Biltong USA - Peri-Peri Sliced Biltong

Biltong USA was among the earliest brands of American-made biltong, dating back to 1996. South African immigrants, Dawid Joubert and Salome Joubert founded the company in Stallings, NC based on the same family recipe that dated back into the 1600s. Over the years, their biltong products helped launched a new meat snack category in the States.

In January 2018, Biltong USA was acquired by a rival biltong brand, Stryve Foods. However, Biltong USA continues on under its own brand, and is still manufactured at its original USDA inspected facility in Stallings.

This Peri-Peri Sliced Biltong refers is the company's lean variety but seasoned with Peri-Peri, a South African style spicy seasoning made from the Piri-Piri pepper. Because Piri-Piri peppers are so difficult to find in the USA, most companies use cayenne. Biltong USA doesn't specify if this contains real Piri-Piri peppers or not. The package is also marked "Gluten Free".

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Ayoba-Yo - Biltong

Ayoba-Yo is a brand of biltong and droëwors owned by Ayoba-Yo USA, based out of Oakton, VA. The brand got started in 2013.

Co-founded by Wian van Blommestein, Ayoba-Yo is a family run business that focuses on South African-style meat snacks. Made in a USDA-inspected facility, the company's biltong and droëwors is made from top round and spiced with an old family recipe. It's free of artificial ingredients and preservatives.

Ayoba-Yo describes their brand of biltong as being gluten-free, and, "...a tender piece of beef with a naturally explosive flavor."

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Lehigh Biltong

Lehigh Biltong is a new brand that got started in September 2015 by Dan Levy, based out of Bethlehem, PA. Levy, who grew up in England from South African parents, had always loved biltong. But when he moved to the United States, it was hard to find.

After becoming frustrated with paying high prices for biltong and waiting weeks on delivery, Levy decided to make his own.

Now a senior at Lehigh University, he balances his studies in Mechanical Engineering and running his new biltong brand. He uses antibiotic-free beef, along with the usual ingredients of salt, vinegar, coriander, and black pepper, but throws in a kick of Old Bay seasoning.

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Braaitime Biltong

Braaitime is a brand of gourmet cured meats based out of Keansburg, NJ. The company was started in 2005 by Warren Pala. Warren immigrated from South Africa in 2001 and sought to introduce Biltong to Americans.

Warren claims to be the only brand of biltong holding true to the old world methods. "All other makers of Biltong have followed the 'jerky' method in order to achive USDA approval. They cook the meat to a certain temperature for a certain amount of time". Warren was able to get USDA approval with the help of local Italians who had already convinced USDA inspectors that their prosciutto & capacolo are shelf stable.

Biltong is a type of seasoned, dried meat whose recipe originated from South Africa. Similar to jerky in description, but tasting very much different, it's traditionally seasoned with vinegar, coriander, black pepper, and salt. Braaitime sells biltong unsliced, sliced, and flavored in Peri Peri and Garlic, and even in Venison.

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Ayoba-Yo - Spicy Biltong

Ayoba-Yo is a brand of biltong and droëwors owned by Ayoba-Yo USA, based out of Oakton, VA. The brand got started in 2013.

Co-founded by Wian van Blommestein, Ayoba-Yo is a family run business that focuses on South African-style meat snacks. Made in a USDA-inspected facility, the company's biltong and droëwors is made from top round and spiced with an old family recipe. It's free of artificial ingredients and preservatives.

Ayoba-Yo describes this Spicy Biltong as being gluten-free, and, "...a tender piece of beef with a naturally explosive flavor."

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Biltong USA - Traditional Sliced Biltong

Biltong USA was among the earliest brands of American-made biltong, dating back to 1996. South African immigrants, Dawid Joubert and Salome Joubert founded the company in Stallings, NC based on the same family recipe that dated back into the 1600s. Over the years, their biltong products helped launched a new meat snack category in the States.

In January 2018, Biltong USA was acquired by a rival biltong brand, Stryve Foods. However, Biltong USA continues on under its own brand, and is still manufactured at its original USDA inspected facility in Stallings.

This Traditional Sliced Biltong differs from the Original Sliced Biltong we reviewed last week in that it has some fat whereas the Original is lean. The package is also marked "Gluten Free".

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Biltong USA - Original Sliced Biltong

Biltong USA was among the earliest brands of American-made biltong, dating back to 1996. South African immigrants, Dawid Joubert and Salome Joubert founded the company in Stallings, NC based on the same family recipe that dated back into the 1600s. Over the years, their biltong products helped launched a new meat snack category in the States.

