A biltong making kit exists to solve a very specific British heartbreak: loving biltong and living in a country where it comes in tiny packets at prices that make your eyes water. Biltong is one of the world's great meat snacks, lean beef marinated in vinegar and spices, then dried until it's dense, tender and fragrant with coriander and black pepper. It began life as home-made food, and it still makes beautifully at home, in an ordinary oven, in a few hours. This guide covers where biltong comes from, how it differs from jerky, what's in the kit and how 500g of lean beef becomes proper South African biltong by teatime.
Where does biltong come from?
Biltong is a dried meat snack that originates in southern Africa, across what is now Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Humans have been preserving meat with essentially the same two tools, salt and dry air, for thousands of years, but biltong as we know it took shape during the Dutch colonisation of southern Africa in the 17th century. It was the Dutch who added vinegar to the process, along with the spices we now consider inseparable from biltong: coriander and black pepper.
The name is Dutch too. Bil means rump and tong means strip (or tongue), so biltong is, quite literally, a strip of rump. Watch it being made the traditional way, long strips of marinated beef hanging in cool, dry air for days, and the name explains itself.
Jerky vs biltong: what's the difference?
Both are dried meat snacks made from lean beef, but they part company early. Jerky is American-style: sliced, seasoned and oven dried. Biltong is South African: marinated in vinegar and spices before drying, which gives it a gentle tang and a more tender bite.
We make a separate kit for each, so committed jerky fans should head for our Beef Jerky Making Kit, and anyone who refuses to choose can make bacon, jerky and biltong from a single box with the Ultimate Meat Kit. The rest of this guide belongs to biltong.
Why make your own biltong at home?
We love biltong. Obsessively, if we're honest. What we love rather less is the price of tiny packets of it in the UK. The kit was built to soothe that sting: two full 500g batches of your own biltong, each in just a few hours, and once its ingredients run out you can carry on with your own spices (more on that below).
Traditional biltong dries in a cool, airy spot for days and needs careful monitoring to keep the meat edible, which is why enthusiasts build drying cabinets known as biltong boxes. Our simplified oven method is a friendlier biltong box alternative: a couple of hours rather than days, and pretty much foolproof. If you've wondered how to make biltong in the UK without giving a corner of the kitchen to a humming plywood cabinet, this is it.
What's inside a biltong making kit?
Part biltong spice kit, part biltong recipe kit: the box supplies the seasonings and the know-how, you supply the beef. Inside you'll find:
- Biltong seasoning. The classic blend of coriander, black pepper and Himalayan salt that makes biltong taste like biltong. Half a sachet seasons each 500g batch.
- Cider vinegar sachets. The Dutch addition that defines the style: it flavours the meat, tenderises it as it marinates and helps preserve the finished biltong.
- Chilli and garlic spice. For the spicy version: use half a sachet of biltong seasoning plus all of the chilli and garlic, and your biltong arrives with a proper kick.
- A marinating bag, gloves and skewers. The bag holds the marinade, the gloves keep your hands clean and the skewers turn your oven into a drying rack.
- The instruction booklet. Step-by-step guidance, including the workarounds for awkward ovens covered below.
All of it comes in our Biltong Making Kit, with enough ingredients for two 500g batches.
What's the right beef for biltong?
Lean and tender, in that order. The meat should be as lean as possible, because fat does not dry well, and a tender cut keeps the finished biltong from being too chewy. Nothing grand is needed: an inexpensive steak or a roasting joint is ideal, 500g per batch. Whatever you choose, trim away every scrap of fat before you start. Fat in lots of things is lovely. In your biltong, we promise it really isn't.
How do you use a biltong making kit?
The method asks for minutes of actual work, a few hours of marinating and about three hours in the oven.
First, trim all the fat from your beef and cut it into wide, thin slices, about 0.5cm thick and as wide as possible, because thin meat dries quickly and evenly. A trick worth knowing: 30 minutes in the freezer firms the beef up and makes thin, even slicing far easier.
Next, add the meat to the marinating bag with a sachet of vinegar and your chosen seasoning, mix, and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours, during which the flavours blend and the vinegar tenderises the meat so the finished biltong isn't a jaw workout.
Then, gloves on, thread one end of each slice onto the skewers so the strips hang down. Rest the skewers over the top shelf of your oven with the meat hanging through the gaps, put a tray underneath to catch any juices, and dry at 80°C for about 3 hours, until the beef has completely dried out, opening the door every hour to let moisture escape. Eat it straight away, or let it cool first if you have the self-control.
How dry should your biltong be?
However you like it, genuinely. Softer and more moist, or drier and firmer: biltong is a matter of taste, and the only dial is time. Dry it longer for firmer biltong. At a happy medium it should bend without snapping, firm and leathery rather than wet.
If a batch turns out too dry or tough, slice thinner and across the grain next time, reduce the drying time, and check early, because every oven differs. If it's still too moist or soft, simply dry it longer; properly dried biltong also keeps much better.
What if your oven won't go down to 80°C?
Not a problem. If your oven uses gas marks or won't go low enough, turn it to its lowest setting (making sure it's actually on and heating), then hang a tea towel over the door so it stays closed but not completely shut. The gap keeps the temperature down and lets moisture escape. The oven runs slightly hotter this way, so your biltong may be done closer to the 2 hour mark; keep an eye on it.
AGA owners are covered too: use the simmering oven, which sits around 100°C, with the same tea towel trick, and expect it to finish closer to 2 hours. Dehydrator owners have arguably the ideal tool: follow the recipe as written, but lay or hang the strips at 65°C for 10 to 12 hours, until dried right through.
How do you store homemade biltong?
In an airtight container, where well-dried biltong keeps for a couple of weeks; refrigerating extends that. If a batch still feels moist it won't keep as long, so eat it sooner (rarely a hardship). One idea we love: pack the finished biltong into a mason jar and take it to a party instead of a bottle of wine or chocolates.
Making more biltong once the kit runs out
The kit teaches the basics and provides your first ingredients, and after two batches most people are thoroughly hooked. Happily, the method carries on without it: experiment with cuts and seasoning blends, because it's hard to go wrong once you know the recipe. A classic biltong blend always includes coriander seed, black pepper, salt and vinegar, and we love adding chilli flakes for extra kick. Start with the Sandy Leaf Farm Biltong Making Kit and consider your kitchen a small outpost of southern Africa from then on.
Biltong making kit FAQs
Is home-dried biltong safe to eat?
Yes, when you use fresh lean beef, follow the recipe and dry the meat thoroughly. The seasoning, salt and vinegar all help preserve it. If in doubt, dry it a little longer.
Does the biltong kit contain preservatives or nitrites?
No. The biltong recipes use no cure at all, just the seasoning blends and your own beef. Bacon is a different story: the bacon recipes in our kits use a traditional dry cure that includes nitrites, because that's the safest and most reliable way to cure bacon at home.
Do I need a biltong box or special equipment?
No. Biltong boxes exist for the traditional days-long air dry; the kit's method needs nothing more than an ordinary oven, the skewers and a tray.
Can I make biltong in a dehydrator?
Yes, and it's arguably the ideal tool. Follow the recipe as written, then lay or hang the strips in the dehydrator at 65°C for 10 to 12 hours, until dried right through.
What if my batch misbehaves?
Too tough, too soft, an oven with opinions of its own: the Help Hut jerky and biltong guide answers the questions we're asked most, with a fix for every common wobble.
Ready to make your own biltong? The Sandy Leaf Farm Biltong Making Kit turns 500g of lean beef into authentic South African biltong in a few hours, twice over.
