Dried Fruit

Dried fruit is a terrific snack, but cooks also use it in everything from muffins to stews.  Drying has the obvious advantage of letting us enjoy our favorite fruit when it’s out of season, but it also serves to concentrate the fruit’s flavor and sugar.  Since high concentrations of sugar ward off bacteria, dried fruit can last up to a year without refrigeration.   If you live in a hot, dry climate, you can dry fruit just by leaving it out in the sun for a few days.  If not, you can use an oven or dehydrator.  Sulfur dioxide is sometimes added to the fruit to improve its shelf life and color.  If you’re allergic to it, you can usually find unsulfured dried fruit at health food stores.  In a pinch, you can remove some of the sulfur by boiling treated dried fruit for a minute or so, then draining off the liquid.

Dried Herbs

Drying herbs on an herb drying rack is the most effective way to preserve them. While fresh herbs wilt after a few hours, dried herbs can be stored in the freezer or in glass jars in a dark cupboard. If dried herbs seem to have lost their essence, you can refresh them by rubbing them between your fingers before adding them to your favorite recipe. The fresh aroma will convince you that there is plenty of seasoning power remaining in the shriveled leaves that once were a part of your herb garden

Herbs have been known to produce many positive effects in the human body.  One can find herbal supplements for nearly any disease or condition, as well as for the promotion of overall health.
One of the most common traditional ways to ingest herbs is in tea form.  People have been drying, steeping, and drinking herbs

Making biltong

What is Biltong?
Developed in South Africa and a staple food in many African countries, biltong [Bil-tong] consists of strips of cured, air-dried beef or game. Meat is often spiced to give flavour. Raw beef or game is cut into strips, salted and spiced, and then hung in a drying area, free from moisture and contaminants for a period of 3-4 days until dry.

Meat Selection and Preparation

Biltong can be manufactured from virtually any meat or venison. It is important to note the quality of the meat has a direct influence on the quality of finished product.
Grade C Silverside Beef is the best cut to use.
Always use fresh cut meat.
ALWAYS try to avoid Vacuum packed meat. Mould is more likely to form on meat that has been vacuum packed or pre-packed and been lying in its own blood for a few days. If you only have access to vacuum or pre-packed meat, first check whether or not the bloodiness around and on the meat has become “tacky” when you unseal the pack. If it has then take care because this is a prime mould stimulant. Remember, blood is a filtering system in the body and will be carrying many pathogens, bacteria and mould, which will then be passed onto the meat. To counter this, you will need to wipe the meat down thoroughly with a cloth dipped in vinegar and then pat it dry afterwards before beginning to spice the meat.
Always slice meat with a sharp knife.
Slice meat “with” the grain and in one motion.
REMEMBER: The thicker that meat is sliced, the longer it will take to dry. Longer drying times increase the risk of mould spoilage due to the fact that more moisture is available for a longer period.
The rule of thumb for slicing meat is to slice up to 2.5cm thick for Factory and Industrial manufacture and 1.5cm thick for home manufacture.
Take care when slicing that the bottom of the strip does not end up thicker than the top.
Start slicing thinly and carry on slicing till the strip of meat falls away, ensure that you slice in one motion, otherwise you will end up with unattractive strips of meat covered in nicks and cuts.
Place meat on the cutting surface with the fat layer as close to the cutting surface as possible. This will prevent the meat from moving around when the knife places pressure on it. If all the fat has been trimmed of the meat then lay the meat with the largest surface area on the cutting surface.

Spicing and Marinating

Place freshly sliced meat strips into a tray or bowl side by side so that meat touches and no gaps are present between strips, this prevents any wastage on spice.
Lightly sprinkle half of the pre weighed spice over one side of the meat. Ensure that the entire surface of the meat is sufficiently covered by spice, spread out spice lightly by hand. Spice will begin to change colour as it soaks into the meat.
Take each strip of meat and turn it over in the tray to expose the unspiced side. Repeat above procedure to spice meat with the rest of the spice. Allow to soak in for a few minutes.
Turn meat onto fat strip and spice the exposed edge of the meat.
Meat should be completely covered by spice.
If you are stacking meat in a tray, place the thicker pieces on the bottom of the tray and stack thinner pieces on top. This added pressure will assist in pressing spice into the meat.
Try to prevent meat from lying in its own blood, (see comment on blood in previous section) place a draining board in the bottom of the tray to keep meat out of its blood.
Cover tray and place in chiller/fridge.
marinade for AT LEAST 24 hours, preferably overnight.
If meat is not allowed to marinade sufficiently there will not be enough time for salt to penetrate the meat and reach the core of the product. This can result in there being a flavour difference across the slice as well as salt crystallizing on the surface of the meat during drying and storage. This salt is often mistaken for mould spoilage. The quickest method to tell the difference is to taste the mould. Scrape some off with a knife and taste for salt.
Occasionally check meat to make sure that all parts of the meat are covered in spice, and that excess liquid is draining away from meat. For larger batches it might be necessary to transfer meat to a clean tray during marinating.

