Traditional Biltong

[nex]

Thanks for that mandru, it sounds very complicated.
Making biltong as very easy as long as you keep a few things in mind.
The meat must lie flat in a container when spiced, it must have enough spice,
the spiced meat should be left for about 24 hours for the spice to draw in,
to make sure, the meat should to rotated after about 12 hours (top layer goes to the bottom
and bottom goes to the top), at the same time the spice also draws blood and water out of the meat.
The meat can be refrigerated or stored in a cool dry space.
guys who often makes biltong will always have small hooks to hang the meat ready made.
The initial hanging up of the meat is crucial, this is where you can spoil it.
All biltong makers will either have a cabinet or a something to hang the biltong in,
I have a cabinet made from aluminium angle profile covered with fly screen.
This cabinet must be indoors somewhere, in the garage hanging from the rafters
is where I have mine with a small fan blowing directly onto the meat,
summer and wet winter the fan should be on the meat most of the first three days,
if too long then the outside dries out with the inside still wet.
With a dry winter the fan only need to be on the meat for the first day,
after about seven days some of the biltong should be dry enough to eat.
In the winter I used to hang the biltong cabinet outside for about two hours  to catch some sun,
we have a dry winter.
But lately I'm too lazy, I hang the meat in my smoker with a fan on it for a whole day
then the meat goes into the cabinet into the garage.
The spices used the most is coarse salt, black pepper, coriander and maybe an allspice
or BBQ spice. A trick my dad taught me, after the meat has done it's 24 hours in the spice
cut a small piece of meat off put it into a pan with nothing else,
fry it just for a few minutes just off raw then eat it, this will tell you if your spice is right,
if too salty rinse some off with cold water, test another piece and when satisfied
then it can be hung. 

[Art Blade]

 

[nex]

A while ago I passed this link on to PZ
This guy did a pretty good job of making biltong.
I would make one or changes, the meat can be cut a bit wider than what he did
and it's better to use crushed coriander seed and not the powder, use the whole seeds
in a little grinder, like what he did with the pepper, always use black pepper.
I don't know why he rinsed it with apple cider vinegar, that will change the taste completely.
There is also no need to dry off the meat before hanging, although it's not a problem.
The box he made is fine, making meat hooks shaped like an extended S will w0#k much better.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/q7lZHKq8dIE?rel=0

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As commercial biltong making is such a huge industry here you can purchase
plastic hooks or you can make your own from ordinary wire like the ones in the picture
made by my dad probably 50-60 years ago, I have about 200 of them stored
in a container.   
Oh, and the way to pronounce it, bil..... like in paying your bill...tong, the .... tong he had correct      

[Art Blade]

interesting

[PZ]

I'm still looking forward to trying making biltong 

[nex]

I'm hoping to do some more by the end of the week   

[PZ]

Hey nex, do you think something this will make reasonable biltong? It is rated the highest when using a dehydrator by the biltong blogs.

https://www.amazon.com/Excalibur-3926TB-Dehydrator-Temperature-Dehydration/dp/B008OV4FD0/ref=dp_ob_title_kitchen?dpID=51zaSpGFEoL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

I love the idea of the traditional method, but there is so much pollen and dust in my area I'm afraid my allergies will do me in. 

[nex]

The minimum heat on this one is 105°F/40°C might be a bit high for biltong in my opinion PZ,
but then again, some guys do it that way. What worries me is that the meat is lying flat and not hanging,
hanging is better for air circulation.
The big thing with biltong is "Airflow" the more the better, and the slower the meat dries
the better the taste.
Have a look at this one, they are available in the US
https://www.mygreatershop.com/products/biltong-buddy-biltong-box?variant=47920562764

If you do get one of these, just make your own hooks.

[PZ]

Thanks nex!  I'll definitely check it out as I am ready to try making some. 

[nex]

Wish you luck   

[PZ]

Well nex, I loved the look of the unit you posted, but the missus wants to dry fruit so she overrode the purchase decision. However, I found a toggle switch that will let me turn off the heating element in the unit so the meat can properly dry in the dehydrator. I plan to put rods in place on the top rack holder so I can hang the meat vertically, and that should give me plenty of drying space. I'll post pics as I progress.

[Art Blade]

so I can hang the meat vertically

I'd be interested in the other option. Like, horizontally.

[PZ]

Horizontal definitely works well for jerky which is heat dried 

Really good news for me - I do not need to do anything to use the unit as it is to make biltong - the heat is controlled separately from the fan so I can keep it turned off, and the horizontal mesh inserts lie loosely in their trays that have large diamond shaped supports. All I need do is remove all but the top tray and I can hang the meat vertically from the existing supports. 

[Art Blade]

you see, "hanging vertically" is about the same thing as "wet water" so I was trying to point out to you that "vertically" was redundant. I tried to point you in that direction with a bit of humour, like there is no such thing as "hanging horizontally," just like there is no "dry water" 

Obviously I failed miserably.

[nex]

Great news PZ 
and biltong also dries better hanging, now you
must just get the spicing right, not too many
different herbs and spices.
Being summer there, you must just watch the humidity, add an additional fan
if the built in one isn't enough, just for two to three days.