What Is Biltong And How Is it Made
Biltong originated in the South of Africa by the Dutch as a way of preserving meat during expeditions. The word “BILTONG” is from the Dutch South African language known as Afrikaans – the “BIL” means “buttock” and “TONG” means “strip or tongue” so strips of buttocks which refers to the cut of meat that most people made biltong from. Biltong is made by cutting the meat into strips following the grain of the muscle, it is then marinated in a mix of salt, pepper, coriander and various other spices depending on the recipe, then dried/cured (Biltong is not cooked unlike commercial jerky). Various types of meat can be used to produce biltong, beef is the most commonly used but in Southern Africa various game meats are also popular. It is some what related to beef jerky in that they are both spiced, dried meats; however, the typical ingredients, taste, texture and production processes differ. The less processed meat snack is becoming very popular with dieters, athletes and other food conscious people.
1. Cut Into Strips
Traditionally biltong is made from silverside or bottom round. At Rosey’s we use the eye of round. It come out a little more expensive but its a leaner cut and makes trimming and preparing it so much easier.
2. Marinated
Simple and straight forward ingredients. Salt, pepper, coriander and apple cider vinegar, of course the Chili gets a little cayenne. Rosey’s recipe is all made from scratch and we know exactly what goes into it. The strips are tossed in the spices and marinated over night.
3. Air Dried and Cured
12 hours later, the biltong is hung to cure in a custom made air drier. This process takes 3-4 days to get to the ideal dryness. At Rosey’s we do then to sell it a little wet because you can always dry it out if you want it a little drier.
4. Sliced, Weighted and Partially Vaccum Sealed
Once the biltong has cured, it is removed from the drier, thinly sliced and packed. Each bag is weighted to a little over one pound and an oxygen absorber is added to the bag to remove any oxygen left in the bag once the partial vacuum has been completed. Oxygen allow mold to grow, which is not what we want. Rosey’s only partially vacuum to reduce the biltong all sticking together. Now it is ready for shipping!