Making Homemade Biltong - Part I: Curing | Poal: Say what you want.

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Making Homemade Biltong - Part I: Curing

LORE

For those that aren't familiar with it, biltong is a minimally processed lean meat that is preserved by acidifying, salting and air drying. It originated with the Boers of South Africa, who quickly processed, salted, seasoned and hung freshly killed game/bush meat out to dry. What resulted was a very stable and portable protein source that didn't require refrigeration. In this regard its a handy - and tasty - tool you can add to your preps. Today there are many more tools available to us and we understand food safety and bacterialogic processes much more, but the basic process remains the same as before: Prepare and salt/season the meat, air dry it and then store for use. Its principal difference from jerky is that it doesn't require a heated drying environment.

You could spend a lot of time reviewing literature on food safety, curing science, etc., but at its simplest level you only need to know this one thing:

You really have to work at it to screw this up and make yourself sick.

Pay attention to the cleanliness of yourself, your tools and work surfaces; use decent quality meat where you know how it was handled; keep your meat at proper temperatures before and during salting/curing; be methodical and reasonably precise in measuring and applying salt and cure agents and wear gloves when working with raw meat.

EQUIPMENT

Cutting board, sharp knives (chef, boning and/or butcher depending on size and state of your primal meat cut), scales (one with +/- 10 gram accuracy for weighing meat and another smaller one with +/- 0.1 gram accuracy for salt and curing agents), a container to cure in (I use a half size polycarbonate steam table food tray with lid, but a glass/ceramic casserole dish with a lid, stainless steel pan with saran wrap over the top or even a ziplock bag will work), a couple small bowls to hold dry ingredients, a small measuring cup for liquids, a pepper grinder (optional) to freshly grind spices and food-safe gloves to wear during preparation.

INGREDIENTS

I would note that I've read several recipes, and that they are all similar. Ones from South African almost universally called for black pepper, coriander and cider vinegar (pic8.co), so that is what I initially used. I messed around by adding garlic and then trying onion on a couple batches, but they added nothing and muddied the flavor of the beef so I finally returned to the recipe roots. I wouldn't call this an authentic Boer recipe, but the spices/flavor profile should be authentic. To wit...

Lean meat. I use beef eye of round, but any lean cut with long parallel meat grain is ideal. Rump roast and brisket could work well if trimmed out cleanly. Venison, elk, pronghorn and even bison would all be delicious. If using wild game meat, freeze the whole cuts for a few weeks before thawing and proceeding to help keep any parasites in check. Probably be killer if you happened to have some Impala, Springbok or Wildebeast taking up space in your larder...

Salt. Any fine grained salt without additives is preferred. Himalayan pink, Morton's pickling salt, sea salt, etc. Avoid table salt with iodine as the iodine can impart bitterness. I use a bucket of fine grained salt I got from a butcher supply that I'm trying to finish up. The fine grained part here is key: it enables easy blending of other ingredients (Instacure#1 and brown sugar), and makes for more uniform application/distribution of them over the meat.

Instacure#1 (aka: pink salt, nitrite cure, etc) - OPTIONAL. I say optional as there are recipes that don't use it. I've used it in bacon, Canadian Bacon and other cuts for years, and it doesn't concern me - its another safety measure. Some people freak out about it - concerned about the nitrite it contains. Yet those same people eat tons of other foods that contain nitrite without batting an eyelash. The amount I use here is miniscule, but do as you see fit. If you want to omit it, I suggest you study up a bit, find another recipe and/or jack the salt content up to 2.5% or more.

Brown sugar. Use a slightly darker sugar for the added minerals, but really even plain ass white sugar works. Demerarra or maple sugar might be nice if you have it, but its such a small component it probably won't make a difference.

Black pepper. Use whole peppercorns and grind it fresh and coarse.

Coriander. Freshly ground whole seeds preferred. I dump them in the grinder with the pepper and do them both at once.

