At first we did some dried apple and dried strawberry to test it out, while we waited to get the proper spice from the inlaws - it worked well for the fruit, the strawberry was especially yummy.
Last week we started with biltong strips. We got four flavours from Mom-in-law: Original biltong, BBQ, Chili, and Coriander.
We bought 1kg of silverside steak at the butcher, Wyn cut off the excess fat and cut into strips, divided into four, so that we could try all four spices. I was so impressed with Wyn. Who knew he was such a pro at making biltong!
The biltong was ready after 3 nights! So quick, woohoo!
One mistake we made, was that we used wire paperclips to hang the strips. (The hooks supplied are plastic, but weren't enough for all our strips.) Big mistake! That part of the biltong stick has a very horrible sharp metallic taste, oops. Had to cut that piece off each one. Nala didn't complain though!
Our favourite flavour was the chili one. They all needed quite a bit of extra salt.
Our second batch we did only chili and bbq, with added salt, and they came out great!
We put our third batch in last night, we did chili again, hehe, and then coriander with extra salt and pepper. Already impatient for them to be ready.
I'm stoked about this, because biltong is specifically the main snack the dietician recommended for me, and I'm trying really hard to stick to her plan. Biltong sticks on tap - perfect! ;-)
Your billies looks great!
ReplyDeleteStill can't get over the big bargain, so thankful you shared that!
PS - I used colour paperclips. I think the plastic coating around the metal helped a great deal, so it doesn't taste funny - perhaps try that :-)
Yes, after that first batch we also used to coloured paperclips - definitely works better!
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I bought my dad that biltong maker for Christmas last year (same price) and we get such great biltong from him! YAY for biltong strips!
ReplyDeleteAh yay @ your dad also making biltong!
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Yeah, we also use the plastic coated paperclips. We also use our biltong dryer to make wors. Just gewone wors from the Spar or where ever. We are also lucky because a friend of our owns a game farm so every so often we get a skinned bokkie we can process for various meaties. Venison is definately a healthy option.
ReplyDeletePS Wyn looks like quite the professional :-)
Oooh ja, can't wait to try some droe wors! So cool that u guys get venison too!
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Yum!! How awesome that you can make your own, especially considering how expensive biltong is :) And you get to know exactly what goes into it!
ReplyDeleteNow that biltong is an excellent idea for a few Christmas presents as well!!
I also love that I know exactly what goes into it! And ja, big saving, especially since I liked to buy the Woolies sticks!
DeleteHehe, yes, good idea for Xmas prezzies!
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