Biltong (aka beef jerky) - African style

[AndyC]

Beef jerky is highly-prized in Africa, perhaps even more so over there than here in the US - but we call it "biltong" and it's made slightly differently. I had the hankering this past weekend to make some and figured I'd take some pics for you blokes.

You can use pretty much any kind of steak you like - sirloin is best because it's fine-grained, but I ended up with a cheaper cut - chuck shoulder. Follow me and I'll show you how to get the real taste of Africa.

You'll need:

a. Steak
b. Coriander (this is critical)
c. Black pepper
d. Rock salt
e. Vinegar (any kind, although apple cider is the best)

1. I got a 1.5 lb steak and cut it into 2 thinner strips - these 2 are about 12" long and 1" thick.

2. Pour a little vinegar into a glass/ceramic dish and coat the steaks well on both sides. Don't use a metal dish - it doesn't go well with vinegar, electrolysis or something.

3. Lay the steaks down on a dry bed of rock-salt:



4. Cover the top of the steaks with rock-salt and leave them for a half- hour to absorb the salt (over the years I've found that more than this makes it taste too salty for me):



5. Take about 1/4 bottle of Coriander, dry-roast it in a frying-pan until it turns golden-brown and then coarsely grind it (I did mine in a clean coffee-mill):



6. Scrape the salt-crystals off the steaks with the back of a knife (or just use your fingers) and then grind up some pepper and coat the steaks - it doesn't have to be a whole lot. Then coat the steaks with the ground coriander and sort of roll them over & over in the dish to get them well-coated, getting the sides and ends of the meat as well:



7. The traditional South African way to cure biltong is to cut some coat-hangers and make S-shaped hooks to hang the steaks up in the garage by their ends (anywhere cool and away from direct sunlight will do fine), but I'm speeding-up the process and using a dehydrator instead. This is after 24 hours:



I prodded it with a fingertip and it still has a fair amount of "give", so I'm going to assume it's still a bit wet & leave it to dry for another day - but you can eat it whenever you prefer because some like their biltong as dry as a bone and some like it wet - I'm kinda in-between.

[cerberus65]

That is very tasty looking! Thanks for sharing.

[AndyC]

If you guys ever make it to Africa for a hunt, you'll be eating a lot of this stuff

[raul duke]

so its not cooked at all. I enjoy my stakes rare so i am not being a prude just making sure i understand the technique? I may have to try this out for myself ty for sharing.

[Spammy_H]

Any idea if you can do this with turkey? I've seen turkey jerky in the store sometimes, and wondered if they use the same process for making it as they do beef jerky. I'd kinda like to try to make it assuming I wouldn't be killing myself with salmonella or something.

[AndyC]

No, it's not cooked at all, that's how raw meat is cured over there. It's ideal if you'll be out in the bush for a few days and can't store fresh meat - it won't spoil if cured that way.

Turkey - I've never tried that, but I can't think of any reason one couldn't do it. I've used ostrich meat before, which is dark like beef, but that's the only poultry I've ever used.

By the way, the above is just a simple, traditional way of doing it, but different folks have their own quirks - some people like to marinade the meat in worcestershire sauce overnight before spicing it, for example.

[1 old 0311]

Good read!

[Lagomorph]

I've always wondered about biltong, now I get to try it. I'm sure the wife will love it just as much as the bacon & ham curing, sausage making, etc.

[ultradoc]

I had some beef jerky last night but yours looks much better.

[AndyC]

Thank you. Jerky seems to be almost sweet-flavored to me - biltong has more of a savory taste thanks to the salt/spice combination.

We usually slice it into half-inch thick chunks across the grain of the meat with a penknife - or shred it, whatever you prefer.

[Travis Bickle]

Turkey - I've never tried that, but I can't think of any reason one couldn't do it.

Turkey jerky is common and can be found in lots of stores around here.

[SADshooter]

Andy:

Thank you. That looks very interesting. I have to say, I hadn't known coriander to be widely used in Africa. I usually associate it with Asian cuisine.

[PDXCarbine]

about how long do they dry with the garage method?

thanks for posting Im gonna try this.

[Travis Bickle]

about how long do they dry with the garage method?

thanks for posting Im gonna try this.

If you don't have a food dehydrator, you can use your oven. Stick the meat in there, set it to the lowest setting and leave the door propped open a few inches. Using the oven isn't a quick as the dehydrator, but it's still a lot quicker that just hanging it out somewhere to dry.

[nalioth]

Not sure if you've learned this yet, but "fresh coriander" here in Texas is called cilantro, and you can get it at any grocery store.

Not sure if it'd work in something like this, but just throwing it out there.

Cilantro is also called "Chinese parsley".

[Lagomorph]

The coriander used on the biltong here is indeed the same thing as cilantro, but instead of the leaf, it's the seed. Coriander seed has a savory, citrusy taste that's used heavily in Indian food, sometimes in Mexican & asian foods, and in beer brewing.

[AndyC]

Yeah, it's the seed - a totally different taste to cilantro leaf (I didn't even know they were related - cool info, thanks ). The coriander seeds have a woody, nutty sort of flavor to me, reminiscent of Indian spices.

How long do they take to dry in the garage - I'd say a good rule of thumb is a day per 1/4" of thickness of the meat, so 1" thick steaks would take 4 days on average. I typically can't hold myself back so I'm "sampling" them by the 3rd day anyway

I'm busy with a fresh batch now:



The rind of fat gets spiced as well - ends up almost like pork crackling when it dries

[nalioth]

For you guys who live in humid coastal areas, don't try the garage method.

The oven method will work better, due to the humidity (rotten / moldy jerky sucks).

[AndyC]

Good point - dry air is good, humid is bad.

[Travis Bickle]

For you guys who live in humid coastal areas, don't try the garage method.

Not only that, but anyone who's just hanging it out to dry should be sure to slice it as thinly as possible. If it isn't, the center won't dry out quickly enough to keep it from spoiling.

[nalioth]

Originally Posted by Travis Bickle

Not only that, but anyone who's just hanging it out to dry should be sure to slice it as thinly as possible. If it isn't, the center won't dry out quickly enough to keep it from spoiling.

I don't think that'd be the style of item the OP is suggesting (your suggestion is getting more into American style jerky).

[bowl443]

I work with a South African fellow who raves about biltong. We ordered some thru a website, and it was good but not as good as deer jerky.

He contended that it gets much better and what we got was not as good as it could've been. He mentions a 'box' that is built to dry the meat in?

If I'm right, biltong is supposed to be a little bit more moist than beef jerky?

[AndyC]

Some enthusiasts make drying boxes - basically a wooden box with a light-bulb in the bottom to supply heat. Here's an example from biltongbox.com:



As for moistness - biltong can be any way you prefer it, dry, wet or in between. They're both similar in that they're obviously both styles of dried meat - I guess biltong is pretty much defined by the actual spices used (coriander, salt and black pepper) and starting with (typically, not always) thicker cuts of meat.

[Catherine]

Yummy, does that look good!

My husband makes jerky out of various types of meat (Elk, deer and beef so far.) and I will have to show him this.

Did you eat goat cheese much in Africa? Is it common there? Did you eat much lamb meat in Africa? Is that common there?

Thank you for sharing.

Catherine

[AndyC]

Lamb is very common, sure - I've had goat cheese too, but the regular cheeses one finds here in the US are common over there too - cheddar, gouda, emmentaler, etc.