# Biltong



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Don't know what to do with all that bison in the freezer?

Tired of having Boerwors and Droëwors all the time?

Makin' a move on a hot Brazilian soccer mom?

Make some Biltong then. Biltong, a spiced and dried meat, originated on the African plains and has been around for thousands of years. It's now THE official food of the international soccer community. Everybody that's anybody is making it. Uh......actually I don't have a clue and this is my first time making Biltong. The Italian/Polish/******* meat curing stuff has become boring so I'm exploring African cured meats and sausages.

I bought a package of Bennies Classic Biltong Spice and loosely followed his instructions for making Biltong. See Bennie for all your African meat spices at: http://benniesbiltongspices.com/

*Biltong*

*Ingredients:*
12 lbs - 3/4" thick sirloin or round steaks
2/3 cup - Balsamic vinegar
1 pkg (8 oz) - Bennies Classic Biltong Spice

*Directions:*
> The spice kit will season up to 20 lbs of meat.
> Sliced frosty meat with the grain into strips about 1" wide.
> Throw all the meat in the sink. Add the vinegar and mix well. I put the vinegar in a spray bottle and sprayed the vinegar on the meat.
> Transfer the meat to a small garbage sack and lay it out flat on the countertop with the top of the bag open. 
> Sprinkle the spices, a little bit at a time, on the meat. Mix well as you go. I used the whole package.
> Set aside for 4 to 6 hours.
> Remove meat pieces from bag and lay them out flat on the counter top.
> Fashion hooks out of paperclips and hang the Biltong in a dry cool place. I don't have a Biltong Box (yet) so I'm hanging mine in the basement.





Biltong spices have a lot of coriander in them. Man, do I like coriander and I use it in many of my wild game sausage recipes. Coriander is what gives pastrami it's unique flavor.

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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

That looks good just how it is. I'm excited to see your finished product!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Raw Bison biltong*



willfish4food said:


> That looks good just how it is. I'm excited to see your finished product!


Thanks. I've been eating it raw. It's really good.

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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

wyogoob said:


> Thanks. I've been eating it raw. It's really good.
> 
> .


RAW!? What are you, a caveman?

Thanks for the recipe Goob. I'll have to give it a try when I restock my meat supply.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

That does look pretty damned good.:EAT:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Bison biltong hanging in basement*

OK, I got it all hung. Used jumbo paper clips as hangers. Geeze, what a job.

I don't have a grass hut or a cave so I hung it in my basement:

Romex and bird feeders work fine:


Perfect:


I'm going away for 3 days. Hope I can find it, remember where I hung it all, when I get back:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Checked on the biltong tonight. 

Ate two pieces.

It's not ready yet.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I ate quite a bit of it while I was hunting in Africa last month and even got a couple of recipes for it from our safari operator. I can't wait until this fall to try it out on some fresh meat.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I went down and ate another piece.

It's still not ready.

:grin:


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Back in the day when we cut carcass beef the best part was a thin slice of raw rib eye taken off when the front qtr was broke down ,put a little salt and pepper roll it up and YUM:!::!:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Bison biltong hanging in basement*

I took some down from the rafters this morning and it's a little too dry. Taste great, but not as good as raw. 

Looks like 48 hrs hang time would be fine.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

What does biltong taste like? I've read about it forever in the old safari books but no one ever describes the flavor. The couple of accounts I have read of the old time great white hunters making the stuff didn't mention flavorings at all (that I remember).


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## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

Is biltong more or less an African version of jerky?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

massmanute said:


> Is biltong more or less an African version of jerky?


I think so, but from what I'm reading they don't like to compare it to jerky.

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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Cooky said:


> What does biltong taste like? I've read about it forever in the old safari books but no one ever describes the flavor. The couple of accounts I have read of the old time great white hunters making the stuff didn't mention flavorings at all (that I remember).


It tastes sorta like jerky with a hint of vinegar....not as salty as jerky though.

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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I wrapped the biltong in some wet paper towels for 10 hours while I was at work today. Hate to do that but it returned the meat back to a pliable state without affecting the flavor.

Packaged it in vacuum bags:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*biltong hooks*

Jumbo paperclips make good biltong and jerky hooks. Make sure the bends on each end are not on the same plane.



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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Pronghorn biltong*

Pronghorn biltong



*Ingredients*
1.5 lb - 3/4" thick American Pronghorn round steaks
3 tbsp - salt
1 tbsp - brown sugar
1/4 tsp - baking soda
3 tbsp - whole coriander seeds
1 tbsp - black pepper
4 tbsp - balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp - Worcestershire

*Instructions*
> In a small bowl mix salt, sugar and baking soda.
> Roast the coriander seeds for less than a minute and then crush with a mortar and pestle.
> In another bowl blend the coriander with the black pepper.
> Mix the vinegar and Worcestershire together in another bowl. let sit for 30 minutes. Add the salt, sugar and baking soda and mix well. Place the meat in the bowl and mix around until evenly coated. 
> Marinate for 3 hours. Remove from bowl and rinse off in cool water.
> Roll the wet meat around in the coriander/pepper mix
> Hang in a cool dry place until dry. I like 48 hours

more later


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*pronghorn biltong*

The pronghorn round steak biltong is finished. Hung for 48 hours:



Has that "sweet" antelope flavor:


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Does that make it ProngTong?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*prongtong*



GaryFish said:


> Does that make it ProngTong?


yeah, I love it.

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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Nice top of page. Well played oh Master of ProngTong.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*Get your biltong stuff here*

Biltong processor, Braaitime, comes to America.






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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I'm new to this biltong game but I'm learning.

Biltong meat is cut with the grain and let me tell ya bison biltong is pretty tough.....uh...antelope biltong is not too bad though.

I found out that biltong is not meant to be eaten like jerky. After drying biltong is usually sliced against the grain into small pieces with a knife or a stone paleolithic cutting gizmo if ya live in Australian Outback. A pocket knife works good, so does scissors. Seasoned biltong aficianados use a bilton slicer:
https://www.google.com/search?q=bil...H0stLJAhUOz2MKHYsKD4YQsAQIPw&biw=1280&bih=698

For now, I'm using a knife or scissors:



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