I have an old stand up freezer that no longer works. Thoughts on it being used to make biltong? Thinking about core drilling holes in the side bottoms and a couple on top fitted with fans for circulation? Has anyone had success with something like this?

I know that it’s meant to taste sour due to the white vinegar, but i would like to reduce the acidic taste. I let it lay in vinegar 2 minutes, but the acid taste is just too extreme.

I might buy brown vinegar instead, i am not looking for sweet taste so not sure how brown vinegar works.

How do you reduce the acid taste from vinegar?

Edit: Thank you, as far as i understood. You can mix vinegar with water, use other type of vinegar such as brown vinegar or don’t use vinegar at all.

Hey guys I have been on this reddit for a while now checking posts on biltong and I feel that I want to make my own for the first time. I can't say I know what I need to do but would like some advice on what spices and wet solutions like vinegar I should buy. Tips would be greatly appreciated and I definitely will post the results. Thanks

First time making biltong the «tradition» way. I just dipped it in vinegar, put it in refrigerator 1 hour, added spices & hung it up. What’s the purpose of the vinegar? Is it so it kills bacteria or for the sake of taste? I will most probably ditch the vinegar all together next time and just clean the meat dip it in spices & hang it up. I don’t want no cult answears or one thing is wrong another thing is correct. Just wondering if all the options is fine regards the meat turning bad or not. If there is another option to cure without using strong flavours to it. Is the curing process necessary?

I've been making Biltong for about 6 months. Really enjoy it and only had 1 dud piece in that time. I have used Brown Vinegar and also Red Wine vinegar. I much prefer the Red wine just me. Have heard apple cider is good. Are there any others out there ? Thanks people 💯 🔪 🥩.

Hey guys, I'm new to this sub and to biltong making. I'm a South African living abroad and I really miss having a packet of biltong at the end of the day and so really want to get into making my own.

Problem is I share a house and don't have a lot of space for a big biltong dryer so was wondering if a food dehydrator would work, something like this? I see a lot of the biltong boxes have the meat hanging. Is that vital?

I don't need to make a massive amount at one time. Maybe like 1 or 2 slabs.

Let me know what you think!

Big hunter/backpacker. I prefer to make as much shelf stable food as possible and protein always seems to be the most expensive. I have made hundreds of pounds of jerky in my life and I have perfected it to be delicious and last forever. However I am trying to get away from nitrates and biltong seems to be the answer. I am going to start with a couple of back straps from this years venison harvest (don’t worry I have plenty) and was just wondering if you guys had any tips. I have a very large garage I was just going to hang the meat from the rafters in but I’m not opposed to building a box. Thanks in advance!

I have this USB desk fan sitting around and was wondering if I could use it in a Biltong Box. I'm thinking if I put the fan inside the box facing outwards, could it be used to pull air like a PC fan? I plan on trying to give it at least bit more of a seal with duct tape. Otherwise should I just go try find a PC fan to use?

Made my first batch using eye of round. I think I cut it a bit thick “just over an inch pre-dry”.

Used Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper, and coriander.

I bought some from Biltong depot and it wasn’t beefy at all. Not really sure how to describe it. It was super good.

I've gotten back into making biltong after a few years and during this time I started to brew my own beer. I built a box from the usual large plastic box & lid and was just thinking about optimal airflow over all the meat. I got to thinking that a better cheap 'box' would to be a cylindrical bucket with holes drilled on the lower circumference and the fan on the lid... Which I have loads of. Has anyone done something similar and what did they think about it?

Hang to Dry

Touch of Sunlight

Touch of Shadow

Stupid Auto-Focus

Cross-Cut

Photos were taken after 3 days of drying time. I had a thinner piece that was ready to taste test. The Biltong here is still slightly wet and soft, and evenly dried.

RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1 kg raw beef
• 3 tsp. honey -> generously scooped
• 4 tsp. chili flakes
• 1 tsp. anise/aniseed, whole
• 3 tsp. sea salt, coarse
• 8 tsp. coriander seeds, whole
• 1 tsp. nutmeg, powder
• 1 tsp. pepper, whole
• 1 tsp. cloves, whole
• 30 ml Worcestershire sauce
• 50 ml apple cider vinegar

To be clear: tsp. = teaspoon, leveled (!)

Instructions

Cut your beef along the grain and into smaller strips, then put into a bowl. Add the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and honey, then mix thoroughly by hand. Set aside in the fridge for now.

Place the coriander, pepper, cloves, aniseed and chili flakes into a small pan/pot. Lightly toast the spices (do not burn them!) to bring out the oils and flavor. When you see a hint of smoke, immediately remove from the heat and keep stirring until it has cooled down a bit.

Put all the spices into a mortar and pestle, along with the salt, then crush everything a bit smaller. Take particular care to properly crush all the coriander and cloves. Add the nutmeg and give it a good stir.

Add the spices to the meat, mix very thoroughly by hand (take a little extra time to make sure it's all evenly covered), then seal and let it cure in the fridge for 24 hours. Best to shake the container a bit every couple hours so that all the pieces get to soak in the brine.

When done, hang to dry for 4-6 days or more. Enjoy!

----

I'd describe the taste as follows:

It has a mild but constant heat to it, with a hint of sweetness (but not too much!) and aniseed, and a nice spicy note from the rest of the ingredients. Overall, I'm very pleased with this experiment.

This is based on my Nutmeg Biltong recipe, however, I skipped the brown sugar and allspice for this one, added a little more salt and reduced the pepper. I hope you like it.

On Saturday night, I got the meat, cut it up, put it in seasoning and vinegar, and put it in the fridge. My intention was to hang them up in the box last night on Sunday, but things came up, my computer fan got delayed for the box, and so I won’t be able to hang it up until tonight. That’s roughly 48 hours of curing before hanging up the meat. Will that be an issue?

Hi all. Big fan from Aus.

I was thinking of starting my own batch and will most likely be doing the oven method - I’ve done it this way before many years ago.

My biltong preference is on the softer/squishy side with a decent fat cap. The super dry stuff really isn’t my preference.

Has anyone got a reliable recipe/method for a good moist oven batch?

Hello julle. I recently tried making droewors for the first time. I bought one of those grinder-stuffer combos and it has worked fairly well when making boerewors. However, when I added the narrowest attachment to make droewors, the mince just came out like a paste.

The mince had been in the freezer until it was ice cold but not frozen, so I don't think the temp was the problem.

I want to invest in one of those proper sausage stuffers, but I'm wondering if I have missed something else that could be causing the mince to turn into a mash. I have attached a picture of the droewors (day 2). I probably won't eat it, but thought I might as well hang it and see.

Any insights welcome! Thank you

This megathread serves as our r/Biltong recipe compendium.

You are free to share your recipes in this thread. This post will be linked in a stickied main thread on the subreddit, so that people have a go-to library of our collected recipes.

Before you share your recipe, please ensure the following:

• A short descriptor of what the recipe is for, i.e. Biltong or Droëwors.

• A direct link to the recipe. The recipe must be its own post on r/Biltong.

• Each recipe post must include one or more pictures of the final product.

• A recipe must include a list of ingredients, method and measurements.

• These recipes must be your own. Please do not steal or share recipes from other websites or users. Google already takes care of those.

Any and all other discussion related to recipes must be conducted in their respective threads. I.e. if you want to ask a user a question about their recipe, please do so in their linked recipe's thread.

This thread is ONLY for sharing your recipes. Comments that do not follow this format will be removed. Please use the report function if you feel a comment violated this format.

All other rules apply as outlined in the subreddit's rules.

Welcome! This post serves as a megathread for several guides.

