The Potting Shed

Guides, gift ideas and honest answers from the people who hand-pack every kit.

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Strips of dark homemade biltong in an open glass storage jar on a wooden board with coriander seeds and cracked black pepper.

How to store biltong: keeping it dry, safe and chewy

Airtight, cool and properly dry: how to store homemade biltong so it keeps for a fortnight, how to tell when it is dry enough, and what to do if it goes damp.

A cured pork belly and strips of drying beef on a wire rack in a cool kitchen setting.

Meat curing at home: the food safety basics every beginner should know

Fresh meat, exact cure quantities, constant refrigeration and cooking bacon through. What curing does, where nitrites fit in, and how dried meats differ.

Three small bowls of kebab sauces, white garlic, red chilli and mint yoghurt, beside sliced doner meat and flatbread.

Kebab sauces at home: garlic, chilli and the takeaway trio

The three sauces that make a kebab taste like a kebab: white garlic, sharp red chilli and mint yoghurt, with the method for each and how to build the plate.

A slab of home-cured streaky bacon part sliced into rashers on a wooden board beside a long carving knife.

How to slice home-cured bacon: thickness, chilling and the right knife

Home-cured bacon slices best cold, firm and with a long sharp knife. Rasher thicknesses explained, plus the freezer trick and how to freeze your slices.

Cracked coriander seed, black pepper and salt in small bowls beside strips of spiced beef drying on a rack.

The biltong spice blend: coriander, vinegar and the South African method

What goes into a biltong spice blend, why coriander and vinegar matter so much, and how to season and dry a batch of lean beef properly.

Thin strips of seasoned beef jerky cooling on a wire rack beside a chopping board and a sharp knife.

Jerky without a dehydrator: the oven method that works

How to make beef jerky in an ordinary oven: slicing, seasoning, the tea towel door trick, how to tell when it is done and how to store it.

A slab of home cured pork belly on a wooden board beside thin cut rashers and a small bowl of curing salt.

Smoked vs unsmoked bacon: what the difference really is

Smoked or unsmoked, streaky or back: what actually separates them, why green bacon is not green, and why dry cured bacon behaves so differently in the pan.

Strips of spiced biltong hanging to dry above a tray, with coriander seeds and cracked pepper on a wooden board below.

Biltong drying time: how to tell when it is ready

About three hours at 80°C after marinating, but the bend test beats the clock. How to judge doneness, what changes the timing and how to store it.

A cooked doner kebab loaf held upright on skewers, being carved into thin slices onto a wooden board.

Doner kebab in a home oven: getting that takeaway texture

How to get proper doner texture without a rotisserie: smooth mince, a tightly packed loaf, a two-stage bake, a five minute rest and a thin carve.

A slab of pork belly coated in dry curing salt and spices resting in a dish on a rustic wooden kitchen table.

How long to cure bacon: a day-by-day guide to dry curing

Dry curing bacon takes about a week. Here is what happens on each day, why the joint changes the timing, and how to tell when the cure is done.

Thin strips of seasoned beef resting in a marinade dish beside bowls of spices on a rustic wooden table.

Jerky marinades: five flavour directions and how to build your own

Wet marinade or dry rub, what a marinade really does to beef, five flavour directions to try and a simple five-slot formula for building your own.

A piece of pork belly being rubbed with dry cure and spices on a wooden board in a farmhouse kitchen.

Curing salt explained: what it does and why bacon needs it

What is actually in a bacon cure, what the salt and the nitrites each do, the two rules you should never bend, and how the cure works step by step at home.

Biltong vs jerky comparison with homemade biltong and beef jerky strips side by side

Biltong vs Jerky: What's Actually the Difference?

The real difference between biltong and jerky: origin, cut, marinade, drying and texture compared fairly, plus which one you should make at home first.

Home cured bacon on a board, showing how to cure bacon at home with a dry cure

How to Cure Bacon at Home: A Simple Dry-Cure Guide

How to cure bacon at home with a simple dry cure: what curing is, dry cure vs brine, the honest nitrite answer, a step-by-step method and fixes.

Homemade biltong strips made without a biltong box using the Sandy Leaf Farm Biltong Making Kit

Do You Need a Biltong Box? An Honest Answer for Home Biltong Makers

What a biltong box does, when one is worth buying or building, and how to make proper biltong at home in a couple of hours with no box at all.

Homemade biltong strips seasoned with coriander and black pepper from a biltong making kit

What Is Biltong? South Africa's Great Dried Beef, Explained

What biltong is, where it comes from, how vinegar and coriander make it unique, how it differs from jerky and how to make your own batch at home.

Ultimate meat making kit with dry cure and seasonings for bacon, jerky and biltong

Meat Making Kits: Cure Bacon, Dry Jerky and Make Biltong from One Box

What meat making kits are, how curing, drying and marinating differ, which kit suits you, and the one box that makes bacon, jerky and biltong at home.

Beef jerky making kit with seasoning blends and strips of homemade beef jerky

Jerky Making Kits: Make Your Own Beef Jerky at Home

What a jerky making kit contains, how a batch of beef jerky works from slicing to drying, jerky vs biltong, the best cuts to buy and how to store it.

Gifts for kebab lovers: a kebab making kit with a homemade doner kebab carved thin at home

Gifts for Kebab Lovers: What to Buy Someone Whose Happy Place Is the Doner Van

Why a kebab making kit beats a takeaway voucher, who it suits and what to pair it with: a gift guide for anyone whose happy place is the doner van.

Homemade biltong strips made with a biltong making kit, seasoned with coriander and black pepper

Biltong Making Kits: Authentic South African Biltong at Home

Where biltong comes from, how it differs from jerky, and how a biltong making kit turns 500g of lean beef into proper biltong in your own oven.

Bacon curing kit with dry cure, three seasoning sachets and sliced home-cured streaky bacon on a board

Bacon Curing Kits: How to Cure Your Own Bacon at Home

Why dry cure beats supermarket bacon, what's in a bacon curing kit, buying the right pork, the full week-long process and the nitrite question answered.