How to Make Biltong

A simple, reliable recipe for making traditional homemade biltong in your Biltong Box. This batch starts with 1 kg of beef and produces roughly 600 g of finished biltong.

Ingredients

Meat

  • 1 kg beef eye round roast

Wet Mixture

  • ½ brown vinegar + ½ white vinegar (or sherry vinegar)
  • 1 teaspoon Tabasco
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Dry Mixture

  • 200 g rock salt
  • 1 dessert spoon brown sugar
  • Ground black pepper
  • 40 g coriander seeds
  • (optional) chilli powder
  • (optional) garlic powder

What You’ll Need

  • Biltong Box
  • Paper towel or drip tray
  • Sharp knife
  • Mixing tray or dish
Biltong is sliced with the grain, not against it. This gives it the proper traditional texture.
Step 1

The Meat

Use a 1 kg beef eye round or similar lean cut. Avoid corned or pre-salted meat.

Cut the meat along the grain into 4–12 strips, roughly 2 cm thick.

Step 2

Wet Mixture

Mix vinegar, Tabasco and Worcestershire. Coat the meat evenly on all sides.

Step 3

Dry Mixture

Combine salt, sugar, pepper and coriander. Coat the meat thoroughly.

Step 4

Hang & Dry

Hang the meat in your Biltong Box with a paper towel or drip tray at the bottom.

We recommend setting the Biltong Box to about one-third speed for the first couple of days. This prevents the outer layer from hardening too quickly while the inside is still drying.

After the first few days, increase the airflow as needed to keep the drying process moving and help prevent any mould from forming.

Start checking the biltong regularly from day 3–4 onwards and remove it once it reaches your preferred dryness.

Thicker cuts take longer. If the outside dries too fast, it can harden and slow the inside drying.
Hot, humid conditions make biltong harder to dry. Temperature, airflow and humidity all affect results.