Made some biltong

This is my first foray into curing and drying meats, but it's something that I've wanted for a long time. I recently received a book from a Saffa friend ("Make you own Biltong and Droewors") and it seemed simple enough.

I started off with some simple cuts of beef from the supermarket.



Sliced them up and prepared the spicemixes. (1 part salt, 1/2 part sugar, 1/2 part coriander, a small amount of bicarbonate and a healthy dose of chili powder.)



Basted the meat with a mixture of cider vinegar and hot sauce (four pieces of meat) and cider vinegar and Worcestershire sauce (two pieces of meat). Then I sprinkled the meat with the spice mix and left it in the fridge over night.



In the meantime I built my biltong box and used a lightbulb to create airflow by using convection (heat rises). In with the meat and let it dry.





I expected this to take 3-4 days, but I was rather surprised that the biltong was already ready after just 24 hours, but I guess that due to my rather thin slices, that's expected.





Even though I used a healthy amount of both chili powder and hot sauce, I don't really feel any heat from the biltong, so for my next attempt, I need to increase the dosage.

nice biltong box you got there.

pretty cool! nice use of zip ties

A computer case, tower model, would probably make a perfect biltong box, especially with the fan(s) left in place.

Did another batch the other day where I marinated the meat overnight in 50/50 vinegar and Tabasco, but the end result was still not especially hot. It tasted more like the "hotness" went away and only the vinegar taste remained.

So it seems like hot spices is the way to go.

Gotta be careful with the acid (vinegar) as it only gets stronger( imo). Don't forget that the Tabasco has a significant vinegar component as well.

Try adding some cayenne pepper to ya marinade.

Looks tasty Anders! well done

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I had an idea and wanted to know what everyone though.

I would love to try my own biltong. Could you put a lamp into a weber kettle and use the vents for convection?

CJ. That would work perfect. I did the same thing in my WSM.