Just thought that you might be interested in trying some Biltong when you make up your next batch of Jerky.
----------------------------------
If you are interested, you will need the following:
Only good cuts of venison (preferably from the two back strap fillets and the back leg muscles). Don’t skimp here, remember you will lose up to half the weight and size in drying.
2½ cups coarse salt.
½ cup ground black pepper.
1 cup FRESHLY ground coriander seeds, husks and all.
1 bottle of brown grape vinegar (1 pint is plenty).
1 large plastic bucket, something wide and shallow as opposed to deep - an old baby bath is ideal. Do not use a metal container.
1 smaller plastic bowl – about 8’’ in diameter.
Wire hooks (‘s’ shaped like miniature butcher’s hooks) – folding out paper clips works quite well.
A wire chicken mesh screen fixed to the roof or ceiling, or anything suitable to hang meat from, lengths of string or wire are not suitable.
When working the back leg, separate the individual muscles, and trim as required - sinew is to be avoided. Cut the meat into thick slices about ¾ to 1’’ thick, and as wide and long as the muscle will allow. Add some small cuts too……for testers (nibbles) while you wait.
--------------------------------------
Mix all the dry ingredients together in the plastic bowl.
Punch a small hole or two into the top of the vinegar bottle top.
--------------------------------------
Sprinkle a little vinegar onto the bottom of the big plastic bowl – just enough to wet the bottom.
Then take a handful of dry ingredients and sprinkle them over the bottom so that they completely cover the base of the bowl.
Now lay the strips of meat down on the mixture, packing them together side by side.
Sprinkle the same amount of vinegar and dry ingredients again onto the exposed top layer of the meat and add another layer of meat on, keep repeating this process until all the meat is used.
Allow the meat to sit in this brine marinade for 12-24 hrs.
Then take each piece of meat and push through one end of a hook into the thinnest part, (the salt will gravitate down to the end – that’s why the bottom should be the thickest part) and hang it up from the wire mesh, making sure the pieces do not touch each other – which is why a wire mesh is better than string, all the pieces will slide together if you use string.
Put newspaper under the meat because it will drip a vinegar/salt liquid for about half a day, that will corrode most things.
You can begin to eat the meat after about one week – depending on thickness and weather conditions. I like it so that the outside layer has a thick black skin, but the inside is still a little moist. The longer it dries the saltier it will get. A small fan will speed things up.
---------------------------------------
You cannot make Biltong if the air has moisture in it, so if you have a dryer then use it, otherwise wait until the air is dry. In South Africa the winter (hunting season) is cold and dry – no rain in winter – so it’s perfect time to make Biltong. I put the wire screen under the roof extensions of my house, that way I can see the Biltong at a glance (to count them), it is open to the breeze, in the shade and too high for dogs and little children to steal – at biltong time my whole family turn into hunger craved Jackals.
The quantities given here are approximates only you can adjust to suit, just don’t under do the salt.
Best enjoyed while drinking a cold beer and watching something……..some sport, a log fire, TV, pretty girls…….anything will do!
Thanks for the Jerky recipes I am going to try it this coming season.
Bush baby