Make Biltong (South African Beef Jerky)
Biltong is a South African snack food enjoyed whilst fishing, camping, hunting, watching a sports match or just having a beer. It's a delicious and easy-to-make snack.
Contents
Steps
- Purchase a whole beef cut such as a Silverside(FYI that is the buttocks of the cow/bull/buffalo), Rump, Round or Porterhouse (3-5kg in weight will do).
- Ask the butcher to cut it into slices about 20mm thick, and leave whatever fat is on as this is where the flavour comes from.
- Lay your slices out on a benchtop and sprinkle liberally with coarse sea salt and white pepper. Turn the meat slices over and repeat the procedure on the reverse side.
- In a pouring jug, add 1 cup brown malt vinegar, 1 cup white vinegar and a heaped tablespoon of raw brown sugar. Stir mixture to dissolve sugar.
- Place the meat slices into a large zip lock plastic bag, together with the vinegar mixture. Seal the bag removing as much air as possible.
- Allow this to lay on a flat surface for up to 24 hours, turning over at irregular intervals. (whenever you happen to pass)
- Drain the marinade from the bag and pat the meat slices dry with a paper towel.
- Hang the meat, close the lid, switch on the bulb and wait 5 days.
- Slice the meat sticks, including the fat, into bite sizes, pour a beer and enjoy.
- Finished.
Tips
- When cutting the meat, take note that about 40-50% weight is lost in the drying process.
- You can hang the meat in a fan forced oven. Make sure that you do not have the heat control turned up or the meat will simply cook. Failing that you can create a hanging space in a suitable cardboard box. Cut 25mm x 150mm lateral slits around the base of the box and to the lid of the box. Place a 70 - 100 watt bulb inside the bottom and a few lengths of 5mm dowling spaced evenly across the top end of the box below the lid.
- Make "S" shaped hooks out of stainless steel welding rod or simply use paper clips to hang the meat.
- Direct a flow of air directly onto the meat with a desktop fan. This reduces the drying phase.
- Add some crushed coriander and black pepper to the spices for added flavour.
- Add half a teaspoon Salpetre to the vinegar and sugar mixture. This will help to maintain the reddish colour of the meat.
Warnings
- Take care to protect the meat from flies, especially the Blowfly. If using a cardboard box, drape a foodsaver over the box.
