How to Make Traditional South African Biltong {Viral Video}

After my Instagram video on “How I Make Traditional South African Biltong” went viral last week, I decided to create an in-depth, step-by-step blog post on how to make this classic South African meaty snack.

And when I say viral, I mean over 3.5 million views in one week, with comments upon comments! Many people — though definitely not the majority — were outraged that I cut off the fat from the meat. That’s probably the reason it went viral: a little bit of controversy makes people stop scrolling and comment, which boosts engagement and keeps the video in everyone’s feed!

I cut off the fat because that’s how my family prefers it. But don’t worry — this recipe accommodates both camps: fat on or fat off!

We used to buy biltong from the shops and it cost a small fortune. Now it costs us half as much and tastes even better. Once you start making your own, you’ll never go back.

The South African Biltong Video that Went Viral

What is Biltong?

Biltong is a dried, spiced beef snack — South Africa’s version of American beef jerky, but way better, of course!

Can I Make Biltong at Home?

Yes! That’s exactly what this post is about. You can easily make traditional South African biltong at home — no fancy setup needed.

Shouldn’t You Marinate the Meat Overnight?

We skip overnight marinating — we tried it once and the meat just tasted like vinegar. Now, we simply dunk each strip of beef in a quick mix of vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, coat it in biltong spice, and hang it to dry. That’s it!

Shouldn’t You Use Brown Vinegar?

You can, and many people swear by it. We tested brown vinegar — both overnight and short marinades — and still found it too vinegary for our taste. Our quick and easy method uses plain white vinegar with a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

What’s in the Biltong Spice?

You can make your own (recipe below) or buy it ready-made. I usually use Hunter’s Biltong Spice from Bluff Meat Supply — it comes in a 200g pack and works beautifully.

If you’d like to make your own, start with these proportions and adjust to taste:

Homemade Biltong Spice Mix

• 4 parts coriander seeds, toasted
• 2 parts black pepper
• 2 parts salt
• 1 part brown sugar
  (Optional: add chilli flakes, garlic powder, or smoked paprika for extra flavour.)

What Meat Do You Use?

I use silverside, also known as bottom round or outside round.

Where Do You Get a Biltong Maker or Biltong Box?

You don’t need fancy equipment — just a space with good airflow. I use a small biltong maker (a plastic box with a tiny fan and light bulb). It cost me about R600, but I’ve seen them for R400 lately on Takealot.co.za and Amazon.co.za.

If you don’t want to buy one, you can easily DIY your own or use a cupboard with good ventilation.

Where Do You Get the Light Bulb?

Those small heat-producing bulbs are being phased out in South Africa, but you can still find them if you shop around. Mellerware has said they’re developing new biltong makers that use small oven bulbs instead.

Where did you get the Biltong Cutter?

I bought this biltong cutter from Billie Boys franchise of Biltong shops but you can find them at flea markets and farmers markets as well.

Let Me Show You How to Make Biltong Step-by-Step (with Photos)

1. Gather your ingredients – silverside meat (I usually get about 3kg), white vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce and biltong spice. You will need one large shallow dish for the vinegar mix, one dish for the biltong spice and one for the cut meat. If you plan to cut off any fat, you will also need a plate for the off-cuts. I use my off-cuts to make a great beef stock!

2. Make the vinegar mixture in a large dish – mix the vinegar and Worcestershire Sauce together.

3. Mix until it is all one colour.

4. Add biltong spice to a large flat dish.

5. Spread it out.

6. Prep your meat – use a sharp knife!

7. Cut the meat in half or make as many strips as you would like

This pic below shows you how thick the Silverside meat is.

8. Keep all your prepared meat in a large dish

9. Put the two dishes next to each other to form an assembly line of sorts.

10. Begin dunking the meat

11. Make sure to coat each side in the vinegar mix.

12. Take it out the vinegar mixture

13. Place into the spice dish

14. Coat the meat with the spices

15. I like to rub the spice in which also spreads it out nicely and makes sure it is not too laden with spice.

16. Place a hook into the one side of the beef strip.

17. I have these hooks in plastic as well as metal. The hooks will be used to hang the biltong in your biltong box or cupboard.

18. Place all your spiced meat with hooks attached into a dish and then take this to your biltong maker.

19. Carefully hand each piece on the white racks – this biltong box is cheap and therefore quite flimsy (but does the job perfectly!) so the white bars may fall down when you are trying to hang the meat – don’t worry just put it back and try again. Make sure to leave enough space between each beef strip so that air can circulate around the meat.

As you can see the meat is well-spaced.

20. Put the lid on, turn the bulb on and allow to dry for 3-5 days. I left these for four days as they were quite thick pieces but you can leave them even longer if you prefer a dry / harder biltong.

21. After 3-5 days, check the biltong – if it is done to your likeness, remove from the machine and place in a compartment in your fridge or in a brown paper bag!

Homemade Biltong makes a wonderful gift too!

I find it is best to cut with a biltong cutter as shown in the images below but of course, you could also use a kitchen knife. My friend said she uses her MagiMix to cut hers!

Perfectly done biltong!

Print