Monday, August 29, 2011

Making Blouwildebeest Biltong. Part 1

I thought I would share with you all how we make biltong from the meat of the blouwildebeest Cules hunted on Friday. The carcass has been hanging in a huge fridge since then and Cules went to fetch it this morning to carve the meat into the required sizes (strips) He concentrated first on the back and hindquarters and the rest of the meat have been frozen until he gets to hunt a bush pig whose meat  will  get mixed together with the blouwildebeest  meat and then be processed into cabbanossi,cheese grillers,salami and such.

Here goes:




First you get all your ingredients together...Fluids goes in first,brown spirit vinegar and Worcester sauce,Golden Brown sugar, whatever biltong spice you prefer, we love Safari Biltong spice for game meat.






Close up of spices...loads of coriander!





First step is to cover the bottom of  your meat tub with the fluids...brown spirit vinegar and Worcester sauce in our case...

Then a fine sprinkling of  golden brown sugar...





VERY LITTLE SUGAR! !

Like above..





.....then the spices...

.......like this...






Then you start to layer your meat neatly on top of  the vinegar,Worcester sauce,golden brown sugar and spices..

This is where it is a lot like making lasagna..., layer, repeat.....repeat....




Fluids,sugar,spice on top of first layer.....





The second layer of meat gets stacked ACROSS like this...

I asked Cules why he stacks it across...

His answer; 

 His Dad taught him to do it this way!





Third layer of meat...repeat all the above steps..

Like making macaroni cheese...remember?

Or was that lasagna?????

Whatever...





Until you have used up all your meat..





Like so..

Repeat one last time,fluids,golden brown sugar and spices...

You then cover this with a towel and let it sit in a cool place for the whole day..(In our case,the kitchen)

Remember to start making your biltong early in the morning so it has plenty of time to sit in the vinegar mix.

Late tonight Cules will put his hands into the tub of meat and mix it right through..,messing up the neat layers and let it sit overnight...

Tomorrow he will put hooks in the biltong pieces and hang them in a cool,dry place with at least three fans blowing on it full time, like a porch for instance...or a garage..just don't park your car underneath the biltong as the vinegar drips off something terrible at first.

Depending on how thick your slices of meat is,and the humidity (not a good thing) or the dryness of the air (a good thing) which is why we only make biltong during winter..,your biltong should be ready in one to two weeks.



16 comments:

  1. so, i guess this is like what we refer to as beef jerky? spicy, dried meat strips - a bit tough but lots of flavor! :)

    i hope you get some good drying weather then!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Theresa,I believe there is a big difference between jerky and biltong in that biltong is made from much thicker and bigger strips of meat and also no direct heat/sun involved with making biltong...South Africans who have eaten jerky in the USA always say there is no comparison!! I have never tasted jerky so wouldn't know about the difference in taste..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Interesting. Bet it tastes good.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't actually imagine what it tastes like Liesl. It certainly sounds good though. I'll pop over later in the month to try it, OK? :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. @ Craig, you are most welcome!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh wow my mouth is watering nothing better than biltong...... It is a struggle to get good biltong in the UK and in France....... I had a great mixture of spices that I brought from S.A. but I have now run out!!!! This post has done me no good at all as now I just long for some good biltong :-( Craig you do not know what you are missing. Diane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Came across this post, there is a company in East Yorkshire called Barefoot Biltong they make some really good biltong in the UK. There Boerwose is also ace just like I remember it from back home, best thing is that they only charge a £3.00 anywhere in the UK they also ship to EU but no clue on those prices.i highly recommend these guys

      Delete
  7. Wow! That's a fun looking recipe. Samples for us all?:))

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks great. My wife just loves;) when I make jerky and it smells up the whole house. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Liesl .. looks wonderful and so glad you posted how it's made. I'm not that keen on biltong - get hooked and eat too much!

    Saw it hanging to dry in Botswana up in the Okavango Delta ..

    Do you not make the rest of the meat into boerewors .. or is it only cabanossi etc ... ?

    There's a place that sells biltong down here .. I'll remember the name and details .. and let Diane know.

    Cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very interesting! Love where you live and the photography... come visit me in the Ozark mountains!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Not sure what to compare it to state-wise. I love to learn what others are fixing for meals in different parts of our country and world. How long does this process take? Debi

    ReplyDelete
  12. This looks interesting and I would love to know what it tastes like.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well now isn't this interesting...it's like our beef jerky! That meat looks delicious...looking forward to seeing the finished product! Wish I could smell it ;)
    Have a great day.
    Maura :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. As you know this post was educational for more than one of us! Thanks for going to the trouble! I've learned from my South African friend here how to pronounce all the exotic words on your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Now there is biltong, a healthy meat that can stay for years and has many nutrients such as protein, iron, phosphorous, zinc, magnesium, vitamin B12 and thiamine. You can serve this as a snack and as a meal during lunch or dinner time. It can be mixed with any kind of spices or ingredients that you have and you can smell the delicious aroma of the food. This can also be added to a muffin, salad or you can serve this fresh from the pack as a snack. It can also be made as a spread to give a different taste to your sandwich.

    ReplyDelete

Hi,thank you for stopping by "A Little African Magic" and joining my adventures in South Africa. I do enjoy and appreciate to hear from each and every one of you!