An easy recipe and directions for making delicious South African Biltong at home.
The high quality organic biltong in this article was made at home and took about 15 minutes of preparation time and cost less than $15! Ideally you will have a biltong machine that you can hang the biltong in. Read here on how to make your own biltong machine.
A dehydrator can also be used if you have one with a low-temperature setting. Read here for a comparison of biltong made in a biltong box vs a dehydrator. We have also reviewed and rated a selection of dehydrators.
Directions for making your own biltong
Ingredients:
– 2 lbs good beef cut (or venison if you have available)
– White distilled vinegar
– Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
– 4 tablespoons coarse sea salt (more or less to personal taste)
– 2 tablespoon ground black pepper (more or less to personal taste)
– 4 tablespoons of ground coriander powder
– 1/4 cup of whole coriander seeds (to be applied after cutting the finished biltong)
– 2 tablespoons of raw brown sugar (optional)
– 1/2 table spoon (or 2 tea spoons) of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda, which preserves and helps to provides a nice dark color to the biltong)
Other optional ingredients: paprika, cayenne pepper or peri-peri spice (for spicier biltong – not much needed..), crushed dry garlic, any other herbs and spices that you want to experiment with.
Alternatively, you can just buy pre-made Biltong spice seasoning directly on Amazon.
Start with a cut of good beef that is suitable for making biltong. We recommend cuts including bottom round (called silverside in South Africa) and sirloin. We have used approx. 2 lbs of sirloin in this example. You can do as much as 5 lbs or more if you have a larger biltong box or dehydrator.
The recipe is easily scaled for a larger batch. I believe that good cuts of beef, all-natural (raised without antibiotics or added hormones, non GMOs) – even better all grass-fed – makes the tastiest biltong. See this article for more information on what beef cuts and grades to use to make biltong.
1. Cut the beef into flat strips of about 1 inch deep. Cut the strips with the grain and if possible (and desired) leave a thin strip of the fat on one side. The fat will dry out nicely and add to the taste.
When finished this initial curing remove the strips and squeeze dry. If you want, you can keep the vinegar/water mix for rinsing the strips later (see below).
3. Mix the spices (excluding the coriander seeds) and layer over the meat. Stack the spiced strips on top of each other with a layer of spices in between each.
Set aside to cure for 6 – 24 hours. The longer you leave it the more the meat will absorb the salt, pepper, coriander – i.e. if you prefer a more natural taste then leave the meat in the spices for less time. We left this batch for approx. 6 hours.
5. OPTIONAL – add cracked coriander seeds – either at this point before drying or after once the biltong is cut.
Roasting the coriander seeds in a pan before crushing them will release additional flavor of the seeds. You can also put the seeds into the microwave for 20-30 seconds to cook them slightly.
Crush the seeds into halves or quarters in a small mortar bowl so you end up with pieces that will stick nicely to the meat. Alternatively, you can put the seeds in a pepper or spice grinder that is set to grind very coarse.
6. Apply hooks to one end of the strips. You can just bend open metal paper clips for the hooks or you can buy a pack of 10 professional stainless steel butcher hooks for less than $10. Hang in your biltong box or dehydrator.
Depending on the thickness of the biltong, drying method, climate, and taste preference it should take from 3-6 days for the biltong to be ready for eating. During this time you can gently squeeze the biltong to check for dryness and/or cut off pieces to sample to check for readiness.
7. Remove from your Biltong box once done to your liking. This “small” batch I removed after 3 days and was slightly wet inside. Store biltong in the fridge, especially in warm climates. Never store in a plastic bag unless vacuum sealed. Refer to this article for more information on proper storage of biltong.
This batch of biltong cost less than $15 to make and the total actual preparation time (i.e. other than drying time) was only 20 minutes
How to make Biltong Sticks (Stokkies or Snap-Sticks)
An alternative to making larger pieces of biltong that need to be sliced (as described in the article above), biltong snap sticks (biltong stokkies) are quicker to make and very convenient for taking with you to sports events, traveling, golfing, etc.
The meat is cut into thinner strips and you do not need to soak in vinegar or brine in the spices for as long as the larger pieces. In addition, the drying time is significantly less and these are very suitable for drying in a dehydrator or even very low-temperature oven with the door cracked a few inches.
Steps to make biltong snap sticks
- Cut the strips into about a 1/2 inch wide, soak in vinegar/Worcestershire for about an hour, squeeze dry and brine in your salt/pepper/coriander/sugar spice mix for about 4 hours or longer).
- Rinse some of the spices off then place the meat into your biltong box or dehydrator.
- You can also use your oven, set at the lowest temperature (usually around 170 degrees Fahrenheit) with the door cracked open an inch to allow airflow.
- The biltong sticks take less time to dry so check their progress at regular intervals and take the sticks out when they are dry (can bend but not break – i.e. not too brittle).
- We use an Excalibur dehydrator at a low-temperature setting of 130. Depending on the width of the sticks it takes from 6-12 hours. Using your oven can be as quick as 4 hours.
A nice option if you like spicy food is to make chili bites / snapsticks (AKA peri-peri biltong stokkies). See this article for more details on making chili bites / snapsticks.
