Survival/Camping food recipe BILTONG

Im a recipe and cooking nerd.. and also a thrivalist/survivalist, so I always keep an eye out for recipes that I can apply. This is a South African recipe for Biltong, its drive food and sort of like Jerky. Good for camping!

Ingredients needed to make South African biltong:

- Beef
- Rock Salt
- Coarse ground black pepper
- Coarse ground coriander
- Apple cider vinegar

How to make biltong:

1. Cut your beef into strips. The strips should be cut with the grain, about 6 inches long and a half-inch thick. Depending how you want your biltong, you can cut your beef to your own specifications. Once you have cut your beef into strips, sprinkle some rock salt on each side of the pieces and let it stand for an hour. If you let it stand for longer, your biltong will be more saltier in the end.

2. After you have left your beef pieces to stand for about an hour, you can now scrape off all the excess rock salt with a knife. Once done, pour some apple cider vinegar into a bowl and dip the beef strips into the vinegar for a second or two. Although apple cider vinegar is recommended, any vinegar will do.

3. Now sprinkle some coarse ground black pepper and ground coriander over the meat on both sides. These mixtures are standard and you could always try add some of your own spices to give your biltong that consistent and special taste. What ever tickles your fancy. Leave your biltong to stand overnight. Your biltong is now ready to dry.

4. When it comes to drying biltong, you have several options and methods. The first method many people use is to hang it in a cool place and have a fan blowing on it. However, this method can spoil your biltong due to the air humidity. Second method is the biltong box which is more reliable. The biltong box can either be purchased (best option), as they go for cheap or it can be home made. The biltong box as the name implies, is a small wooden box with a 60 watt lightbulb inside. Once your biltong i splaced inside the bilton box, switch on the bulb and leave for 3 – 4 days to dry. Make sure the box has a few holes as this promotes good circulation inside the biltong box.

So how do you know when your biltong is ready? You will know its ready when the biltong is hard and brown on the outside, but slightly moist and red on the inside. If however, the biltong has turned green, do not eat! Thats it!



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One of the staples of the South African diet, South African biltong is a type of drive meat that is used to carry along with the hiker as they go. It has become more than simply a meat or product that is used by the traveler however. Aside from this it is also a staple food of the people of South Africa and is in fact considered a delicacy by many people, depending on what it is made of.
southafricanrecipes.org...


Personally Ive tried this with venison and bison.. works fine and is just liek jerky. Try different dry spices to your own taste.
Bon Apetit!

reply to post by Advantage


OMG, I love Biltong !!! Especially Impala or Kudu, Eland, even Waterbuck. Warthog biltong is a bit bitter, but whatever works in a pinch eh? I have had the bovine biltong in Canada from Fraser's, I wasn't terribly impressed, it was sliced a tad too thick. Now, Hypermarket in Germiston (or maybe it was Alberton) had a really nice extremely tasty almost paper thin biltong that was moist rather than dry.

One of these days when I get some time, I am gonna build me a biltong dryer (which is pretty easy actually) and skewer me a deer, that should turn the trick ;-)

Cheers - Dave

Originally posted by bobs_uruncle
reply to post by Advantage

 

OMG, I love Biltong !!! Especially Impala or Kudu, Eland, even Waterbuck. Warthog biltong is a bit bitter, but whatever works in a pinch eh? I have had the bovine biltong in Canada from Fraser's, I wasn't terribly impressed, it was sliced a tad too thick. Now, Hypermarket in Germiston (or maybe it was Alberton) had a really nice extremely tasty almost paper thin biltong that was moist rather than dry.

One of these days when I get some time, I am gonna build me a biltong dryer (which is pretty easy actually) and skewer me a deer, that should turn the trick ;-)

Cheers - Dave

edit on 11/4.2011 by bobs_uruncle because: (no reason given)

LOL!! Check this out.. I have links to the strangest things. A biltong dryer made out of a plastic bin.

pretoria.olx.co.za...

Before people had refrigeration meat was salted smoked or pickled.

There is a good audio book out there Salt:A world History which goes into great depth all about how salt was used to preserve everything in the past. Plenty of recipes from ancient times direct from ancient records.

Its worth a listen if you find the audio book.

As you say if the meat is green don't eat it, well, its good to learn how to preserve meat properly because of course you can quite easily die from botulism poisoning.

You would be better off smoke drying the meat, than just sitting it under light bulbs.

Pepper and coriander is used in pickling as is vinegar. Salt is used to kill the bacteria.

What you have there is a partially picked dried beef, that would maybe keep for a while and maybe not.

