What’s the difference between jerky and biltong

jerky

I had another awkward conversation this week. I was saying how I liked to make jerky and my mate (who is South African) was saying he likes biltong and that jerky is nothing compared to biltong.

I've had packaged jerky and biltong before and I couldn't tell the difference. What is the difference?

Best Answer

According to Wikipedia, the main differences are:

Biltong differs from jerky in three distinct ways:

  • The meat used in biltong can be much thicker; typically biltong meat is cut in strips approx 1" (25 mm) wide – but can be thicker. Jerky is normally very thin meat.
  • The vinegar, salt and spices in biltong, together with the drying process, cure the meat as well as adding texture and flavour. Jerky is traditionally dried with salt but without vinegar.
  • Jerky is often smoked; biltong is never smoked.

The same source states that typically Jerky is cut prior to drying, whereas biltong is dried first, then cut.

Apparently the different seasoning and curing/drying procedure leads to a technically similar but taste-wise remarkably different result.

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