In January 2018, Biltong USA was acquired by a rival biltong brand, Stryve Foods. However, Biltong USA continues on under its own brand, and is still manufactured at its original USDA inspected facility in Stallings.

This Original Sliced Biltong is the brand's most popular product, it's their lean variety, whereas their "Traditional Sliced" is the fatty variety. The package is also marked "Gluten Free".

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Cut & Dried Gourmet - Biltong

Cut & Dried Gourmet was founded by Stephen Kerford in 2014, based out of San Francisco, CA. Kerford had been managing the e-commerce businesses of Hearst Ranch and Niman Ranch.

He had been making "private reserve" batches of biltong while at both ranches. Stephen extended the practice of making biltong into his new company, Cut & Dried Gourmet.

The company currently offers three varieties of biltong, a "Natural Beef Biltong", a "Peri Peri Biltong" described as spicy, and a "Cajun Biltong".

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Jonty Jacobs - Biltong (Traditional Cut)

Jonty Jacobs is a brand of Biltong and Droewors based out of Brooklyn, NY. It was launched by South African-born Australian, Monique Daniels, who moved to the United States and discovered a lack of quality biltong.

Biltong is a type of dried, seasoned sliced meat, very much like jerky, but with a more specific method of curing and drying. Whereas jerky is marinated for several hours and often dehydrated in smokers and ovens, biltong is rubbed with salt and vinegar and dried at room temperature for several days, resulting in a more tender, aged flavor.

Jonty Jacobs brand of biltong is made in the USA in a USDA inspected facility. They offer two types of Biltong, this Traditional cut, which leaves more of the fat on, and a "Lean Cut", which we reviewed last week. Jonty Jacobs also sells its own seasoning blend separately, encouraging you to sprinkle a bit more for additional kick.

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Jonty Jacobs - Biltong (Lean Cut)

Jonty Jacobs is a brand of Biltong and Droewors based out of Brooklyn, NY. It was launched by South African-born Australian, Monique Daniels, who moved to the United States and discovered a lack of quality biltong.

Biltong is a type of dried, seasoned sliced meat, very much like jerky, but with a more specific method of curing and drying. Whereas jerky is marinated for several hours and often dehydrated in smokers and ovens, biltong is rubbed with salt and vinegar and dried at room temperature for several days, resulting in a more tender, aged flavor.

Jonty Jacobs brand of biltong is made in the USA in a USDA inspected facility. They offer two types of Biltong, this Lean Cut, and a "Traditional Cut", which leaves some of the fat on. Jonty Jacobs also sells its own seasoning blend separately, encouraging you to sprinkle a bit more for additional kick.

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Tapa Doble - Garlic & Rosemary

Tapa Doble is a new brand of Spanish cured meats based in Madrid, Spain, having just launched last month. The company sent me a sample of their original flavor, "Garlic & Rosemary".

It's perhaps best described as "cecina", a form of Spanish cured meats utilizing Mediterranean sea salt, and then air dried. It has the look and aroma of biltong, a South African variety of cured meat.

Tapa Doble currently offers this Garlic & Rosemary variety, with a Picante variety coming soon.

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Old Kalahari - Voortrekkers Biltong

Old Kalahari Gourmet, LLC, based in Dallas, TX, is a new business that sells "Voortrekkers Biltong".

The company was launched by Dan Lewin and is still in the stages of setting up its website. Currently, they have this biltong product selling in one store in the Dallas area.

Biltong is a South African-style dried meat, similar to jerky, but different in that it's typically air dried in room temperature for a few days, and cured with salt and vinegar. Biltong is usually seasoned with coriander seed.

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Jim's Biltong - Original

Jim's Biltong is a brand of Temba Meats based out of Charlton, Queensland, Australia.

The company is run by Jim and Cathie Tanner who bought the meat processor in 2004. Temba Meats is what produces Jim's Biltong and Jim's Jerky. Temba Meats was previously operated by a South African couple who made biltong and jerky in small quantities.

Biltong is a similar product to jerky, and based on how many different ways jerky can be made, it's basically the South African variety. It typically relies open air dehydration, and instead of using marinades, it's salted and dipped briefly in vinegar, and usually relies on coriander seed for spice.

Jim's Biltong is available only in Australia.

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Big Bird Jerky - Ostrich Biltong - Western

There's an ostrich farm just on the outskirts of Escondido, CA, south of where I live, and there's also a number of roadside stands around there selling this brand of Big Bird Jerky. I don't know if the farm is behind the Big Bird brand, however.

