Doubleuj wrote:G'day mate, welcome. If you've got any tips/ recipe for making biltong I'd love to hear it :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Hi!
I actually do have a great 'tried and proven' recipe. The biggest part of the recipe is the quality & type of meat available... We usually only make biltong if someone gives you some game/venison - Springbok, Kudu or something similar. I'm sure you guys have ostriches - which also works quite well. I also really enjoy beef biltong and the principles are the same, however have never made it myself with beef before...
Cut is also important. Use only fillet for game/venison, and silverside or topside for beef - in long slender cuts/pieces - Aim for about 30cm long by 10cm wide cuts or anything in about the same ratio smaller or bigger. Size does not matter that much, but the thickness should usually be between about 2 to 4cm - as the meat will reduce to 40%/50% of its original size after drying. Personal preference about amount of fat to keep on the cuts, I think about 15-20% is a happy medium.
Make a spice mixture: (for 10kg's meat)
200-250grams coarse salt (no fine table salt)
10 grams saltpeter (optional - if you're in the desert or anywhere really hot, use it) - most chemists and pharmacies in South Africa stock it.
10 grams baking soda
200-250grams whole coriander - roast in a pan until colour changes, then ground to 50% fine ground & 50% really coarse, almost only cracked.
1 table spoon or so coarse ground black pepper
50grams brown sugar
Make a coating mixture:
500ml brown vinegar (or 50/50 brown vinegar and Worcestershire Sauce)
Method: (for 10kg's meat)
1. Dip & rub each piece of meat in the vinegar, shake off excess and lay your meat out in a flattish glass or ceramic or stainless (not plastic) dish. Layer the meat by sprinkling some spice mixture, then meat, then more spice mixture and so on ending, in a final layer of spice/salt. cover it and let it sit overnight in a cool place. 12-24hours depending on the size & thickness of the cuts.
2. Mix 80% warm water and 20% warm brown vinegar and lightly rinse each of the cuts - Aim is to remove most of the coarse salt, then dry off with paper towel.
3.Hang cuts in your biltong maker or in a well ventilated room/shed/garage. If using a DIY biltong maker, 3 days is a good time to taste and see how 'moist' you want it. This is usually good for me, but I wont go longer than 5 days in one of the biltong makers. My grandad use to hang the meat for about 5 days from his shed ceiling with a fan pointed at it...
Biltong maker/dryer:
Here's a good DIY:
http://www.popularmechanics.co.za/how-t ... afternoon/
For the hangers you can use heavy duty paper clips or just bend some S-shapes from thick wire.
Cheers!
Wonder what kangaroo bitlong will taste like...