Here is the step-by-step, basic process of making biltong. I learned it from Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast (YouTube video Making Traditional South African Biltong).
Preparing the meat
Start with lean strips of beef (or game meat)- Slice the meat into approximately one inch thick and one inch wide strips several inches long
- Remove as much fat as possible (dried fat tastes like candle wax)
- Place meat in casserole-type dish
- Spritz all sides with vinegar (apple vinegar works well)
- Moderately salt (with non-iodized salt)
- Place in refrigerator overnight
- Remove and lightly salt again, mixing meat around to coat well
- Lightly apply coriander, mixing meat around to coat well
- Moderately apply course ground pepper, mixing meat around to coat well
Meat is now ready to hang
To hang, use metal paperclips and bend them into an ‘S’ shape- Hang meat somewhere relatively dry (and out of the reach of pets)
- Hang meat so it’s not touching
- Using a piece of cord or twine, tie a loop for each piece of meat
Clip meat with large part of ‘S’ clip, and attach other side to the looped cord- Let meat hang for approximately 8 – 14 days, until dark colored and as dry as you prefer it
- When dried, cut into small bite size pieces to eat
This is a very basic way of making biltong. It’s really that easy, and no it never stinks. There are many ways of flavoring and drying (including building a drying box). Biltong, completely dry, can store for a long period of time (very dependent on climate and/or refrigeration); biltong left more ‘wet’ will mold sooner and should be refrigerated if kept for more than a few days. Our family really enjoys biltong as a snack, but I also believe it’s valuable to know how to preserve large amounts of meat in a collapse.
(Wednesday: Teaching The Kids)
This is neat. About like making beef jerky only the old fashioned way so to speak. Have you figured out how long the meat lasts in the jars with the O2 absorbers? I might be tempted to try this and vaccum seal some when finished.
Regressing to a past post, I have decided to order four of the $50 Waves for Water Purifers,. Just to have on hand.
Also when down at the Portland Rock and Roll Half Marathon last week, I stopped by Powell Books and picked up a filed guide on edibile northwest plants. I don’t think this will be the last book on the subject I buy. It is amazimg how much is out there.
I may have been wrong about jars with O2 absorbers, I thought I had read that but when I looked back to check I couldn’t find it anywhere (I have since removed that from my original post). It looks like if it’s completely dry it’ll last a long time (very dependent on local humidity), but if it’s ‘wetter’ it’ll mold sooner. Also anything that allows it to get wet speeds the mold process (including biltong that’s frozen then allowed to thaw). I also read that vacuum sealing, while increasing the storage life, tends to change the consistency and make it more soggy. Trying to find information on storing was hard, everyone said “it gets eaten too fast at our house!” Experimenting would be the way to figure it out, but the problem is it’s relatively expensive to buy lean beef; unless you’re a hunter, then having 75+ pounds of game meat would definitely allow for some experimentation.
I think having several of the community size ($50) filters is a great idea! Again up here in the Northwest we have plenty of water, we just need a good way to ensure it’s drinkable. We already own a Berkey filter, but we’d also like to get a couple of the community size ones as backup (redundancy).
Powell Books is great, Sarah recently got me a book on raising rabbits there. You’re book sounds very helpful; one of our goals this summer is to begin to learn how to identify local plants and we’ll need to pick up a couple of books also.