How to Make Your Own Biltong At Home
posted on
August 29, 2024
What you'll need:
- 3-5 lbs of raw meat- either Arm Roast or Brisket.
- 1 g spice mix per 100g meat
- 1 cup vinegar per 100g meat
- 1 large cardboard box
- 2 dowels
The first step- make your box!
It just needs to be tall enough to hang the meat slices without them touching the bottom and wide enough to hang the meat without them touching each other or the sides of the box.
You’ll need to punch holes in the bottom and top of the box to allow hot air to flow from bottom to top.
Step 2: find dowels to hang the meat on.
Step 3: find a light bulb (we used a heat lamp) with a cord that you can set on the bottom of the box facing up.
Step 4: find a fan you can face towards your box for air flow.
Now you’re ready to start slicing!
Step 5: Thaw out the piece of meat you’d like to use- we used an inner round roast here but you can also use a Brisket Flat, round roast, or arm roast.
Slice the meat into long strips .5 inch thick with the grain. It’s important that you slice it with the grain.
Once you’re done slicing, fill a 9 x 13 in pan with vinegar. (Traditionally, they use brown vinegar but we couldn’t find that here so we used regular white vinegar).
You will dip the meat slices in the vinegar and soak it for a few mins. Once meat is fully soaked, you will rub in the spice mix and heavily season the meat slices so they are completely and thoroughly covered on all sides.
Once you're done seasoning, it should look something like this!
Now, you will need to cover this and let it sit for at least 12 hrs so the vinegar and spices can penetrate the meat. We covered with a dish towel.
Once you've let the meat sit in the vinegar and spice brine for at least 12 hrs, it's time to let it hang. To do so, you can pull the slices out of the pan, scrape any extra vinegar or spices off and pierce with an s hook.
Once you're done hanging all of your slices, it should look something like this:
Close the lid and plug in the light. Run the fan for 2-3 days or until the biltong slices are half the size they were to begin with.
Leave it like this for 2-3 days!
This is what the finished product should look like! The outside should be dry and the slices should be stiff.
Once completed and sliced, the inside should look something like this. If you prefer the biltong a little more wet, you can dry it for a few hours less. If you prefer it a little more dry, you can dry it for a few hours more.
