Home made Beef Jerky / Biltong
 

Had my first crack at making it and I must say, it turned out bloody orrite if I do say so myself. I got myself a food dehydrator of good ol eBay and away I went. Worked a treat.

Has anyone else on here done this? if so, what recipes have you used?

Got some mates that do this. Goes down a treat with beer. Peri Peri, chilli, salt and pepper are all good ingredients :) What kind of meat and such are you using?

Yeah, I'm South African so it's in the blood.

Dehydrators work alright but nothing like a good box hanging from your patio to air dry it properly.

Apple cider vinegar, coriander & rock salt are the standard base then add from there.

[QUOTE=RichX;520878]Goes down a treat with beer. Peri Peri, chilli, salt and pepper are all good ingredients :)[/QUOTE]

Requesting a like button for this recipe :thumbsup:

Being a biltong / jerky fan all my life the best billtong I ever had was when I was in Botswana at Xakanaxa Camp in the Moremi Delta.

Peri Peri, chilli, salt and pepper was what the chef told me.

They are some bloody good ideas. Round 2 coming up soon.
As for the air dry on the patio, I want it sometime this year.
For my first crack, I threw in 1/2 bottle of Tabasco, 1/2 big bottle of sweet chilli sauce, 1/2 cup water, 200ml of soy, same of Worcestershire, cinnamon, ginger, perri perri grinder (I'll use the sauce next time) + a couple of other things that I forget.
I forgot to add garlic and a bit of sugar but there is always next time.

I'm a Safa and we built our dehydrator out of an old draw with an extractor fan from a toilet haha. Works fantastically.

As for what you can use on your meat before you dehydrate it I think my old man gets Braai flakes or Biltong flavouring from Cape to Cairo in Ruse St, Osborne Park.

Best shit to bring back the memories! :rolleyes:

Zuet boys coming out of the wood work for this thread ;)

Air dried under the patio in 3-4 days this time of year.

Cut your meat, lay it out and cover in average amount of rock salt then leave for 40 mins - 1 hour. Dip meat in apple cider vinegar removing excess salt and lay out. Shake on dried coriander, pepper, death rain and whatever else you fancy. Hook it up and hang in drying box.

You won't regret it.

[QUOTE=KouNtS_UtM;520916]Air dried under the patio in 3-4 days this time of year.

Cut your meat, lay it out and cover in average amount of rock salt then leave for 40 mins - 1 hour. Dip meat in apple cider vinegar removing excess salt and lay out. Shake on dried coriander, pepper, death rain and whatever else you fancy. Hook it up and hang in drying box.

You won't regret it.[/QUOTE]

In the recipe book for prosperity.

A guy at work does his own and sells it to other staff, it's up there with the best biltong i've had. He actually buys liquid smoke to give it a smoky flavour, and then different degrees of chilli/spices

Stuff jerky got to be biltong and yes some say there is no difference but there is.... South Africa/Botswana/Zimbabwe makes me wanna go go back for a while... Cape to Cairo in Ozzie Park sell all you need from marinade to boxes for those ready for the challenge. Some good sounding mixes mentioned. If only we could some decent game like Kudu to make biltong..... drool

Maybe someone would like to recommend the Kudu comparison for Australia?

agreed, the meat used definitely makes massive difference

[url]http://www.mcd.com.au/game_meats.php[/url]

looks like you'll find all the game meat you want from here...

Would love to try some home made chilli or peri peri stokies or jerky!!!

Can you still buy Road Kill, I think a guy in Exmouth used to make it and sell it in some pubs, best I've ever had.
Wouldn't mind trying to make it myself, I didn't realise it was that easy.

Road Kill is still around.

Have to agree with Zuum that game meat biltong is the bomb. Kudu makes excellent jerky but I my girl and I are very partial to the "McDonalds" of the bush - impala.

Guys what dehydrators are you using? Will be buying one and getting my Jerky career under way asap. What dehydrators are good and is there something to look for in a good one?

Goodguys had a sunbeam one on special for about $60-70 a few weeks ago. In my opinion, get one with a good number of trays (4 absolute minimum) with the lowest temperature possible. You dont want to cook the meat, only dry it.

Pretty much anything will work you will just have to experiment a few times to get spacing and things right. In a pinch, make metal hooks out of wire, put your oven tray on the top rack and something on the bottom of the oven to catch drips then hang your meat on the hooks off the top rack. Crack the oven door open slightly and set it for around 50-60 degrees depending on the oven (fan forced only).