In this thread, my goal is to try and cover pretty much everything you need to know to start making your own Biltong. I go over how to make a box and which designs and materials to choose, easy-to-follow recipes with practically guaranteed success, and tips & tricks on what to watch out for and how to avoid and prevent common problems.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• BILTONG BOX
• Choosing the right material
• What is directional airflow and why does it matter?
• Determining Airflow
• Vertical or Horizontal?
• Choosing the right fan
• Dimensions & Spacing
• Assembling your Biltong Box
• Components
• RECIPES
• Recipe Compendium
• Basic Recipe
• TIPS & TRICKS
• Case Hardening vs Even Drying
• Cut, Size & Type of Meat
• Mold - How to identify, prevent and treat it
• How to store your Biltong

BILTONG BOX

Biltong Box

Choosing the right material

Material

Let me start by saying that there isn't a particular right or wrong, but it's more a matter of what material properties you value and how much importance you attribute to them. I do not deny that I am a little biased.

Wood is something I will personally always recommend first and foremost, simply because it's cheap, sustainable, inherently anti-microbial*, environment-friendly, recyclable and feels great to the touch.

Boxes made from wood can take advantage of the fact that wood will absorb moisture from the air inside and expell it through the walls to the outside because wood has pores and can breathe, so to speak. It's arguably the least susceptible to mold, assuming you are not storing it inside a very humid room and it gets a chance to properly dry out again.

* (Not every type of wood has inherent anti-microbial properties, but in how wood absorbs and expells moisture, it takes away the natural breeding ground for microbes as it's drying out. This can effectively reduce the spread of bacteria. You can find several conclusive scientific case studies on this, for example cutting boards. Some types of wood, however, do have inherent anti-microbial chemicals/oils in their fibres, for example as found in pine or oak.)

If you do decide to go with wood - great choice, by the way! - I recommend the following types (in order): Spruce, Pine, Beech, Oak, Bamboo.

Do not order wood online, buy it from your local lumber store. Do not use chemically treated ones such as laminated, painted or bleached wood. Do not use MDF or the like, they crumble with moisture.

For finishes, only use food-safe finishes on the insides, i.e. bees wax and standard kitchen oil. Do not use any kind of laquer, paint or similar on areas that are within the vicinity of the meat. I recommend rapeseed or olive oil.

Metal, specifically stainless steel, is really easy to clean, extremely sturdy and highly resistant to corrosion. Stainless steel is expensive, but you can always opt for the much cheaper aluminium or sheet metal. You can find fairly cheap storage boxes that will work just fine.

However, metal boxes are not recommended for climates where there's constant temperature shifts. It's the most susceptible to condensation of the materials shown here, because metal is highly thermally conductive and will adapt to the outside temps much quicker than even thin plastic will.

Cardboard is great because it's cheap, but don't just use any cardboard you can find. You really want to avoid heavily chemically treated ones or some that was used to store chemicals inside (doesn't matter if it was bottled and plastic sealed - do not use). Also, please do not use old cardboard from tin cans, soda cans and the like, neither as material for your box, nor as a tray inside it. Place a sheet of aluminium foil at the bottom and put a paper towel on it to catch the drips.

Best to buy new cardboard boxes that come straight from the factory. You can find these on Amazon or local hardware stores or similar.

Plastic is my least favorite and least recommended option because the world is already drowning in plastic, and microplastics in our body and drinking water are not a myth. Yes, it's cheap and easy to come by, but I still don't recommend it. Of course, you can easily make a Biltong Box from it and it will work, but plastic inherently also offers several disadvantages over some of the other materials.

You should not simply pick any plastic box and turn that into a Biltong Box, because certain types of plastics are not meant to be used for food items because of their chemical composition. Certain plastics also highly react with direct sunlight and will start to release toxic fumes that could potentially be absorbed by the meat.

Best to do proper research here before you opt to convert a cheap storage box you found on Amazon into your new Biltong Box.

