Biltong box and first attempt underway

[30338]

Always wanted to give biltong a try. Built a drying box and thawed out a venison round roast. Following a recipe from youtube. The weights of each piece get recorded and when they lose 50% they are good to go. Can go drier of course and I will experiment on this first batch.

Also watched a guy take a batch to a super dry and tough condition, cut it into little pieces, blended it to powder, then went 1:1 with beef tallow for a batch of pemmican. That is also on my list of things to try. Anyway, couple of pics and I'll update this thread in a few weeks with how it is going.

 

[30338]

So 3 days in the box and a number of pieces have hit 50% weight loss. Picture of outside and inside. Have to say it is quite delicious. Vacuum sealed in freezer it should last well over a year. Vacuum sealed in fridge I am hearing 4-5 months. Wife and I ate one whole piece today so thinking this stuff won't last long. 3-4 more pieces in dryer and I may take them to 60% weight loss just to see.

Texture for 50% loss is dry on outside but very inner part is nicely tender actually. Plotting my next batch now.

 

[JMundy84]

Man that looks good I made a biltong box last year but I've only used beef so far I wanted to try that out before I ruined a good piece of deer or elk

 

[IBen]

I use a dehydrator at 95 degrees. Thats probably about room temp in SA. I store for months and month in paper bags not plastic

 

[30338]

I use a dehydrator at 95 degrees. Thats probably about room temp in SA. I store for months and month in paper bags not plastic

What percent weight loss did you take your's too? Good to hear on it lasting well.

 

[IBen]

What percent weight loss did you take your's too? Good to hear on it lasting well.

I never weighed it i leave it till its really dry. Thats 48 hours if i slice it or 1-2 weeks if its a whole slab. I’m making some soon I’ll weigh it before after. Here’s some venison that’s been in a paper bag for about a year. I think its still good i’ll find out later today

 

[IBen]

Venison jerky still good. Stored on a shelf in a paper bag for 10+ months. Actually tastes better now than when i made it. Cosori dehydrator at 95 degrees (lowest setting)

 

[30338]

The jerky looks good. Its hard to tell from the pics but the biltong starts out a little more than a half inch thick, about thumb width actually. The consistency is definitely different than American jerky. Now that I have tried it, it is a noticeably different product.

 

[hunter4life]

Biltong is awesome.
My dad has a box set up and we have had successful elk and aoudad biltong.

Tried pronghorn, which did not turn out well. Used a backstrap and the meat was just so dark that it tasted bloody and metallic. That has been the only fail so far.

 

[TurkeyReaper69]

Looks good to me,

I have a South African buddy who lived in the States for a couple years, he built a biltong box for about $100 with a nearly identical set up to yours. Kept it in his closet in the room he was renting from a guy.

Love me some biltong, need to get around to building my own box.