biltong so be liberal)

2 TBSP Baking Soda, especially if venison or a lower grade of meat is used


PREPARATION


PREPARE THE BRINE:

1. In a plastic bowl, mix dry ingredients
   1. 5QT / 22 Cup plastic bowl
2. Add the liquid ingredients and stir until well mixed

PREPARE THE MEAT:

1. Thaw the meat until you can cut it with a sharp knife (large sharp french knife or a nice serrated knife).
2. Cut into ¼ inch thick strips (try to keep them the same size for consistency when drying).
3. As you cut them slide them into the brine solution.

MAKE THE BILTONG:

1. Marinate / Brine for 12 hours or overnight (overnight is preferable)
2. Remove the meat from the brine and let most of the liquid drip off over the sink
3. At this stage you may want to dust the meat lightly with more coriander, coarsely ground black pepper and chili powder.
4. Dry using traditional process or food dehydrator machine

DEHYDRATOR [in my Excaliber 9-Tray]

1. Set temperature gauge to 155 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Set the timer to 5 hours
3. Set strips of meat on the trays as close as is practical. Fill the machine from the middle.
4. In the bottom most tray, place wax paper and top with paper towels
5. If possible, rotate the trays within the dehydrator every hour.
6. At the four (-04-) hour mark check your Biltong for dryness. Blot off any blisters/bubbles of liquid/grease
7. Run the dehydrator until your Biltong is delicious.

STORE YOUR BILTONG

1. Store in vacuum packed bags with an Oxygen Absorber. Store in a 5 gallon bucket in a cool room.

[1] Instructions are for two (-02-) pounds of meat

Read More

 

[unionguy]

I made some of this a few years ago with just a carboard box and a heat lamp. Very good stuff!

 

[7SFCW4]

Cash & Carry has Flat Iron Steak, frozen on sale for $4.99/lb today, make some today!

 

[AMProducts]

Hows that ludefisk recipe coming?

 

[7SFCW4]

Well....if you MUST know, I decided to pass, making good LudeFisk was taking all of my soap making ingredients. When I am jones'ing for some lip smackin' LuteFisk, I just hop the red eye to Minnesota

 

[AMProducts]

I made the mistake of eating some ludefisk in the house last night... it woke the dog up (who wanted some) and grossed the wife out. I was hungry... and it was fantastic!

 

[erudne]

When I lived in "The Islands" we used to do this with red meat tuna, sans the brown sugar. It's kinda like chewing on nylon rope when raw but if you boil-up rice and throw several cuts of tuna jerky in the pot, along with some coconut it is actually quite nice!

 

[SX200]

Being from that part of the world Rhodesia now a bubblegum hole called Zimbabwe.
I cut my teeth on strips of this as a lightie.
Now it's Biltong with a Beer while watching a game of Rugby.

What I use and how i do it is the same way I watched my old folks do it on the farm
only on a much smaller scall.

Vinegar. the batch I have at the moment is apple cider vinegar.
Black Pepper 3 table spoons.
Crushed dried Chilli little added to mix, I sprinkle on just before it goes into the dryer
Brown Sugar - 1 1/4 lbs
Coarse Salt - 2lbs
Coriander I roast my own two of those small bottles and crack them.
I also buy ground and add the small bottle.
Saltpetre 1 tea spoon per 2lbs of salt

You can add a couple of beef stock cubes to the mix, I do this here in the US
as the quality and taste of the meat is lacking compared to free range African beef.

Mix it all together and store in a jar.

I put warm water in the crock pot or other large non metallic bowl estimate the about needed to cover the meat 60% water 40% vinegar doesn't need to be spot on amount, vinegar is needed to kill off any
beasties living on the meat and add vinegar cut the meat into strips with the grain of the meat
and place them into the crock pot and leave to sock for about 5 mins thiner cut meat needs less time
than thicker cut meat.

you'll need a large glass baking dish for the next part.

Take the meat out of the bowl hod it over the sink and squeeze the moister out of the meat
as best as you can place in the glass dish and sprinkle a little of the mix over the meat and rub
it in repeat until all the meat is covered and leave for an hr.

At this point you are ready to hang the meat, some place with a passage of air.
At this point I add roasted crushed coriander seeds and if i want it with a kick
crushed Chili pepper

Large cardboard box with a holes in the top and bottom and a light bulb, the bulb causes air to rise out the holes in the top bringing air in the bottom, out in the open with a fan blowing onto
the meat, out side in the shade if its dry.

My wife has had enough of it hanging with a fan, so I presently use
a Dehydrator with trays its not the best.

I use no heat at all drying my biltong just the fan and it takes as long as it takes.

What I do with the Biltong after it comes out of the dehydrator is bring it into the kitchen
and let the moister equalise, I've found that eating from the dehydrator (which I do ready or not) the outer part is very dry and the inner far wetter leaving it equalises it out some what.

 

[receo]

El cheapo white wine? Sweet or dry?

 

[U201491]

Foods similar to biltong / Jerky /Preservation

Bresaola http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresaola

Carne seca http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carne_seca

Cecina http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecina_(meat)

Charqui http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charqui

Droëwors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dro%C3%ABwors

Jerky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerky

Kilishi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilishi

Metworst http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metworst

Mojama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojama

Pastırma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past%C4%B1rma

Pemmican http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican

Slinzega http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slinzega

.

 

[CrossHairs]

I now have a batch of meat sitting in the fridge marinating nicely. Really looking forward to getting this in the dehydrator tomorrow.

Another cast off from the Rhodesian days here. I miss Biltong! Hopefully this lives up to the hype

 

[Capn Jack]

This is my Dehydrator

 

[Capn Jack]

Safeway Round Steak on sale. Be sure and trim any fat off. I also add a can of coke to the marinade to help tenderize the meat.

 

[CrossHairs]

The sun is shining, it's a good morning to load the dehydrator. I'll report back later today on my progress.

A can of coke...interesting. Back in the day, we used to leave meat in it to see how it dissolved it. I can see how it does the tenderizing.

I got a really nice roast from Freddies to start with. but once I have this dialled, I'll go from for some cheaper frozen stuff.

 

[Capn Jack]

I marinate the meat over night in one gallon Zip Loc bags, with all of the air squeezed out. Leave them in the fridge. Take them out a couple of times and massage them to move the mixture around a bit. I have even gotten busy and left them in a couple of days without a problem.

 

[CrossHairs]

Darn, this stuff tastes good. My dehydrator had it done in a little over four hours and the result is awesome. A little chew, slightly dried out and stringy just as I like it. Most certainly doing another batch next week as this lot won't last long for sure.

I like the idea of using the zip loc bags too. Allows for a little kneeling along the way.

 

[Capn Jack]

I haven't seen anyone mention using "Pink Salt / Potassium Nitrate" as a preservative.
I usually add 1/2 tsp. per batch. (3 lbs.) Also, when I finish each batch, I cut each strip into bite sized pieces. Saves pulling out a filling trying to bite off a chunk.