Toxic chemicals aside, plastic boxes can contribute to condensation on the inside, simply because it does not allow the box to breathe, and if the humidity is high enough and the airflow insufficient, the material cannot make up for those fluctuations like wood can and is likely to cause condensation and, thus, increase the chance for mold.

While plastic isn't inherently highly thermally conductive, due to its form stability it is often manufactured as very thin material (because it's cheaper), which in turn means it has poor thermal mass and is likely to adapt to outside temperatures much quicker than you'd otherwise expect.

Most cases of mold I've seen on here happened in use with a plastic box, but that does not mean that the plastic was automatically the main contributor. A plastic box is just super common. Let's not forget about cause and effect.

What is directional airflow and why does it matter?

Directional airflow is simply referring to how the inside airflow is set up, meaning that there's a particular direction the air inside the box will follow as it's being sucked in and expelled, typically from point A to point B.

Not only is the amount of airflow of importance, but you also want to be mindful of airflow direction. It can potentially impact how evenly your meat is drying. You also never want to have a fan blowing directly onto the meat, because that is guaranteed to cause problems down the road and will ensure that the pieces are not evenly dried. This is why I strongly recommend that you have your fan set to extraction only. Extraction in this context means that the fan isn't blowing into the box, but is sucking air out. There are usually two arrows on the outside casing of the fan (not always the case, i.e. cheap knock-off fans) that indicate blade rotation and which way the air is blowing.

The natural flow of convection and evaporation is upwards. Hot air rises and liquid turns into gas. It gets a little complicated, but let's just say that the water inside is transferred to the surrounding air and then needs to be carried away. This is why I recommend a design choice as outlined below. In my opinion, you want to assist this process and not disturb, let alone hinder it, so the natural conclusion for me was to set up my airflow to follow this principle, with the air flowing from the bottom to the top. This might be one of the reasons why my prototypes are performing so consistently.

Here's a simple experiment you can try at home to test this principle:

Wash your laundry and hang it to dry on a clothes horse/drying rack. Place a standard air cooling fan in front of it so that air blows straight through and past the clothes. You will notice rather quickly how much faster your laundry is drying now, especially the pieces closest to it. Use that knowledge and place your thickest clothing closer to the fan. I legit use this method to dry my clothes in the winter so that I can wear them the next morning.

The best case is when there's a slow, constant stream of air that passes right over all the pieces of meat. This way, at least in theory, the process of evaporation is not critically disturbed and should allow for evenly dried meat. For this purpose, less is typically more. A gentle breeze is what you are looking for.

Determining Airflow

If you want to determine whether you have enough, too much or too little airflow, there's a couple things you can do. In general, my advice is to start off with a smaller overall batch size, but with pieces that are of matching size of what you'd actually want to use. This way, you can more or less remove one variable right away.

You can always weigh the meat to determine its relative moisture content. For that you need to weigh it before you hang it to dry, then weigh it once a day after the first 2-3 days. After a couple of days, you'll want to see a relative moisture loss of about 50%. For wet Biltong, it's typically consumed at 50-65% moisture loss. Anything above that is heading into dry Biltong territory.

Another way of doing it is to use your (clean) hand and give it a squeeze. It will take some trial and error for you to learn what it has to feel like before you think it's ready for you. You want it to be a little firm to the touch but still soft for wet Biltong. To avoid cross-contamination, it's good practice to spray a little vinegar on the area you touched.

After 4 days or so, you can take out a piece of meat and cut off a smaller piece. Inspect the cross-cut and determine whether there's an extremely obvious color difference. Refer to the image down below in the section about case hardening. A thinner darker layer does not automatically mean case hardening, it can still rehydrate over time. If that's the case, rub the open cut with some vinegar, sprinkle some salt on it and put the whole thing back into the box.

However, if after several days the outside is hard to the touch and the inside is still very soft or wet, you have case hardening going on and need to dial back your airflow or tone down the heat (if you added any).

