- Joined
- Oct 19, 2009
- Name or Nickame
- Bill
The problem with biltong is its like BBQ. Everybody has their own way of doing it. Their way is right and everybody else is wrong. Tends to be that way when you ask folks from different places in SA.
Biltong boxes are fairly easy to make with a PC fan & any decent sized box. Some people say you need a light bulb in them for convective heat, but I haven't had issues without it on my end. A variable speed PC fan makes for easy drying at the speed you need! I have might set up where it draws air/blows in & passively exhausts out the back side after flowing over the meat.
Good looking product you have. Nice write up! I'd love to try some. I've been making biltong since a little after vising SA a few years ago. The world needs more of it! Also needs more braai spices, but that's a discussion for another time.
A worth while investment is a hinged biltong slicer. Though if you already have a meat slicer you're in business because that'll do the trick & then some. You can even do super thin slices which are my fav.
This is a very common and effective setup. A friend of mine is doing it this way with my recipe and now he is even selling his.
I am absolutely with you that there's no one way to do this, and as such YES! You can do it with a fan and by hanging it on a hook danged near anywhere if the climate is OK. Naturally you don't hang Biltong in the woods in Winter in the Yukon.
I have a 10 or 12 tray convection dehydrator. I could probably just leave the top tray in to hang the hooks on and remove the rest and cut a piece of cardboard as a door and use some painters tape as a hinge. It goes as low as 70F so i'm sure it would work just as good as a Biltong box.
Only one way to find out! 70F is fine. It has a fan.
Cheers!
Bill