Biltong and Droewors Challenge

BATTLE IT OUT FOR THE BEST DROËWORS WITH R60 000 IN PRIZE MONEY

After the successful Stellenbosch Hills/Freddy Hirsch Biltong Challenge in 2012, it was decided to alternate between crowning South Africa’s best biltong and droëwors maker every year.

Registration is now open for the Stellenbosch Hills Droëwors Maker of the Year challenge.

"Stellenbosch Hills was the first cellar to combine two proudly South African delights with our Biltong & Wine Adventure to be enjoyed at our cellar door," says PG Slabbert, Winemaker and Manager of Stellenbosch Hills about this exiting competition.

Read more below:

http://www.stellenbosch-hills.co.za/biltong-droewors-challengs.php

A full Biltong Box in all its glory

Some action shots of the Biltong Box in full swing, finally managed to actually fill it once. Took a total of 40 lbs of meat to do the job.

Biltong Box - Fan and Light power diagram

On request please find a diagram which illustrates the power configuration for the fan and light combination.

An AC power splitter and LED light transformer can normally be sourced form a local hardware store.  The PC fan normally only needs a 1 AMP 12V power source.

If your FAN spins the wrong way, simply change the wires around on the 12v side of the transformer.

Biltong Spice Preparation - How to Make Biltong Spice

Here is a recipe for Biltong Spice, this one is quite strong on the Chilli and Garlic front and could probably do with a little more salt than used. As I always say, rather less than have a salty batch you can't eat!

Do test batches of Biltong as you go and enhance the flavours by relatively small tweaks (or large if it was extreme) based on the last Biltong batch.

 Here are the ingredients:
 - 200g Coriander Seed
- 130g Garlic Flakes
- 120g Dried Chilli
- 50g Coarse Salt (remember fine salt is more salty!! so be careful just substituting this - not recommended!!)

Grind up the Coriander Seed (I use a blender) 

The mixed Biltong Spice

The final product (well in progress)

Movember and New Homemade Biltong Spice

Hi

Been playing around with some Biltong spices, courtesy of a mate in South Africa (who was donated my Biltong box before I moved to the UK). The spice mix isn't quite perfect and been playing with various combinations of the following:

- Coriander seeds (300g blitzed in a blender but quite rough, don't destroy the seeds)
- 2 x Spice bottles of Garlic Flakes (the normal spice bottles you but at the store)
- Course Salt
- Dried Chilli, about 100g
- Optional: Throw in some Safari Crowne National Spice Mix for additional flavour

On a separate note, been doing Movember....for those unsure take a look at my dodgy 'tash for the month of Movember. http://mobro.co/ClintonThomson.

Donations to this worthy cause are welcomed, they all go direct to the charities laid out on the web page.

Biltong Box Building Instructions

Here it is, a fine example of a Biltong Box.  Hopefully these videos help you build your own.

Measurements:

2 x 610mm x 610mm (back and front)
2 x 610mm x 320mm (sides)
2 x 610mm x 302mm (inset top and bottom, since they are inset the width of the wood must be deducted from 320mm.  The wood is 9mm thick)

Part 1 - Building the Biltong Box basic structure.



Part 2 - Finishing the Biltong Box with ventilation, lighting etc.

Biltong has arrived!

Friday morning and first Biltong pieces are coming out and have turned out perfectly. The meat went in on Monday morning and today the Biltong will all be ready.

The Chilli Biltong has been spiced nicely and the plain Biltong with Balsamic vinegar (see video) has a nice rich flavour to it.

Edit:  Added some updated pictures of recent Biltong batches, on the left is the plain and the right is the Chilli Biltong.  The meat was a bit thicker this time so the Biltong took a little longer but the results are great, even though its snowing this week the lights have kept the frost at bay!

How to Spice Biltong - Spicing Biltong Video

Here is a quick video on me spicing some meat for Biltong. I use Crowne National Biltong Spice which you should be able to find at your local expat South African online store or South African shop.

Alternatively try this Biltong and Droewors book from Amazon, Make Your Own Biltong and Droewors.

How to Make Biltong - Planning your box construction

I was originally lucky enough to be given a small Biltong box, back in SA, to start and this kind of moulded my view on what a box should look like.  Fact of the matter is there are several views on how to construct a box and spice the meat etc, as you would expect.

My preferred construction is using plywood as its more robust than other methods such as a cardboard box and is more fit for purpose than using a cabinet from your local B&Q or Ikea.  Fact of the matter it's all about what suits you and how D.I.Y inclined you are (or what friends you can lean on to help you).  Once you have decided, hopefully on the advice provided, you can start sourcing the things you need.  Don't be scared off by this, its worth the effort to find the right tool for the job.  It took me several weeks before I had all the pieces to build my box.

Also think along the lines of what your goals are, how many pieces of Biltong you want to make, how many friends you have that want it, whether you want to create strips and Biltong "chips" or go home industry etc.  This will influence how big your box is and how you construct it (think about hanging space, flat rack\shelves with chicken wire for drying Biltong "chips".

Another cunning plan is to connect a smoking device to the side of the box, this enables you to cold smoke as well as make Biltong.  Keep in mind that any fans should ideally be removable or replaceable as smoke can really destroy components even when the fan is not in operation while smoking!  So don't be daunted by all this but good planning makes for a pleasant result and like me you can admire your handy work every time you see your box :-).