An easy way to visually determine whether your airflow is too aggressive is to hold a thin strip of paper towel behind the fan. What you want to see is gentle movement, barely even noticeable, and not any erratic swirling motion.

You can reduce the voltage of the fan to make it spin slower, swap it out for a lower RPM version, plug some holes or use tape to reduce the surface area by making the holes a little smaller. Get creative.

Vertical or Horizontal?

Design Layout

This image shows you what the directional airflow looks like for its respective design.

I personally highly recommend to follow one of these designs, depending on whether you decide to go with a horizontal (usually more convenient) or vertical layout. My own recommendation would be to go with the vertical design approach, because I drew inspiration from PC tower design when I made my prototype boxes, and they ended up performing extremely consistently. From a layout perspective, it also makes much more sense for this type of application anyway.

Much more important here is to match your intake to your exhaust, and this is yet another case where less is more. You do not need a bunch of holes everywhere. Remember, we want a constant and consistent directional airflow.

The vertical design needs exactly 2 holes of matching size, because there's only one direction for the air to flow, from the bottom to the top. In my case, both holes have a diameter of ~130mm (cheap hole saw), because I'm using a 140mm fan.

The horizontal design should have a single hole at the very center of the lid, equally spaced from either side, with a hole on each side that, together, roughly match the surface area of the hole at the top. For a 120mm diameter hole, you'd need 2 holes with 84-85mm diameter each.

Again, matching your intake to your exhaust is important if you want consistency. In fact, it's better to have your intake slightly oversized rather than too small. For the example above, 90mm holes would be totally sufficient.

Choosing the right fan

Fan Size

In this image, you can see a rough comparison of standard PC fan sizes. I've also added a few stats. Keep in mind that these stats are at 100% RPM. I used Arctic here, because it's a company based in Germany, and their fans are comparatively cheap, yet of high quality and consistency.

As you can see, the larger the fan gets, the slower it needs to spin to maintain the same noise level and a higher throughput. This is due to surface area scaling (please refer to a mathematician).

CFM is a unit of measurement typically used in the US and means nothing more than Cubic Feet Per Minute. Basically, a measurement of how much air volume a fan can move within a given timeframe.

If you care about noise - because maybe the box is also within your vicinity - you are better off going with a 140mm fan. A larger fan will also scale down better, i.e. when you use a 5V USB charger with an adapter like I did. For reference, my Biltong Box has an inner volume of ~119L and my fan is spinning at an estimated 35% of max. RPM, which puts it at roughly 28 CFM.

In general, my personal recommendation is to use a 140mm fan with 1 hole for exhaust and 1 hole of matching size for intake.

I cannot give you 100% accurate numbers, simply because I do not have the means to conduct a proper experiment in a scientific setting, so almost every number you see here will either be properly sourced, or I'll tell you that it's an anecdotal estimate from my side.

Anecdotally, how much CFM your fan should have: My personal guesstimate is a range of 0.2-0.3 CFM per 1L of inside volume, or 20-30 CFM per 100L. Please keep in mind that this number could be fairly accurate or wildly off; I drew this conclusion based on the data I had available, specific to my box and my own observations. Refer to it only as a general guideline and not fact.

Dimensions & Spacing

Spacing

This image should fairly easily convey what I'm trying to say here, but let me iterate on this anyway.

Basically, I recommend that the inside of your box should allow for enough space that you can comfortably fit your hand around the meat from all sides, and make sure to leave about 2 fingers of space between each piece. NEVER let the meat touch each other or itself, meaning that you also do not want any flaps of meat folding in on themselves. It may not always be feasible to have this much space, but try to aim for at least 2 fingers of clearance around your meat. This is more of a general recommendation because it's easier to work with and gives the meat more room to breathe.

