Biltong Jerky Recipe

Biltong is the beef jerky common in South Africa. It’s a bit thicker than the North American variety and maintains a texture and flavor that’s both interesting and foreign to our palettes. If you’re a bit open-minded, this is one I think you’ll really enjoy.

Ingredients for Biltong Jerky (Full List)

• 5 lbs. of round beef
• 1 pound of juiced carrots
• half a pound of juiced celery
• 1 and a half tablespoons of juiced ginger
• 1 and a half tablespoons of diced garlic
• 2/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce
• 18 ounces of soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2,5 tablespoons of ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of onion powder
• ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon of cumin
• ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper

Instructions for Making Biltong Jerky

Let’s start with five pounds of round beef.

Our first step, and arguably the most important, is to trim away all fat. Fat doesn’t preserve well, nor is it an appetizing aspect to lean jerky.

We’ll then cut our beef into thick slices, typically 1/8th of an inch.

Now we’ll again cut the beef into smaller, more individualized portions for later consumption once dried.

Once we have our beef sliced according, we’ll move on to making our marinade. Take note that this recipe uses a mixture of wet and dry ingredients.

First, you’ll combine the wet marinade ingredients into a large bowl. They are:

• 1 pound of juiced carrots
• half a pound of juiced celery
• 1 and a half tablespoons of juiced ginger
• 1 and a half tablespoons of diced garlic
• 2/3 cup of Worcestershire sauce
• 18 ounces of soy sauce

Then, blend together the following dry ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2,5 tablespoons of ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of onion powder
• ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon of cumin
• ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper

Once the wet and dry marinade ingredients have been prepared, you’ll need to whisk them together and massage the resulting mixture into the meat strips. Practically speaking, I just mix everything together in a big bowl.

Then, either in the bowl or even a Ziploc bag, store the meat and marinade together in the refrigerator overnight for between 10 and 12 hours.

Using a dehydrator, set the machine to 150° F and dry the meat for upwards of six hours. Rotate the strips at regular intervals and remove them when they have reached your desired level of tenderness.

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