Vinegar. Apple cider is traditional. Malt vinegar might be nice. You could probably use any vinegar you want here as long as its 5% acidity. Might pass on basalmic vinegar until after you've made a couple batches though. NOTE: This is probably the most important ingredient on the list. While the salt, Instacure and drying are the ultimate preservatives here, the vinegar lowers the pH of the meat to keep harmful bacteria in check until some drying occurs and the salt takes over that job.

QUANTITIES

I'll list quantities assuming you have EXACTLY 1 kilogram/1,000 grams of lean, trimmed, prepared meat. A 2.5 pound hunk of Eye of Round (pic8.co) fresh from the butcher will usually trim out to about 2.25 pounds of lean meat - about as close as you can get to a kilogram. For the math inclined, a pound equals 453.6 grams. The salt and Instacure#1 are precisely weighed based on meat weight, while the brown sugar, vinegar, coriander and black pepper are common table measures. Scale/proportion everything accordingly.

1,000 grams lean, trimmed meat with the fat and silverskin removed (pic8.co) and cut into 3/8" (1 cm) wide strips parallel with the grain of the meat (pic8.co). Pieces shouldn't exceed 6 or so inches in length - dependent on the depth of your drying apparatus. 17.50 grams salt (1.75% of meat weight) 1.25 grams Instacure#1 (0.125% of meat weight) 1 teaspoon brown sugar 1 fluid ounce (30 ml) apple cider vinegar 1 Tablespoon whole black peppercorns 1 Tablespoon whole coriander seeds

INSTUCTIONS

Measure and mix (pic8.co) the salt, Instacure and sugar together well in a bowl. Set aside. This is your cure mixture. (pic8.co)
Measure vinegar and set aside.
Measure pepper and coriander. (pic8.co) Grind coarsely, mix together and set aside. This is your spice mix. (pic8.co) Now that everything is prepped, (pic8.co) here's how it goes together.
Lay out your trimmed meat in your pan or on a cutting board. If using a cutting board, keep the pieces abutting so that the cure mixture stays concentrated on the meat. Sprinkle approximately 1/2 of the cure mixture evenly across the top of the meat, (pic8.co) and gently rub it in with your hand to spread it. Flip the meat over, and apply the other half of the cure mixture in similar fashion. Note: If curing in a plastic ziplock bag, transfer the meat into it now along with as much of the cure mixture stuck on the cutting board as possible. From here on out, ad lib the remaining steps.
Lightly sprinkle the vinegar over the surface of the meat, smearing it around so that all pieces are wetted. (pic8.co) There should be small drops scattered here and there but you don't want an excess such that the meat is now swimming in vinegar (dilutes the salt, potentially leaving too much in the pan when it comes time to dry it).
Scatter half of the spice mix across the top of the meat and press it in. Turn all the pieces over, then add remaining spice mix in similar fashion. (pic8.co)
Cover up your tray/seal your bag, place in the refrigerator and let sit for a day.
The day after (pic8.co) starting your cure, retrieve your tray from the frig, open it up, turn each piece over (pic8.co) and massage/move them around a bit to aggitate disperse any liquid and spices. Stick It back in the frig for another day, and you're done. If you're curing in a ziplock bag, just mash and squish everything with your hands for 30 seconds or so - no need to even open it.

The gist of this process is that the "preservatives" (salt, cure and vinegar) are afforded an opportunity to permeate and disperse within the meat before drying. Ditto the spices. You don't want to let this sit in the frig for days on end before drying though, as the action of the vinegar would tend to start breaking down the meat - assuming there is enough to do so. Some recipes actually call for drying to start one day after applying the cure and vinegar. Accordingly, don't start a batch unless you're confident you can get it drying two days later.

Seeing how I've now got a batch in process, it won't be too long before Part II makes an appearance. Stay tuned...