As for box dimensions, it's purely anecdotal, but I think roughly 60L of space for every 1kg of batch size is probably a good estimate. My 64L prototype box shown above felt a little cramped for a 1kg batch size, but worked just fine. A typical batch size for my 119L box ranges from 1.2-1.6kg, sometimes up to 2kg. I just don't make large amounts at once. Roughly 2.0-2.5kg is probably the maximum I'd recommend for that size, though it mainly boils down to the size of your individual pieces. You will still need to have the airflow to match.

You definitely do not want for it to be too cramped in there. This can oversaturate the air inside and reduce the overall performance of your box. This can be combated with more airflow, but it's tricky to tune it to the right amount and it's likely you will run into the risk of case hardening.

Assembling your Biltong Box

Now that you've learned a few key things, you should have already decided on a fan and type of material. Let's talk about building/assembling your box.

Depending on what you picked, how you go about it may slightly vary, but a few things will be the same:

• You will need some way to hang the meat
• You will need to cut or drill a few holes
• You will need some form of airflow
• You will need a power source

How you ultimately hang your meat is up to you, but a common way to do it is to drill a few holes, stick some type of rod through it (usually wood or tubing), seal the ends and that's it. You can see that in some of the example images above. But you are not limited to this approach.

You could also drive in some screws and hang strings from them with hooks attached at the ends. You could pull a fishing line/wire through a hole, tie it off with a knot, tighten it and and seal the ends. You could glue in a thin piece of wood that stretches across. You could u-nail hooks to a wooden rod and let it rest on stoppers inside the box. You know, get a little creative.

I just generally do not recommend that you string meat up on wires by piercing it through the meat and hanging it up like a clothes line. Same applies when piercing the meat with a metal rod like a shish kebab - seriously, just don't. A lot of surface area for contamination and not exactly easy to handle, either. I've seen this done before, and contamination was a common problem with this particular method.

As previously mentioned, you will also need to cut out or drill a few holes, namely for the intake and exhaust. How exactly you set it up is ultimately up to you, but I already provided you with a few design ideas and recommendations. You can either go with the standard PC case fan approach, or you can use a light bulb or some other form of heat source to generate natural airflow.

Quick tip for the fan holes: Mark out the fan's mounting holes where you want it to go. Draw a diagonal line from each corner. Where these lines meet in the center (like an X), is where you want to drill with your hole saw. When you now mount the fan, the hole should be centered. Of course, this largely depends on how accurately you do this.

Lastly, the power source. There's a couple ways to go about it, with either AC or DC power. Technically, you could even run such a box on solar power if you wanted to. A small panel and a battery, a bunch of wiring and that's it.

Another option is to buy a fan that comes with an AC to DC adapter that plugs straight into the wall socket and provides direct power. These are typically rather expensive and in my opinion not worth it.

A much cheaper and personally recommended option is to opt for a PWM to USB adapter, a PC fan and a USB charger hub. I just used a regular 12W USB phone charger and an adapter cable with a power switch. I went a little extra with a cheap extension cord. You can find a list of what I used/recommend down below.

Components

(Non-affiliate Amazon links. I do not get paid. These serve for reference only.)

• USB Phone Charger
• PWM to USB adapter (switch)
• Extension Cord
• Meat Hooks
• Arctic Case Fan
• 130mm Hole Saw

Something I can wholeheartedly recommend if you eat a lot of Biltong:

• Water Flossing Machine

Seriously! Doesn't have to be that specific one, but get one. It's so much better than all the toothpicks!

RECIPES

• r/Biltong's Recipe Compendium

There you can find a library of collected recipes that users shared on here.

If you are looking for a quick, classic and simple recipe, here's one I know from an old boer from Windhoek (scaled measurements):

• 1 kg raw beef
• 3 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. pepper
• 8 tsp. coriander seeds
• 50 ml brown vinegar

Cut the meat into rectangular strips (6-8mm thick) along the grain. Crush the coriander seeds and add all the ingredients to a bowl, mix thoroughly by hand, seal and let it cure in the fridge for 24 hours. Hang to dry for 4-6 days or more.

