Duck biltong is my favourite and best-selling biltong, along with my famous beef biltong and droëwors.
Biltong is a delicious healthy meat snack and South Africa's version of Jerky, or bresaola, although the process, flavour, and texture are very different, and dare I say, superior.
Duck biltong is a beginner-level cured meat anyone can make at home, using basic equipment, and it only takes a few simple steps and a couple of days to be ready.
The process is simple and broken down into three easy steps. Preparing the duck, curing it, and then drying it.
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Ingredients
- Duck Breast — Vacuum-sealed duck breasts, usually found in the meat section of your local store, are the most convenient to use. They are mostly farmed but, if you are lucky enough to find wild duck, then use that. Fresh or frozen is fine. Make sure to inspect the meat for freshness and only make biltong with good quality meat.
- Salt — Use coarse ground rock salt or sea salt. Fine table salt is not suitable.
- Spices — I use coriander seeds, black pepper, dried garlic and smoked paprika. This mix of spices delivers the best results.
- Vinegar — I use apple cider but, you can use malt vinegar, balsamic, red or white wine or any other vinegar you want.
- Extras — Optionally use Honey or sugar for sweetness and Worcestershire sauce for added umami. These are all optional, though, and feel free to leave them out if you want.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Step 1: Trim up the duck breasts. Remove any excess fat and all the visible silver skin and sinew. Leave enough fat to cover the breast on one side. Pluck out any feathers that might be left. Do not burn them off with a blow torch as this will result in them still being left in the skin anyway.
Step 2: Once cleaned and trimmed, rinse under cold water to clean. Dry with a paper towel and weigh out the meat. Multiply the weight in grams by 0.06(6%). This is the amount of course ground salt you need to use.
Step 3: Salt the duck breasts all over and let it cure on the skin side for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, flip the meat, and cure for another 30 minutes. Once cured, you remove the salt by simply wiping it off with a cloth. Do not rinse with water.
Step 4: While the meat cures in the salt, you can make the spice mix. Roast the coriander seeds in a dry pan until nice and fragrant. Blend in a coffee blender until flaky but not fine. Blend the pepper without toasting in a pan and blend to a medium fine powder. Add the smoked paprika and dried garlic, before giving it all a nice mix to combine. Spread onto a tray and set aside for now.
Step 5: Mix the wet ingredients and pour over the salted duck breasts into a non-reactive container. Soak the meat for an hour in the marinade, flipping over every 15 minutes to make sure it marinates evenly. After an hour, remove from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels.
Step 6: Place the duck breasts into the spice mix and press the spice into the flesh. Leave it to stand for 5 minutes, then repeat the spicing so that more spice sticks to the meat. Once spiced, you ideally need to weigh each duck breast. Label them individually to track the weight loss while drying. You can hang it on non-reactive metal or plastic meat hooks if drying in a biltong box or simply open space. If drying in a dehydrator use toothpicks to stick the weight label onto.
Step 7: For most people, especially those living in small apartments or humid climates, drying the biltong in a dehydrator is the best option. Set the temperature to a minimum. Don't set a timer. Place a cheap thermometer with a wire probe into the dehydrator to monitor the temperature. Not all dehydrators are accurate. It will take about 2–3 days to dry.
Step 8: Dry the duck until it's lost 50% of its weight. Ideally, you vacuum seal it tightly once cured to even out the moisture and mature the texture and flavour. Keep it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days before slicing. If you don't have a vacuum sealer, you wrap it tightly in plastic wrap instead. After this, you can freeze it for long storage. It will keep vacuum-sealed in the fridge for a few months.
Video
Options for drying
- Dehydrator — These are affordable and convenient for storage. They also run a bit hotter (35 °C or 95 °F) than a biltong box, which is why you'll also have biltong quicker. They do require you to flip the meat twice a day, though, and you need to make sure the temperature is correct by monitoring it with an affordable temperature probe. If you live in a humid location, your best bet is to use a dehydrator.
- Biltong box — If you are good at building things, there are plenty of guides online on building a biltong box. A modified plastic or wooden container. The idea is to provide airflow using a computer fan and gentle heat using a light bulb.
- Fridge — This takes the longest (about two weeks). Fridges are great at drying out food. It is only advised if you have plenty of free space in your fridge and are completely odourless.
- Anywhere else — If you live somewhere with a dry climate, and you have plenty of free space, then you can simply hang your biltong in a slightly breezy area like a porch, a balcony or in your kitchen. Keep insects away by loosely covering the meat in a layer of muslin cloth.
What to do if you see white mould on biltong?
Generally, you can simply dampen a clean cloth with vinegar and wipe it off.