Hanging the Product

When hanging biltong always use plastic or metal hooks and sticks which have been properly cleaned with soap and water and wiped down with a cloth soaked in vinegar. Dirty hooks and sticks are one of the primary points of contamination in biltong manufacture. They are often overlooked during cleaning and can transfer spoilage organisms to meat very quickly.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD WOOD BROUGHT INTO CONTACT WITH THE RAW MEAT .

Spoilage organisms get trapped in wood fibres and can contaminate products after they have been “cleaned”.
Raw meat must hang freely in the cabinet/drying room and not touch one another. Mold growth is more likely to occur if meat touches each other during drying. If mould starts up it can rapidly spread to the rest of the batch.
Meat should be placed on the hook so that it hangs in an “upside down pyramid shape” ie. with the thicker part of the strip nearer the hook, and thinning out down to a point at the furtherest point from the hook.

Packing the Cabinet / Drying room.

Do not over pack the cabinet/drying room, you will reduce the amount of airflow around the strips of meat and increase the time required to dry the product. This increased drying time will lead to and increased risk of spoilage, because it will take longer to extract sufficient moisture from the product to prevent mold growth.
Always layer the sticks of meat from the top front to bottom back of the cabinet/drying room.
There is no real standard as to how much meat you can pack into a cabinet/drying room. The thicker you slice the meat, the more weight you can place into the cabinet or room, however this means that it will take longer to dry and there is a greater risk of contamination/spoilage.

Using the Cabinet / Drying room

Hygiene of the biltong cabinet/drying apparatus is a critical factor in producing top quality biltong. ALWAYS keep this piece of equipment as clean as possible at all times.
Where possible, use a proper biltong making cabinet, which is constructed of stainless steel. Stay away from wood constructions. As stated previously, wood has the ability to trap spoilage organisms between the fibres and even after cleaning will have the ability to contaminate a batch of biltong repeatedly.
Ensure that all ventilation points are insect proof and all doors and access points are both water and airtight. There should be a one way flow of air from the bottom of the cabinet, past a heat source, into the cabinet, past the meat and up through the top of the cabinet to the outside. This is the optimum airflow pattern for drying biltong.
Clean down all surfaces in the cabinet/drying room with soap and water and then rinse down and sanitize with a high quality sanitizer prior to hanging a batch of meat. For home use, wipe down all surfaces with a cloth soaked in vinegar. Vinegar is an acid and acts to kill bacteria and spoilage moulds.
A very important preservative/cleaning agent in biltong manufacturing is called POTASSIUM SORBATE. This product can be purchased in granular form from Specialised Dryers. Its function and use are documented under the section entitled: Cleaning of Equipment.

Drying the biltong

There are many different viewpoints on which is the “perfect” temperature/time relationship for ideal Biltong production. Some people opt for a higher temperature to dry the product faster and reduce the chance of spoilage, while others choose a lower temperature to try and create a uniform product. When raw strips of meat are brought into contact with heat, the moisture on the surface evaporates. As the surface dries out, water moves from the core of the product to the surface to maintain the equilibrium. When the water reaches the surface it is evaporated off and in this way the total moisture of the product is lowered to produce the desired product.
HIGH TEMPERATURE: The increased heat will mean that the product surface dries out very quickly and hardens. Water moving from the core of the product does not have a chance to reach the surface in this time. What results is a product with a hard surface and wet core. During storage after drying, the moisture in the product will equilibrate and cause the surface of the product to once again become moist. This increased moisture on the surface of the product is an ideal requirement for mold growth and spoilage.
LOW TEMPERATURE: If the cabinet temperature is set to low during the drying phase, not only do your run the risk of mold growth on the product (if no UV light is present), but you increase the time that it would take to dry a batch and can unnecessarily increase your production expenses. The longer drying times will ultimately leave the product very dry and brittle.
Both of the above methods CAN be employed to make quality biltong provided that the meat quality and hygiene are of the highest standard.
The use of a spoilage preventive system can be extremely useful in killing of bacteria and mould which can otherwise spoil a perfectly made batch of biltong. UV light functions to destroy spoilage organisms by drying out and breaking down the cell wall. A curing system should be purchased and positioned within the cabinet/drying apparatus so as to give maximum exposure to the surface of the meat. Spoilage preventive systems will only function where it strikes the surface of the meat directly. A method to increase this exposure is to use a stainless steel cabinet with clean surfaces, which will reflect the rays to all parts of the meat.
THE IDEAL TEMPERATURE AND TIME FOR DRYING BILTONG ARE AS FOLLOWS: 22 °C -24 °C  for the first 24 hrs there after Dry at 30 °C To 33 °C  FOR 2 – 4 DAYS WITH CURING ON FOR FIRST 24 HOURS
Do not hang meat in a dank or musty area. The fresher the air and the better the ventilation, the less danger there will be of mould contamination.
Never hang biltong in an air-conditioned area as the artificial ventilation can contribute towards mould growth.