The brand is apparently owned by Stehly Ranch and Feeding Co., based out of Chowchilla, CA. A lookup of the company shows that it's a one-man operation. I tried to call him up, but got no answer. The jerky itself is manufactured by Glenoaks Foods, Inc., based out of Sun Valley, CA. Glenoaks owns the J.C. Rivers brand of jerky, and they also make the Ring of Fire brand of jerky that I reviewed earlier.

Interestingly, this package of Big Bird Jerky has the words "Ostrich Biltong" on it. If you read my previous review of Big Bird's teriyaki variety of the same, you'll know that I really didn't find anything about this resembling true biltong, though I'll condition that by saying the lines separating biltong from jerky are blurred. I think however, ostrich is perhaps more associated with biltong than it is with jerky.

Ingredients

Ostrich, water, soy sauce, brown sugar, pineapple juice, black pepper, liquid smoke, garlic powder, white pepper.

Taste

The taste I get from the surface of these pieces starts with a slight sweetness, followed by a faint bit of the soy sauce. Moving into the chew, the black pepper comes through first, with some natural meat flavors coming next. Sucking out some of the juices, I can get more soy sauce flavor.

Overall, it's a tasty jerky, with a good concentration of flavor. But I'm not sure I'd call this biltong. This has a very classic jerky taste, nothing that resembles biltong.

Being that this is advertised as a "Western" variety of jerky, it's difficult to determine what exactly it ought to taste like. But as with the "cowboy style" of jerky, it should have an intense flavor, lots of salt, smoke, garlic, pepper, and natural meat flavors. You gotta figure the cowboys and lawmen of the old west era had burnt out their tastebuds from too much tobacco and whiskey. So they need a jerky that offers a ton of taste.

While this jerky is indeed peppery, and has a good deal of soy sauce flavor, it's light on everything else. I'd say the soy sauce is the primary flavor of this jerky, followed by the pepper, and then I'd give the surface sweetness the third most prominent taste.

The natural meat flavors are slight, and being preservative free, it's still a fresh taste. Ostrich tastes pretty much like beef, it's just lower in fat. But still, considering it's ostrich, you'd expect to get a lot of natural meat flavors just so that you can enjoy ostrich. Otherwise, why would anyone buy it? It is indeed lower in fat, but in this 1 ounce package you won't realize much health advantages.

The saltiness is moderate at best. The garlic powder mentioned in the ingredients list is also very slight, I don't really taste much of it, except maybe as part of the soy sauce. I don't even get much smokiness.

Overall, it's another good tasting jerky, nothing bad to report here. But it's another jerky that doesn't really come out and grab my attention. It's mostly a novelty jerky for being ostrich and being labeled as "biltong".

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, sliced average thickness, and in small, medium and large sized pieces.

This is a dry jerky, but one that retains a lot of flexibility. It also requires a bit of effort to tear off a strip, and is somewhat on the chewy side.

It doesn't quite provide a chewing experience like a real steak, but it's not mushy at all. Instead, it gets slightly gummy.

It's for the most part a clean jerky, leaving no residue on my fingers, but it does drop a fair amount of black pepper resulting from the effort exerted in tearing off a strip.

I found no amounts of fat, tendon, or gristle on these pieces.




Product Value

I paid $3.49 for this 1 ounce package at a roadside stand located between Valley Center and Escondido, CA, along Valley Center Pkwy. That makes this a very expensive jerky.

For general jerky snacking purposes, it's a poor value. And that's largely due to its high price. Otherwise, it provides a good taste, and I actually do find it snackable. The meat consistency is ok, though somewhat tough, and somewhat gummy.

For being advertised as biltong, it's a poor value. I don't really see this as biltong, everything here suggests it as classic jerky in both taste and consistency.

Even as a western style of jerky, it's a poor value because I don't quite see this having the "western" or "cowboy style" characteristics that other similarly named jerkies have.

Rating

I'm giving this an average rating.

I actually rated this one notch higher than the brand's teriyaki variety, and that's only because this provides more taste with the black pepper and soy sauce. Aside from that, I think this jerky really misses the mark for being advertised as biltong, and doesn't quite live up to my expectations as a "western style" of jerky. The meat consistency is also not that great.

I could have given it a good rating if it only had more natural meat flavor.

But it's still a tasty jerky for its black pepper and soy sauce, and it's also preservative free if that's important to you. But unless you can find this priced in the low $1.00 range, I wouldn't buy it again.

But if you happen to have some of this jerky, my beer recommendation is a brown ale.

