# Biltong Box



## petewoody (Feb 10, 2010)

I was recently talking with a friend from South Africa and we were discussing when we used to be able to buy biltong and sausages from a butcher in Norwalk, CT. I rather enjoyed biltong with an ice-cold adult beverage, so I decided to make some.
I found some scraps of half-inch ply I had laying around and with a few other scraps of lumber made a box to dry the biltong:

The completed box:


View with door open:


View from top (with lid off):


The 60 watt bulb should generate enough heat to cause movement of air throughout the box.

I will be buying some top round or london broil and making some biltong tomorrow. I will post qview.


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## denver dave (Feb 10, 2010)

Ok I give up. What is biltong????


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## acemakr (Feb 10, 2010)

South African jerky. Had to look it up myself.


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## skua44 (Feb 10, 2010)

Biltong is an African form of dried meat.  In its purest form it is sun dried with no seasonings.  You might call it African jerky.  Then again I could be wrong.

A nation of sheep begets a government of wolves


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## denver dave (Feb 10, 2010)

That stuff looks good. May have to give it a try. Looking forward to some Qview.


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## mballi3011 (Feb 10, 2010)

I don't know about this one but I guess it alright if you cure it but theres no cure on it or is the salt peter and bycarbinate acts as the curing solutions.???


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## petewoody (Feb 10, 2010)

I prefer not to use saltpetre. While it gives the meat a good color there is growing concern that it may cause an increased risk of cancer in humans.
The vinegar bath given to the meat sterilizes it and kills the surface bacteria as well as help break down the sinew. The salt, sugar and spices remove the internal moisture which the bacteria need to grow.
Biltong has been made in South Africa for more than 400 years. The stories have it that the Boer soldiers went out to fight the Brits with their pockets stuffed with biltong as their only food !!!!!
There is an extremely good sticky in the jerky section which covers this topic better than I could.


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## petewoody (Feb 12, 2010)

My wife had some top round sliced for Fajitas, so I purloined them to make biltong. I soaked the strips in a mixture of apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar and worcestershire sauce for a couple of hours. I then dipped the strips into my biltong mix ( salt,sugar,cbp,garlic powder,paprika and cracked toasted coriander). I put the strips in a bowl and refrigerated them overnight, pouring out any moisture extracted by the mix. 
Today I rinsed the strips in vinegar/water mix to remove the salt and, using plastic coated paper clips, I hung the meat in the box described above. I expect the strips to dry in around four days as they are fairly thin. 

Drying out in Biltong box:


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## buffalosmoke (Feb 12, 2010)

I was just reading about biltong in a book earlier tonight. Hope it works out well for you.


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## iharris278 (Feb 12, 2010)

Looks great. Makes me miss home. Biltong is one of my favorite snacks. WAY better than jerky!


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## tristan3564 (May 25, 2016)

Hey PeteWoody and others, how can i attach a fan to the biltong box?

I'm doing a School Project in Year 6, I Haven't started the project build now but I'm nearly up to it, any help would be appreciated Thanks.

Tristan


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## jeepsjeep (May 25, 2016)

Hi Pete, I recently learned about biltong, made a batch in my MES using a computer fan in the 3 inch wood chute, and set the internal temp at 85 degrees for 3 days, turned out great!  I will be making this again.













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Just over 2 lbs after dried


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## petewoody (May 25, 2016)

Tristan, I have found that the heat from the incandescent bulb creates enough airflow for drying the biltong.

Too much airflow could dry out the exterior of the meat before the interior is ready.

You could experiment with a computer fan powered from a small transformer as JeepsJeep shows in his thread.

Best of luck with your project.


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## tristan3564 (May 29, 2016)

Thanks for the advice, hope I go well.


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## markperry (May 30, 2016)

tristan, you can also just grab a power supply out of an old computer. It has a fan built into it to keep itself cool and it can be screwed to the side of the box next to the light bulb. then just plug it in with the light. It should move more than enough air if you need the airflow. Then you dont need to mess with transformers or anything else and most power supplies have an on/off switch on the back so you can turn off when not needed. I see people throw out perfectly good ones all the time so if you check with the electronics recycler in your area you'll likely be able to pick one up for free.

http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/spacedebrismark/media/power supply_zpsmnzqdrhh.jpg.html


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