For biltong, buy a more tender cut: an inexpensive steak or a roasting joint. For jerky, leanness is what matters rather than tenderness, so a thin-cut frying steak or brisket both work really well. The rule that covers both, and the one that decides whether a batch is good or greasy, is to buy the leanest beef you can find, because fat does not dry well and never will.
You need about 500g of beef per batch, and each of our kits makes two batches. Here is how to choose at the counter, what to avoid, and how to turn whatever you bought into even strips.
Why does fat ruin dried meat?
Because drying removes water, and fat is not water. While the lean muscle around it is firming up and losing moisture, a seam of fat sits there unchanged, soft and greasy, and it will still be soft and greasy when the rest of the strip is done. Worse, it is the part of the strip that goes rancid first, so a fatty batch keeps less well than a lean one even when everything else was done right.
This is why marbled, expensive steak is precisely the wrong thing to buy for this. The cuts you would pay extra for at the butcher because they are rich and well marbled are the cuts that make disappointing biltong. Dried meat is the rare occasion when the cheaper, leaner, harder-working cut is genuinely the better choice.
Trim any visible fat off before you slice, not after. It is far easier on a whole piece than on twenty thin strips.
Which cut for biltong?
Biltong wants a more tender cut than jerky does, because the strips are usually thicker and eaten at a softer, chewier texture rather than snapped like a crisp. An inexpensive steak works, and so does a roasting joint, which is often the better value and gives you a single piece you can slice how you like.
Ask the butcher for something lean, tell them you are making biltong, and let them point you at whatever is best on the day. A good butcher will happily trim it for you, and will often slice a joint thinner than you can manage at home.
Then it is the classic method: marinate the beef in cider vinegar and the spice mix of coriander, black and white pepper and Himalayan pink salt, with the chilli and garlic mix if you want it hotter, and dry it. Our biltong kit contains all of that, and the simplified oven method gets you there in a couple of hours rather than days.
Which cut for jerky?
Lean beef, and that is genuinely the whole specification. Thin-cut frying steak is ideal because half the work is done for you, and brisket works really well too as long as you trim it properly.
Jerky is sliced thinner than biltong and dried until it is a touch firmer, so tenderness in the raw cut matters less than it does for biltong. What matters is that the slices are thin and even, and that there is no fat running through them.
Season with the smoky BBQ or the chilli and garlic blend from the jerky kit, dry it slowly in the oven on a low heat until firm, and check it early on your first batch because every oven differs.
What should you avoid?
- Anything heavily marbled. Rich, fatty steak makes soft, greasy dried meat that keeps badly.
- Anything with a lot of gristle and connective tissue. It does not soften as it dries, it just makes chewy patches.
- Beef that is not properly fresh. Drying preserves good meat. It does not turn tired meat around.
- Pre-marinated or brined supermarket beef. You cannot know what is in it or how much water it is carrying, and you are about to add your own seasoning anyway.
- Buying far more than you need. One 500g piece is a batch. Get the first batch right, then scale up.
How should you slice it?
Thin, evenly, and across the grain for a more tender result. Cutting with the grain gives a chewier bite, which plenty of people prefer, especially for biltong. Either way, consistency is what you are really after, because uneven strips finish at different times and leave you with half a tray over-dried and half still damp.
The trick that makes this easy: put the beef in the freezer for about half an hour first. Firmed up, it slices cleanly with an ordinary sharp knife and you get thin, even strips without wrestling it. This one habit improves a first batch more than any equipment does.
After that it is straightforward. Season or marinate, hang or lay the strips out, and dry. In an oven, use its very lowest setting with a tea towel hung between the door and the oven so the door stays ajar, which drops the temperature a little and lets the moisture escape. In a dehydrator, 65 degrees for ten to twelve hours.
How much beef do you need?
About 500g per batch, and each kit makes two batches, so a kilo of lean beef covers a whole kit. That shrinks considerably as it dries, which surprises people the first time: dried meat is concentrated by definition, and a generous tray of raw strips becomes a modest jar of biltong.
It is worth doing the two batches separately rather than at once, particularly if you are new to it. Your first batch teaches you how your oven behaves and how dry you actually like it, and the second one benefits from that. Aim for firm and dry to the touch, bending without snapping, then store it in an airtight container, where it keeps for a couple of weeks and longer if refrigerated.
Choosing beef FAQs
What is the best cut of beef for biltong?
A more tender cut than you would use for jerky: an inexpensive steak or a roasting joint. Keep it as lean as possible and trim any visible fat before slicing.
What is the best cut of beef for jerky?
Lean beef is what matters. Thin-cut frying steak or brisket both work really well, and the thin-cut option saves you some slicing.
Why does the beef need to be lean?
Because fat does not dry well. It stays soft and greasy while the lean meat firms up, and it is the part that spoils first, so a fatty batch keeps less well.
How much beef do I need per batch?
About 500g per batch, and each kit makes two batches. It shrinks noticeably as it dries, so a kilo of raw beef gives you a good deal less finished biltong or jerky than you might expect.
How do I slice beef thinly at home?
Put it in the freezer for about half an hour first, then slice with a sharp knife. Firmed-up beef gives thin, even strips, and even strips dry at the same rate.
Once you have the beef, the seasonings are the easy part: browse our meat making kits.