A couple of you previously indicated you make - or have made - biltong. With deer season nearing, I thought this might be a good time to do a demo for you - plus my supply is getting low after Mrs. Duck and I visited the Black Hills last month so... I don't post much in the way of meaningful political/social content here (but I appreciate that others do - that's why I'm here), so this is one way I can give back. LORE For those that aren't familiar with it, biltong is a minimally processed lean meat that is preserved by acidifying, salting and air drying. It originated with the Boers of South Africa, who quickly processed, salted, seasoned and hung freshly killed game/bush meat out to dry. What resulted was a very stable and portable protein source that didn't require refrigeration. In this regard its a handy - and tasty - tool you can add to your preps. Today there are many more tools available to us and we understand food safety and bacterialogic processes much more, but the basic process remains the same as before: Prepare and salt/season the meat, air dry it and then store for use. Its principal difference from jerky is that it doesn't require a heated drying environment. You could spend a lot of time reviewing literature on food safety, curing science, etc., but at its simplest level you only need to know this one thing: - You really have to work at it to screw this up and make yourself sick. Pay attention to the cleanliness of yourself, your tools and work surfaces; use decent quality meat where you know how it was handled; keep your meat at proper temperatures before and during salting/curing; be methodical and reasonably precise in measuring and applying salt and cure agents and wear gloves when working with raw meat. EQUIPMENT Cutting board, sharp knives (chef, boning and/or butcher depending on size and state of your primal meat cut), scales (one with +/- 10 gram accuracy for weighing meat and another smaller one with +/- 0.1 gram accuracy for salt and curing agents), a container to cure in (I use a half size polycarbonate steam table food tray with lid, but a glass/ceramic casserole dish with a lid, stainless steel pan with saran wrap over the top or even a ziplock bag will work), a couple small bowls to hold dry ingredients, a small measuring cup for liquids, a pepper grinder (optional) to freshly grind spices and food-safe gloves to wear during preparation. INGREDIENTS I would note that I've read several recipes, and that they are all similar. Ones from South African almost universally called for [black pepper, coriander and cider vinegar](https://pic8.co/sh/nVyWHI.jpg), so that is what I initially used. I messed around by adding garlic and then trying onion on a couple batches, but they added nothing and muddied the flavor of the beef so I finally returned to the recipe roots. I wouldn't call this an authentic Boer recipe, but the spices/flavor profile should be authentic. To wit... Lean meat. I use beef eye of round, but any lean cut with long parallel meat grain is ideal. Rump roast and brisket could work well if trimmed out cleanly. Venison, elk, pronghorn and even bison would all be delicious. If using wild game meat, freeze the whole cuts for a few weeks before thawing and proceeding to help keep any parasites in check. Probably be killer if you happened to have some Impala, Springbok or Wildebeast taking up space in your larder... Salt. Any fine grained salt without additives is preferred. Himalayan pink, Morton's pickling salt, sea salt, etc. Avoid table salt with iodine as the iodine can impart bitterness. I use a bucket of fine grained salt I got from a butcher supply that I'm trying to finish up. The fine grained part here is key: it enables easy blending of other ingredients (Instacure#1 and brown sugar), and makes for more uniform application/distribution of them over the meat. Instacure#1 (aka: pink salt, nitrite cure, etc) - OPTIONAL. I say optional as there are recipes that don't use it. I've used it in bacon, Canadian Bacon and other cuts for years, and it doesn't concern me - its another safety measure. Some people freak out about it - concerned about the nitrite it contains. Yet those same people eat tons of other foods that contain nitrite without batting an eyelash. The amount I use here is miniscule, but do as you see fit. If you want to omit it, I suggest you study up a bit, find another recipe and/or jack the salt content up to 2.5% or more. Brown sugar. Use a slightly darker sugar for the added minerals, but really even plain ass white sugar works. Demerarra or maple sugar might be nice if you have it, but its such a small component