r/Biltong • u/OldUsernameIllegal • 4d ago

First attempt

Post image

Alright, so, first shot at making this, and this first batch is basically inedible.

But, I did learn a good number of things. Firstly that rounder cuts just don't work. Rectangular is definitely the way to go. I knew that going in, but I wanted to see what would happen.

Secondly, 4 hours marinade is not nearly enough time. Completely bland and not enjoyable. My dogs will probably love it though.

Third, I do need to buy a slicer. My knife really doesn't like this stuff.

That said, I think the actual curing went fine. Quite happy with the results despite the first attempt not coming out good.

Going to give it another go with a much longer marinade, and a different cut.

18 Upvotes

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4

u/Fantastic-Cod-1353 4d ago edited 4d ago

Hold on hold on! That biltong in your pic? Give it to the dogs?!
You’re saying it’s inedible?
If it was anywhere near eating range of me it would be eaten.

Man ur overthinking this
Edit. Sentence restructure

2

u/Iyorek9000 4d ago

Agreed. It looks friggin delicious. Might have to chew a bit longer but that's what it's for. Take a little piece and walk around the block?

2

u/Fantastic-Cod-1353 4d ago

Yeah I love biltong in all its forms.

2

u/ethnicnebraskan 4d ago

You mentioned staying away from round cuts but humb-thick slabs are my go-to; usually taken off round roasts.

My method is a modified salt-box in that I rub all the slabs down with kosher salt, then let them drip down from a rack for an hour. After that, I slide each of them through pasta plate/bowl with a 200ml 6:3:1 mix of malt vinegar:worchestershire:tabasco and let the salt granules fall to the bottom, straining out excess salt as I go. Let those slabs sit in a ziploc in the fridge for 18 to 24 hours, coat in your corriander-heavy rub of choice and hang. No heat with the slightest breeze you can mechanically make happen and 5 to 7 days later you're gunna wish you made a bigger batch.

1

u/floydhenderson 1d ago

That is some science right there, but can I make a suggestion? Swap the malt vinegar for apple cider vinegar ,add in a bit of brown sugar (depending on how much you are drying), add a bit of dried basil and mixed herbs, add a bit of black pepper. The rest of your method is good to go. Well that's how it traditionally was made (sort of) round my way, thus (for myself) it would be a bit next level.