Smoked it would have a longer storage life but still, beef jerky is smoked and dried.

Bacteria don't do well where it is dry. They don't do well where it is sweet either. That is why honey, will last forever. It has a shelf life of forever.

Originally posted by Rocketman7
Before people had refrigeration meat was salted smoked or pickled.

There is a good audio book out there Salt:A world History which goes into great depth all about how salt was used to preserve everything in the past. Plenty of recipes from ancient times direct from ancient records.

Its worth a listen if you find the audio book.

As you say if the meat is green don't eat it, well, its good to learn how to preserve meat properly because of course you can quite easily die from botulism poisoning.

You would be better off smoke drying the meat, than just sitting it under light bulbs.

Pepper and coriander is used in pickling as is vinegar. Salt is used to kill the bacteria.

What you have there is a partially picked dried beef, that would maybe keep for a while and maybe not.

Smoked it would have a longer storage life but still, beef jerky is smoked and dried.

Bacteria don't do well where it is dry. They don't do well where it is sweet either. That is why honey, will last forever. It has a shelf life of forever.

I didnt say if it gets green.. the link did and I included what was in the link verbatim. I make Pemmican and Jerky.. never gets green. Usually thats due to eating it before it could possibly turn green, but actually if done right it will last a long time. It doesnt last indefinitely regardless of your technique. I just discovered Biltong a few months ago when a returning friend came fro SA for a visit. I have to say, its good.

reply to post by Advantage


I would never use plastic! That would just be insulting to the meat. Na, I'll grab some nice pine or oak just now and use the neighbors table saw. I have plans kicking around, they aren't real hard, just a bit of wood for a box with airflow and an incandescent lamp (I saved all my barely used ones, I hate those mercury things).

Ever had a biltong, mozzarella cheese and onion omelet with a bit of red pepper? They are sooooo good and inexpensive too! I should have been born a SAfer, rather than just have lived there...

Cheers - Dave

Originally posted by Advantage

Originally posted by Rocketman7
Before people had refrigeration meat was salted smoked or pickled.

There is a good audio book out there Salt:A world History which goes into great depth all about how salt was used to preserve everything in the past. Plenty of recipes from ancient times direct from ancient records.

Its worth a listen if you find the audio book.

As you say if the meat is green don't eat it, well, its good to learn how to preserve meat properly because of course you can quite easily die from botulism poisoning.

You would be better off smoke drying the meat, than just sitting it under light bulbs.

Pepper and coriander is used in pickling as is vinegar. Salt is used to kill the bacteria.

What you have there is a partially picked dried beef, that would maybe keep for a while and maybe not.

Smoked it would have a longer storage life but still, beef jerky is smoked and dried.

Bacteria don't do well where it is dry. They don't do well where it is sweet either. That is why honey, will last forever. It has a shelf life of forever.

I didnt say if it gets green.. the link did and I included what was in the link verbatim. I make Pemmican and Jerky.. never gets green. Usually thats due to eating it before it could possibly turn green, but actually if done right it will last a long time. It doesnt last indefinitely regardless of your technique. I just discovered Biltong a few months ago when a returning friend came fro SA for a visit. I have to say, its good.

edit on 4-11-2011 by Advantage because: (no reason given)

I am sure it must be good if everyone is eating it. Different types of animals used also by the sounds of it.

The only thing that scares me about that technique is knowing how food is salted in the past.

Read this brief article...

The following passage from John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" describes the process briefly:

Noah carried the slabs of meat into the kitchen and cut it into small salting blocks, and Ma patted the course salt in, laid it piece by piece in the kegs, careful that no two pieces touched each other. She laid the slabs like bricks, and pounded salt in the spaces.

This technique creates a keg (a wooden barrel) full of salt and meat. This technique is ancient. You can read about its use during the sailing voyages around the time of Columbus. Many accounts of the Revolutionary War and especially the Civil War talk about meat preserved in this way. Salting was used to preserve meat up through the middle of this century, and was eventually replaced by refrigeration and freezing.:

You see salted, pounded to remove air, and stored in salt.
If you just salt it for a few hours, then add vinegar you are not even pickling it. Pickling cucumbers, you soak cucumbers in 10% salt brine for 2 weeks, then store them in vinegar.

Originally posted by bobs_uruncle
reply to post by Advantage

 

I would never use plastic! That would just be insulting to the meat. Na, I'll grab some nice pine or oak just now and use the neighbors table saw. I have plans kicking around, they aren't real hard, just a bit of wood for a box with airflow and an incandescent lamp (I saved all my barely used ones, I hate those mercury things).