Rating: Average

Where to buy:

• Good luck finding it!

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AA Biltong

Bledie Lekker!

Which I believe means "bloody tasty", is the exclaimation on the label of this brand of biltong by AA Biltong. Produced by a specialty food shop called South African Food Shop located in Matthews, NC, it's marketed as something as close to being authentic "biltong".

Biltong is of course a type of jerky originating from South Africa. As the history suggests, the British colonized the area and found it fertile for growing vineyards. Locals discovered the vinegar by-product was an excellent (and tasty) means for preserving meats. Based on what I can tell, this is what primarily sets apart biltong from jerky. Biltong uses vinegar, while jerky uses salt.

South African Food Shop has a webpage describing how it got into the business of making biltong.

Interestingly, this package does not provide a nutrition facts. Instead, there are labels on this similar to what you'd find on a package of raw meat, warning consumers to heat the product to at least 160 degrees F, as well as safe handling instructions. I contacted South African Food Shop to ask if I should cook this. They said "no, by all means no". I'm supposed to eat it straight out of the package. They have to place these warnings because the USDA considers this a raw meat, even though it's apparently cured and ready to eat. The Shop says that their biltong is "USDA approved".

Ingredients

Beef, salt, vinegar, natural spices, sugar, potassium sorbate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium nitrate.

Taste

There is indeed a vinegar-like taste that comes through in this immediately. That's followed by a slight salty taste. The aroma that comes from this package of biltong resembles something like salami or prosciutto.

Not being an expert on biltong, I can't tell you if this tastes like the real biltong you'd find in South Africa, though I'm told that biltong varies in taste and consistency depending on who's making it, just like with jerky.

But, when I talked to the guy at South African Food Shop he warned me this stuff is very addicting. That seems to be supported by everything I've read about biltong. It often starts with British citizens visiting South Africa and being introduced to biltong. Then when they return to Britain, they discover they can't find it being sold anywhere. There are stories of travellers sneaking packages of the stuff into the country.

The predominant taste I get from this brand of biltong is that vinegar taste. It's not a tangy taste at all, much more mild, bland, and more consistent with the kind of flavors you'd expect from traditional British cuisine. If you've ever had a "banger" you might know the taste I'm talking about.

The secondary taste in this is the salt, of which I'd say meets the level of "too salty". Each piece I ate didn't necessarily have a lot of salty taste, but for whatever reason, I'm finding a salt scorching starting to build in my mouth after about 3 ounces of this stuff.

The natural meat flavors don't come out very well in this. I can certainly taste it in there, but it's not a strong taste.

There's also some visible pieces of seed-spice in this, I'm wondering if it might be dill seed? It's too round to be dill seed I think. But it has a sharp, dill taste. That taste, however, is only noticed when you bite into that seed. Otherwise, it doesn't really leach into the meat. See the last photo below.

As for being extremely addicting, I could see how this could be so to a South African, since it does indeed have that "british" flavor to it, if you know what I mean. But being an American born and bred, with our diversity of cultures, my palate was refined in a different way. I like the vinegar taste, the bit of salt, but I want more of the natural meat flavors, and I'd like some more spiciness.

Overall, I think it's good. This stuff is CLEARLY different than any of the beef jerky made here in the USA. It looks different, it smells different, and it tastes different, and it scores points with me just because I love trying different things. But this biltong also reinforces my belief that Brits all across the globe love bland food.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, sliced medium thickness, and in small pieces.

This is a soft and tender style of biltong, being very easy to tear apart, and easy to chew. The small pieces are such you'd never have to tear this down; each piece is mouth-sized.

There's a good deal of fat marbilization to be seen on these pieces, but I don't find this biltong to have an excessive fatty taste. I do, however, taste a small degree of fat, and that fat does indeed contribute to the overall flavor of this biltong.

Some of the pieces had some tendon, but very few. Much of this was free of the chewy stuff.






Product Value

I paid $11.95 for this 8 ounce package from South African Food Shop's website. That works out to a price of $1.49 per ounce, putting this into the average price range. However, when you add the $9.95 for shipping, you're looking at $2.74 per ounce, making this expensive.

For general jerky (biltong) snacking purposes, it's a fair value. I do find this having a snackability, though the saltiness will eventually cause me to stop before reaching the end of the bag. The high price, particularly if you're buying this online, makes it hard to justify buying this on a regular basis, unless you really have to have biltong.