You can find my own nutmeg Biltong pinned to my profile or linked on the subreddit's sidebar.

TIPS & TRICKS

Case Hardening vs Even Drying

Cross-Section

Case hardening is what is being referred to when there's an outer layer forming that is drying much quicker than the wet core inside. It's most commonly caused by too much airflow, or with the introduction of heat when it's not needed.

Even drying is what can be observed when the inside of a piece of meat has a slight gradient or is evenly colored all the way through. This means that the inside layers had enough time to rehydrate the next outer layers, which is exactly what you are looking for - whether you like your Biltong wet or dry - as that is a clear indicator that the meat has fully cured and is safe to eat.

Some of you seem to prefer what I'd call the "steak cut", meaning that the inside is visibly red/pink, if not raw. I'd argue not to confuse this with actual steak where this is totally fine, but this is raw meat that needs time to cure and isn't cooked and eaten right away. This is just a word of caution and you might be totally fine. I just personally prefer not to risk it.

Cut, Size & Type of Meat

I like to use what we call "Schnitzel" over here. It's pre-cut, lean beef that comes vacuum-packed. The thickness of those cuts usually ranges between 6-8mm. I prefer this for simple Biltong because it's convenient.

A piece is roughly the size of a regular adult man's hand, and you can cut them in half for more convenient snack size.

You can use whatever cut you'd like, the process is very forgiving, I'd say. Tough meat will be tough, so avoid meat with a lot of tendons. When they dry up, eating that piece is gonna suck. It's not gonna taste good because you'll have to chew it for ages and likely choke on it.

As you prepare your Biltong pieces, make sure to cut along the grain, though sometimes, when working with pre-cut meat, it can happen that a piece has been cut in a way that only allows for cutting it against the grain. Either use the whole piece as is or just roll with it. The reason why you want to cut along the grain is simply that it will be easier to cut off length-wise or cross-cut when cured. Sliced Biltong is typically served cross-cut.

Cutting

This image roughly shows how to cut along and against the grain. When you are cutting your pieces to size against the grain, the meat fibres become shorter and will tear much more easily. You can totally do this if you prefer to tear it off piece by piece as you are eating it. However, it's typically done cutting along the grain, because then the fibres will be long and the final piece will be firm. Since many people tend to eat their Biltong sliced, this is how you want to do it if you like to eat yours in slices. There is no right or wrong in this case, it's a matter of preference/application. Both methods are valid.

If you prefer yours with a little fat, I recommend you cut the meat with the fat layer on the outside. Fatty Biltong is a matter of taste and not everyone likes it, and it's a little trickier than lean meat because the fat in my experience needs longer to cure to actually taste good. But if you got the right kind and it's been sufficiently cured, fatty beef is absolutely delicious.

The "classic" type of meat for most users will be beef, but if you have access to it, i.e. if you live in the area of South Africa (or have rich people money to have it delivered to you), you can absolutely use Kudu (large game, basically the premium "deer" of Africa) instead. Kudu Biltong is the best I ever had and the animal makes for the best steaks I've ever eaten, but unfortunately it's not an option for me over here in Europe.

Technically, you can make Biltong with pork or even chicken, or basically almost any kind of meat - and I've eaten some in the past - but let me tell you straight away that it does not taste like your typical pork or chicken, so you are either gonna hate it or love it. I found that it wasn't really bad, but I'd rather not eat it again. Add to that the massively increased risk of food poisoning associated with both - chicken in particular - I'd strongly advise against using either of those.

Other possible candidates could be rabbit, deer, goat or sheep, but I can't say that I've ever tried some. If you ever do make Biltong with one of those, I'd be curious to know how you like it and what it tastes like.

