DIY biltong box

I have not tried it yet. Good intentions to do so, but I became distracted with other priorities. Let us know how it turns out for you.
So far, so good. I did thinner strips than most people I see, maybe 1"x1" square, to save some time. 95F in the dehydrator for about 10 hours, then on an open rack in the fridge overnight. Tried a piece, then repeated the same process the next day.

Seems good to me. I'm going to read some more recipes, try a bigger piece, and weigh it for moisture loss next time. But for a small batch to get my feet wet, I'm pretty happy how it turned out.
 
Bump.

The wife wanted brisket this weekend. I cut the flat off to smoke for dinner over the weekend.

I trimmed the point, removed the vast majority of the fat and membranes from it, and sliced it into smaller pieces. Friday night I let it sit in a mixture of ground/roasted coriander, vinegar, and a small amount of curing salt.

Sorry. I'm just used to using curing salt and I don't think I used enough to turn all the meat red but I just can't not use a small amount to help mitigate bacterial growth.

Also, I substituted some of the salt the recipe called for, with 'lite salt'. Years ago I saw this stuff and realized it was useful from an electrolyte standpoint. If I'm backpacking hunting, electrolytes are a need. So I used 'lite salt' to add some Potassium to the mixture. I also threw one of my magnesium supplement capsules in (I opened the cap and dumped it). How much of this K and Mg will actually make it into the finished product, I cannot say. But I used a small enough amount that it can't hurt yet large enough that if I ended up with a severe electrolyte imbalance from exertion and high water consumption I think it would help. I mean we'll have electrolyte powders when we go hunting, but this should help a bit.

Saturday when the brisket came out of the smoker I immediately had the marinated biltong(?) strips ready to go in. Smoker had been at 275 finishing the brisket, which I like from an antibacterial standpoint. I left it on its lowest setting, either 100 or 105, I forget.

In theory that's too hot for biltong. In reality I think it's going to work fine. It's what I have. I opened the smoker vent so as to maximize air movement.

I started with this recipe but ditched the garlic/chili and other secondary spices. I'm going for something high protein that'll store a few weeks, not some unique flavor. I stuck with coriander and vinegar and salt and black pepper, mainly.


Right now it's been drying two days. It's nowhere close to being 'dry' but the smaller pieces are getting there. It's tasty.

Honestly, I think I overdid the coriander and will likely take the finished product, wash it to remove some of the dried coriander, then give it another day drying. Right now I've sliced some samples off and 1) it's really tasty. Seems to be heading the right direction, and 2) it's obviously going to take a while to dry.

I think I paid $5.50/lb tax and all for the brisket. I ended up with perhaps 8 pounds, so $44 worth, and when trimmed it was more like 5 pounds. Add $4 worth of coriander (I bought it for this, didn't realize the wife had it already) and a negligible amount of apple cider vinegar ($1 worth?) and other seasonings.

So let's say $50 for two pounds. maybe 2.5 pounds, when all is said and done. That's a guess but I think it'll be close to that.

I'm doing this largely to have calories and protein for this fall's pack-in hunt. I started by buying some Biltong Depot stuff; I got a couple pounds of the original flavor and a couple pounds of their drywoors(?) sausages. Ironic that it's made just right down the road from where I live and shipping was really fast.

Honest assessment: I enjoy the experimentation. I enjoy cooking/smoking anything, even without the smoke (in this case). I like saving money. But to be brutally honest, the Biltong Depot stuff is VERY tasty and at $35/lb it isn't a burden to buy it compared to what it's costing me to DIY. I'm cheap, but I'm practical.
 
Today is almost day three of my biltong experiment. Smoker's still going 105. No wood chips in it, FWIW. Just low heat. I checked this morning and the excess coriander I was worried about is only actually a few spots on a few pieces. But I did rinse them in the sink this morning; I don't think I used too much, I just think some pieces of meat sat where the coriander was pooling in the marinade. Either way, a quick rinse seemed to fix that, and they're back drying now.

The brisket is going to be very chewy, i can already see that from the sample I snacked on, but it has a great taste.

When I was a kid we'd get jerky at certain gas stations that was incredibly tough and it made great 'road food'. You could get two pieces at a gas station and eat one, wait a while, then eat the other, and you'd be at the next gas station many hours down the road. This will be like that. It takes a while to eat. Probably great daytime snack food.

I think one more day of drying will likely be enough. Some pieces are already close, others still need to dry more.
 
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