Ever had a biltong, mozzarella cheese and onion omelet with a bit of red pepper? They are sooooo good and inexpensive too! I should have been born a SAfer, rather than just have lived there...

Cheers - Dave

No.. Ive never had that! I was showing her my solar dryer and "other" pantry and she said she wanted to show me biltong.. so we thawed out a leg of venison and some bison roast.. and she made it. Now Im hooked! It has a different taste due to the vinegar that I like. She also gave me the recipe for Koeksisters ....another SA treat.. if you want the recipe for that if you dont have it already.. I can u2u it SA is one place we have never been, but Ive seen some of it and heard about it from a poster here I talk to. He was telling us about the SA braai in chat.. and all I have to say is Id love to go there!!

Originally posted by Rocketman7

Originally posted by Advantage

Originally posted by Rocketman7
Before people had refrigeration meat was salted smoked or pickled.

There is a good audio book out there Salt:A world History which goes into great depth all about how salt was used to preserve everything in the past. Plenty of recipes from ancient times direct from ancient records.

Its worth a listen if you find the audio book.

As you say if the meat is green don't eat it, well, its good to learn how to preserve meat properly because of course you can quite easily die from botulism poisoning.

You would be better off smoke drying the meat, than just sitting it under light bulbs.

Pepper and coriander is used in pickling as is vinegar. Salt is used to kill the bacteria.

What you have there is a partially picked dried beef, that would maybe keep for a while and maybe not.

Smoked it would have a longer storage life but still, beef jerky is smoked and dried.

Bacteria don't do well where it is dry. They don't do well where it is sweet either. That is why honey, will last forever. It has a shelf life of forever.

I didnt say if it gets green.. the link did and I included what was in the link verbatim. I make Pemmican and Jerky.. never gets green. Usually thats due to eating it before it could possibly turn green, but actually if done right it will last a long time. It doesnt last indefinitely regardless of your technique. I just discovered Biltong a few months ago when a returning friend came fro SA for a visit. I have to say, its good.

edit on 4-11-2011 by Advantage because: (no reason given)

I am sure it must be good if everyone is eating it. Different types of animals used also by the sounds of it.

The only thing that scares me about that technique is knowing how food is salted in the past.

Read this brief article...

The following passage from John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" describes the process briefly:

Noah carried the slabs of meat into the kitchen and cut it into small salting blocks, and Ma patted the course salt in, laid it piece by piece in the kegs, careful that no two pieces touched each other. She laid the slabs like bricks, and pounded salt in the spaces.

This technique creates a keg (a wooden barrel) full of salt and meat. This technique is ancient. You can read about its use during the sailing voyages around the time of Columbus. Many accounts of the Revolutionary War and especially the Civil War talk about meat preserved in this way. Salting was used to preserve meat up through the middle of this century, and was eventually replaced by refrigeration and freezing.:

You see salted, pounded to remove air, and stored in salt.
If you just salt it for a few hours, then add vinegar you are not even pickling it. Pickling cucumbers, you soak cucumbers in 10% salt brine for 2 weeks, then store them in vinegar.

edit on 4-11-2011 by Rocketman7 because: added info

I kind of think like many recipes, even for jerky, its more of a daily recipe and not used for long term. Like the other poster said with his recipe.. it doesnt seem to be the same as the drive meats but a take off of it. The pemmican I make IS a long term one, but the jerky Id not leave around long personally. There are many recipes for Biltong out there.. but I have seen none myself that are for true long term storage. In teh manner we eat jerky now.. a few days in the bag.. it works.

TY for posting your info

Wouldnt you vinegar as step one? so you do not soak out the salts.

reply to post by Advantage


I've got a recipe around here for Boervoers some place. It's a very gamey kind of sausage we used to cook up at brais along with the tenderloin. If you are in the Toronto area, you can get these things along with a lot of South African products at Baxter's (I think I said Fraser's before, a slip up on my part). Last time I was there about 6 years ago, they had Snook and Kingklip as well. I believe they are on Eglinton Avenue East now, somewhere between Victoria Park Ave and Bermondsey Ave. I haven't been down that way in ages, but last time I checked they had moved to that new location. They also do mail and I think delivery as well.

I lived and worked in South Africa for four years and stayed in at least one game farm a month. They always seemed to have game farms near military bases LOL.

Cheers - Dave

You could use this method to dry your meat. It is real simple. I haven't tried it yet but I have the meat in my freezer waiting for a slow day this winter to make it. Forward the video to 5:40 to see the actual method.