It's best to do this as soon as you spot it because if the mould stays too long it impacts the flavour indefinitely.
You should also increase the airflow and reduce the humidity, as mould is mostly a sign of poor ventilation and high humidity.
Substitutions
- Meat — You can, of course, make regular beef biltong using my duck biltong recipe, or change the protein to lamb, pork, or venison.
- Spice — Play around with spices as they impact the flavour most. Remember to keep it simple and not use too many flavours.
- Marinade — The marinade impacts the flavour the least. It's important to keep the vinegar, any will do, but feel free to change the Worcestershire to soy or add a touch of liquid smoke.
Equipment
Storage
I store my biltong in the freezer or in the fridge.
It will keep in the fridge for up to a month sealed airtight.
Never keep it in craft paper bags as it will dry out too much.
It can be frozen for many months and simply defrosted in the fridge when needed.
Do not keep it at room temperature as you won't be able to tell if it's shelf stable and might cause it to spoil, because of a high level of moisture left in the meat.
Recipe
Duck Biltong
Ingredients
Meat
- 1500 grams (3 ⅓ lb) Duck breast - Trimmed weight from 2 kg duck (note 1)
- 90 grams (⅓ cups) Coarse sea salt - Note 2
Spices
- 80 grams (1 cups) Coriander seeds
- 20 grams (2 tablespoons) Black peppercorns
- 6 grams (1 tablespoons) Garlic powder
- 10 grams (1 ½ tablespoons) Smoked paprika
Liquid
- 130 grams (½ cup) Apple cider vinegar - Note 3
- 30 grams (2 tablespoons) Worcestershire sauce - Note 4
- 20 grams (1 tablespoon) Honey - Note 5
Instructions
- Trim up the duck breasts. Remove any excess fat and all the visible silver skin and sinew. Leave enough fat to cover the breast on one side. Pluck out any feathers that might be left. Do not burn them off with a blow torch as this will result in them still being left in the skin anyway.
- Once cleaned and trimmed, rinse under cold water to clean. Dry with a paper towel and weigh out the meat. Multiply the weight in grams by 0.06(6%). This is the amount of course ground salt you need to use.
- Salt the duck breasts all over and let it cure on the skin side for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, flip the meat, and cure for another 30 minutes. Once cured, you remove the salt by simply wiping it off with a cloth. Do not rinse with water.
- While the meat cures in the salt, you can make the spice mix. Roast the coriander seeds in a dry pan until nice and fragrant. Blend in a coffee blender until flaky but not fine. Blend the pepper without toasting in a pan and blend to a medium fine powder. Add the smoked paprika and dried garlic, before giving it all a nice mix to combine. Spread onto a tray and set aside for now.
- Mix the wet ingredients and pour over the salted duck breasts into a non-reactive container. Soak the meat for an hour in the marinade, flipping over every 15 minutes to make sure it marinates evenly. After an hour, remove from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels.
- Place the duck breasts into the spice mix and press the spice into the flesh. Leave it to stand for 5 minutes, then repeat the spicing so that more spice sticks to the meat. Once spiced, you ideally need to weigh each duck breast. Label them individually to track the weight loss while drying. You can hang it on non-reactive metal or plastic meat hooks if drying in a biltong box or simply open space. If drying in a dehydrator use toothpicks to stick the weight label onto.
- For most people, especially those living in small apartments or humid climates, drying the biltong in a dehydrator is the best option. Set the temperature to a minimum. Don't set a timer. Place a cheap thermometer with a wire probe into the dehydrator to monitor the temperature. Not all dehydrators are accurate. It will take about 2–3 days to dry.
- Dry the duck until it's lost 50% of its weight. Ideally, you vacuum seal it tightly once cured to even out the moisture and mature the texture and flavour. Keep it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days before slicing. If you don't have a vacuum sealer, you wrap it tightly in plastic wrap instead. After this, you can freeze it for long storage. It will keep vacuum-sealed in the fridge for a few months.
Video
Notes
- Keep the trimmings from the duck breasts to render down duck fat to use in cooking or to make duck mince. It can be stored in the freezer for up to a year.
- Important to use coarse ground salt. Table salt won't work. It can be from any source, but it has to be coarse ground.
- Use any vinegar you have for this, apart from distilled vinegar. Malt, wine-based or fruit-based are all good.
- If you don't have Worcestershire or you don't like it, then substitute it for soy sauce or leave it out.
- Honey is optional, and you can either leave it out or simply add some sugar to replace it.
- See the post for details on substitutions, and drying options.
- If you see mould growing, wipe it off with a cloth dipped in vinegar straight away. Increase the airflow and decrease the humidity.
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