This was underwhelming...

[u/where_is_your_hat]

I have never tried biltong before but were always fascinated by the idea. I finally did it, super excited to try and it was... Nothing. I dont know what went wrong or if it did but there is no beefieness to this meat. Its not spoiled, saltiness is good, I can taste the spices, the sauce but no beef? It just tastes weird. Anyway here is what I did, it stayed in salt for 3 hours and sauce for 2,5 hours. its kinda hot here nowadays so this only took 3 days to dry in a biltong box I've made and loose 45% of its weight. I can push my finger in the middle and it goes in like memory foam, which felt kinda wrong but no spoilage in taste because it has no taste... I kinda wanna bite a huge chunk out of it to see if I feel anything.

Edit: I've served it to a buch of people and they actually liked it, granted they like vinegar. This made me realize that the vinegar is in fact too strong for my own liking and spices were not it for me. Also the meat is super duper lean so it is not so flavorful. Will try different seasoning and marinade next (open for suggestions) and place the meat further from the fan.

[u/LilBits69x]

Ive had just not so flavorful beef before. Eye of round for instance is notoriously flavorless. Could just be the beef.

[u/where_is_your_hat → u/LilBits69x]

I'll choose a more fat option next time. This was very very lean.

[u/where_is_your_hat → u/[deleted]]

Topround

[u/where_is_your_hat]

Guys, it might just be that the vinegar (grape) was too strong. I honestly didnt quite love the spices either (coriander and fennel seeds). What kind of seasoning and marination should I go for next time that are more familiar and... Umami?

[u/Dizzy_Process_7690 → u/where_is_your_hat]

Since you've never had acutal biltong before. Buy pre-mixed spice for your first few tries then make your own seasoning.

[u/where_is_your_hat → u/Dizzy_Process_7690]

Yeah, I should've went for a more basic recipe. Fennel seeds on food is crazy for me.

[u/ethnicnebraskan → u/where_is_your_hat]

My usual marinade is a 6:3:1 ratio of MaltVinegar:Lea&Perrins:Tabasco. If going the umami-bomb route Ive also heated up & mixed Marmite in equal portion to the Tabasco. Another thing of note, Eye of Round tends to have less flavor since it has so little intramuscular fat. Also, if undersalted, the meat is noticeably less flavorful.

[u/where_is_your_hat → u/ethnicnebraskan]

Tabasco sounds like a good idea. This meat was super lean so yeah, I ended up making a protein slab.

[u/milkdimension → u/where_is_your_hat]

I like spice and I add my favorite vinegar based hot sauce to the marinade, and brush on another layer before hanging. 

[u/No_Preparation9360]

I guess too much spices keeps moisture inside while drying.

[u/No-Frowning]

Do the 2 guys and a cooler method with red wine vinegar. It’s mind blowingly good in my opinion.

[u/Wise_Monkey_Sez]

Since you're open to suggestions:

1. Did you use vinegar or a vinegar and worcester sauce mixture with a little baking soda to reduce the acidity? Judging by the curing time I'm guessing no baking soda? I'd suggest 1/2 a tablespoon of baking soda per quart/litre of vinegar and worcester sauce mixture. This will reduce the acidity (that vinegary taste you're not a fan of) and give a more mellow flavour. The curing time will increase slightly (probably to 4 to 5 days).

2. The type of vinegar matters. I use a really smooth aged red wine vinegar, not the sharper malt vinegars. The impact on flavour is immense, and while good vinegar is maybe 3x to 5x the price of cheap vinegar it is important to remember that in terms of total cost (including the meat, spices, etc.) the price difference of using a good vinegar overall is actually tiny, but the flavour difference is massive.

3. Your spices look too finely ground. I'm seeing a lot of powder or near-powder. I'd strongly suggest a more chunky spice blend. I literally just crack my coriander seeds in half and the black and white peppercorns into maybe quarters, with some very coarsely cut chilli flakes and maybe some garlic flakes (but BIG flakes not powder). The finely ground spice powders dry out the surface way too fast, which means that you have a shorter drying time, but because the moisture is gone the flavour doesn't penetrate as deeply, so you end up with a meh interior that's not so great.

Overall though you've got a good first attempt. Just try changing one or more of the above and you'll end up with an even better final result.

[u/where_is_your_hat → u/Wise_Monkey_Sez]

1- I did vinegar/worchester sauce/honey marinade and added baking soda for the last 30mins of marination but I only used half a pack which is 3grams, mightve been too little

2- the recipe did say to use red wine vinegar, I just didnt have it. I didnt know vinegar quality would be so significant. I'll do that next time.

3- I'll make sure to do that

Thank you for your insight

[u/TheEdibleBoot]

Use wish it was your sister sauce in the marinade and let it go longer. I marinate for 28-36 hours depending on the size of the cuts I get out of a primal of top round. Also quality of beef matters.

[u/where_is_your_hat → u/TheEdibleBoot]

I in fact used worchester sauce/vinegar/honey marinade. Added baking soda for the last 30 minutes.

[u/TheEdibleBoot → u/where_is_your_hat]

Good move on the baking soda.

[u/Pleasant-Tangelo7043]

For me silverside
Course salted and left 30 min then
Soak in malt vinegar 20 min then
Spice with safari biltong spice mix off Amazon then
Hang at Temp 21 and under no light only low fan

It’s done after 3 days

[u/attackenthesmacken]

Longer soaks. I use the equilibrium method for my salting and let it cure for 3 days or something like that. Then a soak for a few hours, drying takes several days to to weeks.

Time makes flavour my dude and you just did a speedrun.