Both the beef jerky kit and the biltong kit keep for 18 months from packing, with the best before date printed on the outer box, and both leave us with at least 12 months still to run on that date. Store them at room temperature, somewhere dry and away from direct sunlight. The finished snack is the short-lived part: well-dried jerky and biltong keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight container, and refrigerating them extends that.
Neither kit contains a cure. They are seasoning kits, which is the key to understanding both the long shelf life of the box and the short one of what comes out of your oven.
What is in the box, and why does it last?
Our Beef Jerky Making Kit holds two batches worth of seasoning, a smoky BBQ blend and a chilli and garlic blend, plus wooden skewers. You add 500g of lean beef per batch and dry it in your oven over a few hours, or in a dehydrator.
The Biltong Making Kit also makes two batches, with a biltong seasoning of coriander, black and white pepper and Himalayan pink salt, cider vinegar and a chilli and garlic mix. Again you add 500g of lean beef per batch, and the simplified method gets you there in a couple of hours in the oven with no drying box needed.
Dried spices, salt and vinegar are all durable store cupboard things. Nothing in either box is fresh, nothing is alive, and neither kit uses a cure at all, unlike our bacon kit, whose cure is a traditional dry mix of salt and sugar with sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate.
What changes after the best before date?
Quality declines rather than the kit becoming unsafe. Both kits are flavour-led, so the seasonings taste less punchy with age: the smoky paprika notes soften, the pepper loses a little of its bite, and the garlic reads as milder.
That is a very different sort of ageing from the two kits in our range with active ingredients. The yeast in the hedgerow wine kit and the rennet in the cheese kits may stop working reliably after the date, so those need using before it. A seasoning blend has no such failure mode. Season a little more generously with an older kit and you will not notice the difference.
The vinegar in the biltong kit is worth a word of its own. Acidity is self-preserving, which is why vinegar has such a long track record in the larder, and in the biltong recipe it is doing flavour and preservation work at the same time, along with the salt.
How should you store opened seasoning?
Reseal the sachets tightly, or tip what is left into a grip-seal bag or small airtight tub, and keep them cool and dry. Away from the hob, away from the kettle, out of direct sunlight, and not in a damp cupboard, because salt-heavy blends clump when they take on moisture.
Both kits make two batches, and there is no reason to make them back to back. Do the smoky BBQ jerky this month and the chilli and garlic one next month, and the seasoning will be in the same condition when you get to it. Label anything you decant, because two brown-red spice blends look identical in an unmarked bag.
How long does homemade jerky and biltong keep?
Keep it in an airtight container. Well-dried jerky and biltong keep for a couple of weeks, and refrigerating extends that. If a batch still feels moist, it will not keep as long, so eat it sooner.
How dry it is matters more than anything else. Properly dried meat should be firm and dry to the touch and bend without snapping, jerky a touch firmer, biltong to whatever texture you prefer. A softer, moister biltong is a legitimate choice and a delicious one, but it is a this-week snack rather than a fortnight one.
The other habits are simple. Let a batch cool completely before it goes into the container, because warm meat sweats and the moisture has nowhere to go. Keep the container closed rather than half open on the worktop. And if you have dried a big batch, split it between two containers so you are not opening the whole lot every time.
Is dried meat safe to keep at room temperature?
Home-dried meat is safe when you use fresh lean beef, follow the recipe and dry it thoroughly. The seasoning, the salt and, for biltong, the vinegar all help preserve it, and drying removes the moisture that spoilage needs. If in doubt, dry it a little longer.
Start with the right raw material. Use lean beef, as lean as possible, because fat does not dry well and fat is the first thing to go rancid in a stored batch. For jerky, thin-cut frying steak or brisket both work well; for biltong, an inexpensive steak or a roasting joint. Slice jerky thin and across the grain for tenderness, and put the beef in the freezer for half an hour first to make that much easier.
Then trust your senses on the stored batch. Any sign of mould, a rancid or sour smell, or a sticky surface means it goes in the bin. Dried meat that smells of the spices you put on it is doing fine.
Jerky and biltong shelf life FAQs
How long do jerky and biltong kits keep unopened?
Eighteen months from packing for both, with the best before date printed on the outer box. Kits leave us with at least 12 months still to run on that date.
Do the kits contain a cure or preservative?
No. The jerky and biltong kits use no cure at all, just seasonings and, for biltong, cider vinegar. You add your own lean beef.
How long does homemade jerky keep?
Well-dried jerky keeps for a couple of weeks in an airtight container, and refrigerating extends that. A batch that still feels moist should be eaten sooner.
Does homemade biltong need to be refrigerated?
It keeps for a couple of weeks in an airtight container without it, but refrigerating extends that, and it is the safer choice for a softer, moister batch.
Can I make the two batches months apart?
Yes. The seasonings keep well once resealed and stored cool and dry, so there is no need to make both batches in the same week.
Fancy a jar of your own dried beef? Take a look at our meat making kits.
