Biltong

Just before Deer Hunting began my wife bought me a copy of Backwoodsman Magazine.  There was an interesting article on making Biltong.  For those not in the know Biltong is a South African dried meat. The Backwoodsman article also had plans for making a D-I-Y dehydrator or Biltong box, using a 100 Watt light bulb a plastic bin and a computer fan.  A good friend of mine gave me a food dehydrator so I really didn't need the plans but the article gave me a much needed nudge in the pants to get the dehydrator out of the closet and doing something useful.

Another good friend of mine is from South Africa and he's introduced Mrs. McBugbear and I to some other South African food like for example Boerwors which we've enjoyed.  Unlike Jerky the Biltong is marinated before drying and is not smoked nor is liquid smoke used.  Biltong is best made from an unmarbled meat such as venison or beef loin or eye of the round.  High quality cuts of meat make high quality biltong would be a good rule of thumb.

Biltong

Ingredients

2 pounds lean meat
1/2 cup whole coriander
1/4 brown sugar
1 tbsp pickling or kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
white vinegar

Slice the meat into half inch thick strips cutting at an angle to the grain.

Using a spice grinder (dedicated coffee grinder) grind the coriander and place in a bowl.  Add the sugar, salt pepper and mix well.  Place the spice mix in a plastic bag with the meat and shake until the meat is evenly coated.

Place the meat strips in a shallow dish, try to keep them close together but not touching.  Add vinegar until the strips are covered.  Cover the dish in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 4-8 hours.  Longer marination leads to stronger vinegar flavour.  One variation is to dip the meat in vinegar coat it in the spice mix and then refrigerate it overnight before drying.

Wash and dry your food dehydrator.  Set the dehydrator to140-150 F and allow to heat up.  Pat the meat dry on paper towels and place in the dehydrator.  Depending on the ambient humidity it should take 8-10 hours.

Biltong ready to go into the fridge.

This is a pretty basic recipe for South African Biltong.  I plan on trying a few variations like substituting  malt vinegar for the white vinegar and perhaps some different spices (brown cardamon springs to mind).  Right now the Biltong is marinating and tomorrow I'll post some photos of the finished product.  Apparently Biltong is good for teething babies!

Update:

Apparently traditionally cider vinegar was used.