Mold - How to identify, prevent and treat it

When you start seeing white spots on your meat, it could be mold or it could be salt crystals forming. If it's more like webbing, it's either mold or fungi. If you rub those with your finger and they are soft and break up into fine dust, it's mold. If they are hard and break up into rough powder or tiny crystals, it's salt. Similar can happen when you cut the meat and see some white spots inside. Highly likely these are just lines of salt crystals that formed inside the meat, and they should naturally disappear on their own within a few minutes.

To prevent mold from forming again in the first place, it's important to identify the problem. Most common causes in my opinion are contamination, followed by too high moisture and introduction of heat.

Proper kitchen hygiene is vital, and so is proper curing. Preparing a clean workspace beforehand is a must. Make sure to wash your hands with soap before you handle your meat, and disinfect your cutting board and knife with a splash of vinegar before cutting anything. If you need to touch something else, wash your hands before and after touching the meat again. Make sure that the container you will let it cure in is clean and wipe it down with some vinegar.

Always clean your box before each use. Wipe down the inside with some vinegar or rubbing alcohol to disinfect it. If you are using alcohol, turn on the fan and let the box ventilate for a bit before putting anything in there.

Clean/replace the drip tray/kitchen towel and NEVER let a used one sit in there with a fresh batch. NEVER let the meat touch each other, itself, or any part of the box or hanging rods. The only area of contact should be the meat hook itself. I personally also like to soak my hooks in a glass of vinegar while I'm hanging my meat. If you check out my Nutmeg Biltong recipe, you can read about all the steps I take to keep it neat and clean.

You can use a fresh kitchen towel and lightly tap the meat dry before hanging, in order to reduce the moisture content inside the box, as every drop you don't remove is a drop that needs time to evaporate. From personal experience I can tell you that this step is worth it, especially on rainy/colder days. Just make sure you are actually storing your kitchen towels in a clean environment and not in something like your laundry room.

If you identified the problem to be mold, you can rub or spray the meat down with some vinegar and apply a bit of salt. You might also need to turn up your fan or consider the room your box is in. If it's rather humid, it could be a case of mold spores in the air that could then settle and spread on your meat. There is no be-all-end-all/one-size-fits-all solution/method here, but a general rule of thumb is to keep it clean and as dry as possible.

You want to be rather careful when introducing heat. Biltong is air-dried in the shade/at slightly warmer temperatures with low humidity, ranging from around 20-30°C and 30-50%, but a range of 15-20°C should not pose any problems as long as the moisture is kept in check. I actually dried mine without problems on rainy days where the average temperature was around 20°C, with an average 60% humidity.

A light bulb as an added heat source is often not needed, but in some cases it can benefit you, i.e. if the room temperature is rather cold, ranging from 10-18°C, or generally unstable, or for when you don't want/can't use a fan but need to generate some airflow. This is where a light bulb makes the most sense, as the process of convection - warm air rises - will naturally create a tiny amount of airflow. Too much heat can potentially cook your meat or cause severe case hardening.

Only add heat if the ambient humidity is really high, or when the temperature range is rather low, as dew drops/pooling water from condensation at a temp of around 20°C is optimal for mold growth. A dehumidifier could be a worthwhile investment if your climate is very humid (>65%) all the time, or you need to find a way to properly ventilate the room your box is in.

How to store your Biltong

Generally speaking, you always want to store your Biltong in whole pieces. This is to reduce the potential surface area for condensation and contamination. Best to slice up your pieces when you plan to eat them.

If you have some left over, you can either freeze it or store it in the fridge. For the latter, I recommend you use a closeable container and put a paper towel at the bottom and add your Biltong on top. The towel will keep the moisture even and should help prevent condensation. This is also a great way to rehydrate dry Biltong, or to do a final cure after the initial drying if you prefer yours a little softer.

If you want to thaw your frozen Biltong, leave it in the fridge until it's no longer frozen. This keeps the moisture inside where it belongs. NEVER attempt to microwave or thaw your Biltong at room temperature. This is generally good advice you should follow for anything frozen, really.