If you think making your own biltong is hard, you are wrong. The procedures do not require any exceptional skill to make a really delicious homemade biltong. What makes it difficult is the waiting period. You have to wait for at least 5-10 days before you can have this savory snack into your mouth.

Just like other recipes, the first thing to do is to gathering all ingredients. Meat, vinegar, rock salt, and all the spices should be on your working table. But what meat is biltong? Traditionally, biltong can be beef or meat of ostrich or kudu. However, because of the availability and affordability of beef, it is the likely meat of choice of many.

After gathering all the ingredients, here’s what you should do.

Preparing Your Biltong

For best results you should have chosen organic grass-fed beef which you should slice into about 2 inches wide and 1 inch deep. In a large bowl, mix ¼ sauce and ¼ white vinegar and immerse the beef strips for 3-4 hours. With the meat absorbing the mixture, the curing process has just started.

After the 3-4 hours has elapsed, remove meat from the mixture, squeeze, and pat dry. Do not throw the mixture as you will need it later.

The next step is to layer the meat strips in a container with all the spices on it. Leave it for at least 6 hours. To remove spices that are attached on the meat use the mixture of vinegar and sauce to wash the meat of any residue of the spices. The meat is now ready for drying.

This step may only take 15 minutes of your time.

Drying the Biltong

After removing the spice from the beef strips, you can now put hooks at one end of the meat strips and hang them on the biltong box. Choose a place that is isolated and well-ventilated to hang your biltong box. You may have to wait for 5-10 for your biltong to be ready.

To know if the biltong is ready, do the squeeze test. If you squeeze and there is a squeezy feel, it means that your biltong is ready.

Storing Your Biltong

If you made more than enough biltong, you should know how to store it. If you only made a few strips of meat, there may be nothing to store.

Biltong can last for a few days when it is placed in a dry but cool place. You can pack it in a paper bag or any container. But when you refrigerate it, it can last for a year or so.…