Storage of Finished Product

Biltong should always be stored in a semi permeable bag to ALLOW AIRFLOW OVER THE PRODUCT. This will allow any moisture, which is on the surface of the biltong after equilibration to evaporate off. NEVER store biltong in plastic UNLESS it is to be frozen.
Biltong can be frozen but this will change the texture of the product slightly, as the small amount of moisture, which is left in the meat, freezes and breaks up the meat proteins. Wrap biltong in cling wrap and ensure that no air reaches the product. This is to avoid freezer burn.
When defrosting biltong, allow it to reach room temperature before consuming. Cold biltong has very little flavour.
Mould can be removed from biltong during storage by wiping it down with a cloth soaked in vinegar, remember that in the case of coarse spiced products, this will mean wiping off the coriander and salt.
The most popular method for storing sliced biltong is of course in vacuum packed bags. All that is being achieved is to remove oxygen from around the product. This limits the amount of spoilage organisms to only those that can grow in an oxygen free environment, of which there are very few which can grow on biltong, due to its reduced water content.
Be very careful not to pack biltong in a sealed container where it will be surrounded by oxygen. A common occurrence is that the meat will lose moisture to the container and will create a state where the moisture content of the package will be the same as that of the biltong, which is being stored. When this happens, salt will begin to move from the core of the product to the surface and will crystallize on the surface and give the appearance of mould.
Be careful not to allow biltong to lie on top of one another in a box/tray during storage. Not only is there a greater chance for mould to spread from one piece of meat to the other, but, combined with weather changes and storage conditions, can lead to an increase in heat in and around the products and therefore a decrease in shelf life due to mould spoilage.

Cleaning of Equipment

This is the most crucial aspect of biltong manufacture. Even the best quality meat and spices can be made to look and taste terrible because of poor hygiene and dirty equipment.
Dirty equipment is the chief source of spoilage in almost all biltong making operations. Always ensure that equipment has been properly cleaned down before and after every batch of biltong is made.
Equipment should be cleaned with soap and warm water and then rinsed in a solution of cold water and vinegar mixed in a ratio of 5 parts vinegar to 95 parts water. This will serve to kill of spoilage organisms.
As stated earlier in this document, the use of POTASSIUM SORBATE is vital in maintaining your product quality. This product is available from Specialised Dryers in a white powder form for use in the biltong manufacturing industry.
The function of Potassium Sorbate (Pot. Sorbate) is to kill yeasts and moulds as well as some spoilage bacteria. It functions to destroy the cell membranes of the spoilage cells and prevent them from multiplying.
Pot Sorbate can be used to clean equipment; it can be added into biltong spice and applied to meat; as well as being used to spray down meat on which mould is beginning to grow.
For addition to fresh meat: Add 0.8 – 1.0g of Pot Sorbate per Kg raw meat into biltong spice and marinade as normal. Dissolve 30g of Pot Sorbate in 750ml of vinegar and add onto meat. This solution is enough for 40kg of raw meat. If you begin to notice mould growth during drying. Lightly spray this solution over meat and allow to dry onto meat.
Always ensure that the personnel working with the meat have washed their hands both before and after going to the toilet. Hands should be clean before any meat is handled.

Mould

Due to the low amount of water that is present in a piece of dried meat, most bacteria and yeasts cannot multiply. Therefore, the majority of spoilage, which occurs on dried meat, is due to mould spoilage.
Mould is more likely to occur during hot, humid summer periods, especially at coastal areas. The ideal season for biltong manufacture is during the winter months.
As stated previously, mould can spread very rapidly throughout a batch, be sure that strips of meat do not touch each in the cabinet.
Stay away from vacuum packed meat; it has a tendency to spoil. Blood is a mould growth stimulant.
Do not hang biltong in a humid environment; the added moisture on the surface of the meat can lead to mould spoilage.
If mould spoilage is detected early in the drying process it can be prevented by wiping down the meat with a cloth soaked in vinegar.

More tips for making biltong

• Silverside C grade or Rump Beef is the best meat to use but for really quick & easy biltong buy thin cut frying steak from the supermarket.
• Always use fresh cut meat. Meat that has been frozen is not  suitable.
• The thinner you cut the raw meat pieces the better. Thinner  pieces dry quicker and more evenly. Pieces of 1.5 – 2.5 centimetre thickness are recommended.
• The raw meat should never come in contact with wood or metal. Spoilage organisms get trapped in wood fibres and will cause mould. Metal will react with the vinegar and sour the meat.
• Always wash and soak the meat for at least 5 minutes in wine or vinegar. Squeeze out excess liquid before spicing. This step is very important.