it probably won't make a difference. Black pepper. Use whole peppercorns and grind it fresh and coarse. Coriander. Freshly ground whole seeds preferred. I dump them in the grinder with the pepper and do them both at once. Vinegar. Apple cider is traditional. Malt vinegar might be nice. You could probably use any vinegar you want here as long as its 5% acidity. Might pass on basalmic vinegar until after you've made a couple batches though. NOTE: This is probably the most important ingredient on the list. While the salt, Instacure and drying are the ultimate preservatives here, the vinegar lowers the pH of the meat to keep harmful bacteria in check until some drying occurs and the salt takes over that job. QUANTITIES I'll list quantities assuming you have EXACTLY 1 kilogram/1,000 grams of lean, trimmed, prepared meat. A 2.5 pound hunk of [Eye of Round](https://pic8.co/sh/144KsI.jpg) fresh from the butcher will usually trim out to about 2.25 pounds of lean meat - about as close as you can get to a kilogram. For the math inclined, a pound equals 453.6 grams. The salt and Instacure#1 are precisely weighed based on meat weight, while the brown sugar, vinegar, coriander and black pepper are common table measures. Scale/proportion everything accordingly. 1,000 grams lean, trimmed meat with the [fat and silverskin removed](https://pic8.co/sh/pEnYI1.jpg) and cut into 3/8" (1 cm) wide strips parallel with the [grain of the meat](https://pic8.co/sh/vkT0lq.jpg). Pieces shouldn't exceed 6 or so inches in length - dependent on the depth of your drying apparatus. 17.50 grams salt (1.75% of meat weight) 1.25 grams Instacure#1 (0.125% of meat weight) 1 teaspoon brown sugar 1 fluid ounce (30 ml) apple cider vinegar 1 Tablespoon whole black peppercorns 1 Tablespoon whole coriander seeds INSTUCTIONS 1. [Measure and mix](https://pic8.co/sh/lykWCB.jpg) the salt, Instacure and sugar together well in a bowl. Set aside. This is your [cure mixture.](https://pic8.co/sh/MWG0fE.jpg) 2. Measure vinegar and set aside. 3. Measure [pepper and coriander.](https://pic8.co/sh/AYVPt7.jpg) Grind coarsely, mix together and set aside. This is your [spice mix.](https://pic8.co/sh/gEnmxv.jpg) Now that everything is [prepped,](https://pic8.co/sh/N6VOZ7.jpg) here's how it goes together. 4. Lay out your trimmed meat in your pan or on a cutting board. If using a cutting board, keep the pieces abutting so that the cure mixture stays concentrated on the meat. Sprinkle approximately 1/2 of the cure mixture evenly across the [top of the meat,](https://pic8.co/sh/nZMIRe.jpg) and gently rub it in with your hand to spread it. Flip the meat over, and apply the other half of the cure mixture in similar fashion. Note: If curing in a plastic ziplock bag, transfer the meat into it now along with as much of the cure mixture stuck on the cutting board as possible. From here on out, ad lib the remaining steps. 5. Lightly sprinkle the vinegar over the surface of the meat, smearing it around so that all pieces [are wetted.](https://pic8.co/sh/CvDsh8.jpg) There should be small drops scattered here and there but you don't want an excess such that the meat is now swimming in vinegar (dilutes the salt, potentially leaving too much in the pan when it comes time to dry it). 6. Scatter half of the spice mix across the top of the meat and press it in. Turn all the pieces over, then add remaining spice mix in [similar fashion.](https://pic8.co/sh/Xoil2g.jpg) 7. Cover up your tray/seal your bag, place in the refrigerator and let sit for a day. 8. The [day after](https://pic8.co/sh/OHSSLC.jpg) starting your cure, retrieve your tray from the frig, open it up, [turn each piece over](https://pic8.co/sh/MZcz5z.jpg) and massage/move them around a bit to aggitate disperse any liquid and spices. Stick It back in the frig for another day, and you're done. If you're curing in a ziplock bag, just mash and squish everything with your hands for 30 seconds or so - no need to even open it. The gist of this process is that the "preservatives" (salt, cure and vinegar) are afforded an opportunity to permeate and disperse within the meat before drying. Ditto the spices. You don't want to let this sit in the frig for days on end before drying though, as the action of the vinegar would tend to start breaking down the meat - assuming there is enough to do so. Some recipes actually call for drying to start one day after applying the cure and vinegar. Accordingly, don't start a batch unless you're confident you can get it drying two days later. Seeing how I've now got a batch in process, it won't be too long before Part II makes an appearance. Stay tuned...