How To Make Biltong...

Biltong is a South African snack that is made by coating raw beef, game or ostrich in spices and hanging it up until it has dried. Back in the 17th century Dutch settlers started turning their meat into biltong by curing it with vinegar and spices to help preserve their meat in the African heat.

These days South Africans still enjoy their biltong, although it is becoming a bit of a luxury due to the rising prices of meat. Most butchers in South Africa make their own biltong using their own secret blend of spices, so it quite normal to see raw meat hanging out to dry in the back of butchers shops.

When I first saw biltong hanging out to dry, I must admit that the thought of eating a piece of raw dried meat turned my stomach, after all what kept the flies from crawling all over it, Being someone who tries to keep an open mind about things and never likes to be accused of not trying new things, I felt that I had no choice but to taste some biltong.

The fact that I was told that not only do the spices add taste to the meat, but they also serve in keeping the flies away, which made sense to me, certainly helped. Once I'd tried it I was hooked, it makes my mouth water just writing this hub! Could we make our own biltong, The answer was YES! After doing some research online, we found that we could easily make our own biltong. I can't say that I didn't worry about getting it wrong and ending up poisoning anyone who tried a piece of our biltong.

I need not have worried, we lost one batch when we underestimated the winter damp in the shed and the meat went mouldy, but other than that we have enjoyed eating and sharing our own homemade, rather tasty biltong. Stainless steel eat hooks. Beef, cut into long strips along the grain of the meat strips - biltong can also be made using game and ostrich meat too.

Vinegar, any type will do - I use red wine vinegar. Biltong spices, you can buy them ready made spices or be adventurous and make your own up. We buy the Lekker Premium Biltong Spice Mix from BiltongBox. Cut your beef into inch or two inches thick strips, cutting along the grain of the meat.

You may find want to cut it thicker or thinner it is entirely down to personal preference. We like this size, so that when the biltong is sliced, the slices are just the right size to pop into your mouth. Spray the meat thoroughly with vinegar, I keep vinegar in a spray bottle for this, if you don't have a spray bottle you could just soak the meat in some vinegar for half an hour or so. The vinegar kills off any bacteria that may create mould during the drying process.

Then dry the meat thoroughly with some kitchen paper. Then coat the strips well with your biltong spices, I use around forty grams of biltong spice to half a kilogram of meat. Cover the meat and put in the fridge for eight or more hours, this allows the spices to penetrate into the meat.

I usually leaves ours overnight. When your meat has been in the fridge for eight hours or more. Make sure your meat hooks have been thoroughly washed and dried. Push the meat hook through one end of the beef strip, about an inch down the strip, making sure it's secure.