I've made jerky both traditionally and via my dehydrator and I'd wanted to try biltong for some time. I'd hatched a plan to use my poshcraft jerky rig to make some in the summer using a mosquito net to wrap the meat because I can't see any evidence of smoke used. I used a basic recipe from the internet and cracked on.
The ingredients were brown vinegar, Worcester sauce, salt, pepper, bicarbonate of soda and coriander seeds.
All the stuff I've read about biltong suggests that the cut is bigger than jerky (about a centimetre thick) but equally it taking several days! I decided as this was a test to cut it a little thicker than jerky slices on the right of the above picture. The vinegar and Worcester sauce were mixed together and the meat (rump steak and silverside) left to get to know each other for thirty minutes.
Well they did get to know each other five minutes later when I noticed that I hadn't put the Worcester sauce in! In the meantime I gently roasted the coriander seeds and then they had a coming to with a mortar and pestle. I then chucked the other ingredients in a container. The bicrab was to soften the meat apparently which the steak probably didn't need.
The instructions then said to slap the dry rub on and leave to allow any juice to be sucked up...I was puzzled as I expected the salt to have the opposite effect and there was indeed juice showing.
The meat was dried and then added to the marinade again for around ten minutes and then dried again (the instructions made a specific note about getting the salt off.
I dehydrated it to the jerky timings (three hours at seventy then two hours at forty) and to be honest I only did a small batch as I wasn't sure about it...I was actually pleasantly surprised and think it warrants further investigation and I've seen coriander as a staple ingredient in all I've read I'll endevour to search out more recipes
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