Biltong! Or, how to build a drier :)

[Cybergrinder]

(And all the South Africans clicked here)

For those who don't know biltong is a South African delacacy, strips of dried meat season to taste. (The same as "jerky" I believe, only we cut the meat thinner)

As briefly mentioned on Tonino's LM thread, here are a few pictures of my home-made biltong drier.

All it is is a 45x30x30 cm plastic box with a 12cm PC chassis fan attached.



I packed the holes where the dowel rod went through with cotton wool (great for stopping bacteria & mould spores) and hung some steaks off the meat hooks you can see in pic 2. Now we see if my seasoning was good enough!

 

[Tonino]

Very interesting! It would be nice to taste the result of your build. I confess I've never heard the word "biltong" before. Now I would be very curious to try it but I'm afraid, if I try to ask for a "biltong" in my grocery, I can't receive nothing but a strange face expression and a question: "bil...what?"

 

[Cybergrinder]

Thanks Tonino, biltong is a uniquely South African term, even though other cultures/nationalities use similar ways of preserving meat. If you were to go to London you would be sure to find some! (I think London has the biggest South African population outside SA....) It's not cheap though! (even here, hence the DIY option )

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

I am quite certain that @ThunderChild would be interested in this (although, I am certain that he already knows).
I LOVE jerky (beef, venison, fish, almost any kind of dried (and even smoked) meats). I too would be very interested in how this tastes and differs from traditional jerky.

 

[Cybergrinder]

Thanks RB, what are you waiting for, come visit South Africa! Like jerky any kind of meat can be used, and seasoning is the "art" and a personal thing.

As for my first batch, I think I left it in the vinegar a bit too long, but it's still quite nice!

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

Like I said, I love good jerky, and I am ALWAYS willing to try new types of jerky.