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Fermentation Atlas

Meat from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana

Biltongbiltong

Strips of lean beef are marinated in vinegar, salt, black pepper and coriander and then hung to dry in moving air at room temperature for about a week. Biltong is not fermented; vinegar, salt and drying make it safe, with no heat step. Made in 3 steps over 8 days. The longest step, hang to dry, takes 8 days (Karolenko C 2023) and runs at 22.2–25 °C (Karolenko C.E 2020). Salt is 1.7–2.7 % (Karolenko C 2023).

Key numbers
Main step8 daysReported[karolenko2023][karolenko2020]Hang to dry
Temperature22.2–25 °CReported[karolenko2020]Hang to dry
Salt1.7–2.7 %Reported[karolenko2023][karolenko2020]Marinate in vinegar, salt and spices
Fully documentedMeat8 daysMore meatMore from Zimbabwe

Recipe

Amounts from a sourcePercentages of the meat weight in a university process modelled on commercial biltong; home recipes vary.
2.2 % of meat weightSalt · Trials of the same process used 1.7–2.7 %[karolenko2023][karolenko2020]
4 % of meat weightRed wine vinegar (100-grain, 10 % acetic acid)[karolenko2023]
1.1 % of meat weightCoarse ground coriander[karolenko2023]
0.8 % of meat weightBlack pepper[karolenko2023]
Lean beef, trimmed and cut into pieces about 1.9 cm × 5.1 cm × 7.6 cm[karolenko2023]
Starternone

Total time across the recorded steps: 8 days

Start
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What changes: Lean beef is trimmed of fat and cut into thick strips

Step 1 of 3
Trim and cut the beef
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: lean beef pieces cut along the grain.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Biltong is marinated in vinegar and dried at room temperature with no cooking or smoking, unlike US jerky, which is usually heated. It is not fermented.

Related ferments

Variants

  • DroëworsAir-dried beef sausage sticks.

Safety

Biltong has no heat step, so vinegar, salt and drying must do the work. In US trials, this process cut Salmonella by more than 5 log and brought water activity below 0.85 within 6–8 days. US makers must validate their process with USDA-FSIS, either as a 5-log Salmonella reduction or a 2-log reduction plus testing of every lot.

Hazards the sources name: Salmonella (the target of process validation; vinegar, salt and drying cut it more than 5 log in trials); Coagulase-positive staphylococci and Staphylococcus aureus (low counts in retail samples).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The name is Afrikaans, from bil (buttock) and tong (strip).

  1. [karolenko2023] Karolenko C., DeSilva U., Muriana P.M. 2023, Microbial profiling of biltong processing using culture-dependent and culture-independent microbiome analysis, Foods 12(4):844paper
  2. [karolenko2020] Karolenko C.E., Bhusal A., Nelson J.L., Muriana P.M. 2020, Processing of biltong (dried beef) to achieve USDA-FSIS 5-log reduction of Salmonella without a heat lethality step, Microorganisms 8(5):791paper
  3. [vesela2025] Veselá H., Ježek F., Dušková M. et al. 2025, Jerky and biltong from the Czech retail market, microbial quality, chemical composition, and other quality characteristics, Foods 14(21):3792paper
  4. [wp] Wikipedia, Biltong (name only)wiki