So besides the game meat can you use any other meat from say your local butcher or coles etc?

Topside roast works well but try heaps of cuts and see what works best for you. 2kgs topside roast from Coles is around $10-15 and even better from some butchers.

Other then that you can try pretty much anything, I like putting boerewors and other nice quality falvoured snags in there for example.

I found this on PSB. Worth a read

[url]http://www.perthstreetbikes.com/forum/f29/swtk-your-beef-jerky-recipes-41922/[/url]

I bought a food dehydrator off ebay for about $40 odd. It is round and has 6 trays which can be stacked on top of each other at different heights depending on the thickness of the cuts I put in there. To get a nicely dried jerky without being to dry, I normally have pieces about 10mm square and then what ever length. They sit in there for about 10 hours.

The type of meat makes a huge difference also, the better quality the meat, the better it will turn out I reckon. I normally use rump which turns put nice. But you want it to be fat free, I mean none at all on it so put in the time to cut it all off beforehand.

I might have to give the oven method a go also, sounds alright.

this thread is making me thirsty...love it

[QUOTE=Giddyup;548217]But you want it to be fat free, I mean none at all on it so put in the time to cut it all off beforehand. [/QUOTE]

Obviously personal choice but I disagree strongly with this.

Some slight marbling (not heaps) or a small amount of fat on the outside(again, not heaps) adds to the flavor of the meat. Not unlike a good steak for example. You will find that most places that sell SA Biltong (Conways etc.) will have fat on and in their meat because that's how it's done.

Test it out yourself and see what you prefer.

Jaron, shotgun taste testing! :)

Just bought this baby!

[url]http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Eurolab-Adjustable-Food-Dehydrator-5-Tier-NEW-/200578791825?pt=AU_SmallKitchenAppliances&hash=item2eb36d7991[/url]

Now to find a good chilli recipe!

Anyone here selling?
Always on the look out for some new biltong to try. Saffa stuff only :p

This thread makes me want to have ago this weekend.........I might :D

[IMG]http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j119/KouNtS_UtM/IMG_0371.jpg[/IMG]

More secret herbs and spices then the Colonel haha

I think you should PM me that recipe!

Please :D

That reminds me of a Sunday morning I would rather forget!

Dehydrator arrived today! Jerky being made this weekend!

Good stuff, enjoy it. Whatever you make will be good and you'll getter better and better at it with time.

Progressive IGA has bulk rump steak on special at the moment for $5.99/kg which is bloody cheap. I went and picked up 12kg yesterday. Only slight hiccup in my plan, I can'y cut the bastards up as I am in a sling :-(

Interesting - This would make for a great snack at work.

How long does the jerky keep though? Where should it be stored once made?

Could I make enough for a working week on a Sunday night for example?

Stores for ages Josh.

The old school wogs my parents hang with dont make jerkey per se, but do dry out meat. Lasts ages.

From PSB thread

about 4 weeks in the cupboard, freezing is months and about 8 weeks in the fridge.

from here ... [url]http://www.route66beefjerky.com/faq.html[/url]

What is the shelf life of your beef jerky?:
Answer: Because most of the moisture is removed through drying, it is shelf life stable and can be store without refrigeration, making it a handy food for backpackers and others who don't have access to refrigerators. Commercially packaged jerky can be kept 12 months - home dried jerky can be stored 1 to 2 months.

taken from here ... [url]http://www.askthemeatman.com/faq.htm[/url]

There are a couple of possibilities. Also, not all jerky will mold, it depends on a few things. The number 1 reason jerky will mold is that not enough moisture has been removed from the meat during the drying process. Jerky should have around 90 to 95% of the moisture in the meat removed during drying. If it doesn't, the moisture still in the meat leads to the possibility of mold spores growing. If the jerky is dried almost completely, mold usually won't grow. If you like your jerky a little moist, you could try to vacuum pack your jerky. Mold will not grow without air ( or oxygen ). There are some decent home vacuum packers on the market now, and these might be of use. Also, mold seems to grow or develop quicker in a moist atmosphere. So, the refrigerator is not a good place to store jerky, unless it is vacuum packed. But since jerky is dried meat, it is not necessary to store it refrigerated anyway.

Awesome, cheers J.

Scouring eBay now to see what options are available.

This thread is making me hungry......

Might wait and see how you go with yours Jaron and if it's good I'll just grab the same one :)

Anyone got any experience with the vacuum sealers on eBay too?