Making Biltong (Beef Jerky)

Aim:
I want to find out how to make biltong (beef jerky).

Method:
The equipment I will need to make biltong...

• Raw steak
• Spices for flavouring (a pinch of coriander, ginger, garlic, pepper, chilli, cummin)
• A small handful of salt
• String (50cm)
• Sharp knife
• Bowl
• Newspaper

Instruction for making biltong:

1. Get all of your equipment out, ready for using.
2. Get your newspaper and lay it on a table.
3. You then wash your hands.
4. Then add salt and all of your chosen spices onto a bowl.
5. Mix your salt and spices together.
6. Then get your raw steak and cut it into thin strips approximately 1-2cm wide.
7. Once done get your raw steak and put it down on the newspaper.
8. Get your seasoning, and massage it onto the meat.
9. Then get your string that is approximately 50cm long, and tie it at the end of the raw steak.
10. Then get your meat and tie it on a drying line.
11. Wash your hands again and clean your workplace once done.

Tip: Make sure that your raw meat is getting air, and make sure that you have something underneath the meat so that it can catch all the blood, that is going to drop from the meat on the first days of it being hanged up.

Results:

The biltong was brown and dry. It was a little hard, but you can still bend it a little. It didn't really smell like raw meat, in fact it didn't really smell like anything. There were fats that had become white. It tasted like plain ordinary meat, at first. But as I kept chewing it, it became more salty.

Discussion:

Why did we salt the meat?

There are two different main reasons on why we salted the meat. The first reason is that the salt will kill the bacteria that is on the outside.

The second reason is that this will absorb all of the water that is in the meat. This will cause it to kill the bacteria because the bacteria needs water for it to grow.

How does salt kill the bacteria?

The salt will drain the meat, and it will cause the bacteria to die because bacteria needs water to live. So then the bacteria will not be able to grow anymore in the dried meat. The bacteria will burst because of the salt.