Hey everyone, would love to hear your opinions/advice on making biltong with venison or with other leaner meats. I've been making venison biltong and am having a few challenges with the texture. At the moment it either comes out quite hard, almost crunchy on the outside and overly dry all the way throughout, or perfect on the outside yet completely raw still in the middle. Have tried increasing the humidity but not sure I'm doing it to the right level. Also, sometimes when I do this, I notice that's when mould starts growing. Any tips?

Thanks!

Hi Biltong Lovers,

My husband is South African and he makes excellent biltong which he sells at work, friend and family. We are looking to expand and I am wanting to help him with this new business venture. We would appreciate any advice from people that are doing something similar in the UK. We are looking to make the biltong at home to help not pay for premises and keep the costs low.

We will be grateful for any input.

Rate the set up

What size batches is everyone doing. I have a Khabu and do around 5 - 6 kgs at a time. It could probably do double that but I buy the Silverside in 5kg portions.

I am finding though that once word gets out the biltong barely last 2 weeks and I need to go again.

Just interested to hear how people manage their batches. Do you do more and store.......etc etc

Sorry fir blurry photo my phone wasn't wanting to focus properly.

Although their spelling is questionable!

2nd attempt at biltong, I’ve hung it for just over 48 hours in my dehydrator at 30 degrees Celsius

Not bad for a fat pack of beef

I just made my first ever batch of biltong and tasted it at a 44% weight reduction (took 2 days). It was delicious. But i’m not a certified biltonger and I followed the most popular recipe on youtube.

I dont mind eating it myself, but how safe is it to serve to other people after a day or two more of air curing?

I had no coriander seed and was impatient but heres mine on day 3 of drying in my home made drier. The numbers are original weight and target wait. Some are 50% some 45% and some 40%

Latest batch. 5.2kg of Silverside.

6 days dry time.

Amazing taste. Set to watch the boks

I'm concerned about airflow. I put holes all around the bottom and covered with fine mesh to keep out bugs but is this fan too much? It's pretty intense. It (like everything else here) was just random crap that had been sitting around the shop.

I usually work with a mortar and pestle but it's getting tedious...

A little more time but really good flavor

3 day drying striploins with no light.
sliced batch tossed with some more salt and coriander seeds
Is there any case hardening? i dont really have anything to compare it to

Does anyone else dry the leftover DIY spice mix, after the wet marinading process and use it as spice for other things? It's just so good after it's been soaked in all that vinegar and wprcestershire sauce and garlic and stuff. I refry it so all the meat juices dry off and don't cause spoilage. And it is awesome mixed into pretty much anything like i could mix it into mashed potatoes and have a biltong flavoured potatoes). I swear I could just eat it with a spoon. It's DIY, mostly coriander with a bit of paprika, chili and garlic powder and bits of other random things I felt like adding to the batch.

Is that too weird? (No I don't have a bag full of bags, I don't save once fried oil or bacon fat or anythjng like that, it's not about reusing things, it is just seriously tasty, and i use a LOT of the spice mix in the brine so there is always a lot left).

Finally made my first batch.
Used a seasoning blend: garlic powder, onion powder, salt, coriander, white pepper, brown sugar
Covered each slab, then layered in a dish and sprinkled with malt vinegar.
Took a single slab out after 3 hours and dried and hung.
Took the rest out after around 20ish hours

Image is after 24 or so hours of drying.
Just in a dry closet with a small fan indirectly blowing to keep the air circulating.

Looking great so far!

Is the middle meant to be that brown? I've only dried it for 2 days, perhaps the airflow is too strong? Trying to optimise the box. Had to cut my pieces in half length wise to hang it as my box was too shallow!

Used Freddy Hirsch Kalahari spice, with 24 hours of marination.

Any tips would be massively appreciated!! 😅😅

Been almost a year since the last batch. Hope I've still got it.

Happy Oktoberfest.... Prost!