But if you're like me, a jerky lover, it's worth the expense to include this biltong in your repertoire of meat snack experiences. This tastes nothing like the beef jerky we Americans are accustomed to.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

It's good mainly because it's different, and because I do like that vinegar taste in the meat. But it's also rather salty, and offers only a little bit of the natural meat flavors. Moreover, there's a blandness to this.

Although, the seed-spice that I photographed above adds a nice burst of flavor when bitten into that I think works well with this vinegar-tasting meat. Overall this biltong reminds me of the italian deli meats, maybe because of its aroma and physical appearance.

Get a light-tasting beer, like a honey blonde ale, to counter the heavy saltiness.

Rating: Good (4/5)

Buy this online:

• Amazon.com

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Big Bird Jerky - Ostrich Biltong - Teriyaki

Big Bird Jerky is a brand of Stehly Ranch and Feeding Co., of Chowchilla, CA. They're behind this line of Ostrich Biltong which I've seen around in many places here in Southern California.

Biltong is of course, an African version of jerky. It can be made from any meat, and can involve any variety of seasonings. The difference is largely in the cure, where biltong relies on vinegar, jerky tends to rely on salt. Coriander is a popular spice used in biltong, yet is not often used in jerky. Salt is often used in biltong, but mainly as a taste as opposed to a preservative. Biltong is typically cut into very thick strips, whereas jerky is largely sliced into slabs.

In looking at the ingredients list for brand of biltong, I don't really see vinegar mentioned, except as included within in the soy sauce. Moreover, I don't see coriander either. It appears to be standard ostrich jerky, but advertised as "biltong" perhaps to help Stehly Ranch corner the biltong market.

Ingredients

Ostrich, teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, honey, pineapple juice, water, black pepper, liquid smoke, garlic, powder ginger.

Taste

There's a slight sweetness that hits my tongue immediately, and then the teriyaki flavoring comes on soon after that. Going into the chew, I get a taste of the natural meat flavors, and a slight bit of saltiness.

For being a teriyaki variety, this has a mild teriyaki taste. There's enough of it there to definitely be called teriyaki, but not overpowering. Moreover, it's clearly teriyaki as opposed to being soy sauce with sugar added.

The natural meat flavors of the ostrich are there, but not very strong either. It's mild tasting meat flavor. Ostrich generally tastes very much like beef, but is much more lean. You're largely eating ostrich for its leanness.

As for the other seasonings mentioned in the ingredients list, they too are very subtle. I don't really taste any of the black pepper. I don't really notice much of the garlic. The ginger is noticeable, mostly as a component of the teriyaki.

This biltong is largely bland. The dominant taste in this is the teriyaki sauce from the surface of these pieces. Moving into the chew, the teriyaki gives way, and I can actually taste more of the ginger. But the taste that dominates the chew is the natural meat flavors. Still, all of the flavors are mild; you're not getting anything here that knocks you on your butt.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, sliced thin to medium, and in small to medium sized pieces.

This is largely a dry biltong, with a sticky layering of teriyaki sauce. Tearing a piece apart takes a bit of elbow grease, but isn't really all that bad. Chewing is a little tough. But overall, I don't find this consistency to get in the way of enjoying the flavors.

Some of these pieces, mainly the thinner sliced ones, have a rubbery-like flexibility.

I don't see any bits of fat, tendon, gristle, or connective tissue. It's just pure meat.

Overall, it's a good meat consistency.




Product Value

I paid $5.99 for this 2 ounce package at a roadside fruit stand just south of Valley Center, CA. That works out to a price of $3.00 per ounce, making this very expensive.

For that price, this has a poor value. First, the natural meat flavors are weak, I don't get a strong taste. It's largely bland on taste. And most importantly, this doesn't taste like biltong. It's just plain ostrich jerky.

As a teriyaki variety, it's also a poor value, because while this product does give out a decent teriyaki taste, paying $3.00 per ounce just to get a teriyaki fix is still way too expensive.

Rating

I'm giving this a fair rating.

This ostrich biltong is not really biltong at all, but ostrich jerky. This doesn't appear to have been cured through vinegar, just salted and dehydrated. Had they advertised this as jerky, I might have given it a higher rating.

Moreover, it doesn't offer much on taste. I can get a decent taste of teriyaki and some taste of the natural meat flavors, but it's still largely a bland snack. That takes a lot away from its snackability.

However, it's not bad by any means. Just not anything exciting, and not anything resembling biltong.

A good wheat beer, or hefeweizen, might pair well with the sweetness of the teriyaki flavor.

Rating: Fair

Where to buy:

• Good luck finding it!

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