Biltong — The South African Classic
Mikkel Borre is a Danish cook, butcher, and sausage maker with deep roots in traditional food craft — trained in restaurant kitchens and at old-school butcher shops, including a century-old butchery on the island of Funen.
His approach blends years of hands-on experience in fermentation and curing with a genuine curiosity for new flavor ideas, always finding ways to make complex techniques accessible to anyone willing to try.
This Biltong is a natural expression of that philosophy — a personal take on the South African classic, brought closer to a European palate through thoughtful ingredient choices.
Mikkel's Recipe
Where traditional Biltong recipes call for malt or apple cider vinegar, Mikkel opts for red wine vinegar and adds Worcestershire sauce to build a richer, more layered base for the cure.
Alongside the classic roasted coriander seeds and black pepper, ginger powder and yellow mustard seeds bring a warming depth that makes this recipe distinctly his own.
Cut beef top round and bottom round with the grain into thick strips that are cured for 48 hours in the spice marinade.
Make a hole in the thickest end of each strip and tie a loop with butcher's twine. Hang the meat on your Meatdryer hook in a dark, well-ventilated place — such as a basement or shed — at 20–25°C (68–77°F) with 50–60% humidity. Ensure the pieces do not touch each other.
You can use your Meatdryer hook anywhere, Mikkel is making his Biltong in his apartment in Copenhagen.
The pieces are then dried slowly to 50% of their starting weight, and sliced thinly against the grain — a finishing touch that turns each piece into a tender, flavor-packed ribbon.
You will find the recipe in the Meatdryer app. Check out our Instagram profile to see how Mikkel makes the Biltong, step by step — Instagram - Biltong with Meatdryer
Cured and Air-Dried, the Traditional Way
This is cured biltong, made the way biltong was made long before anyone built a box for it: 48 hours in the vinegar and spice marinade, then hung until enough water has left it. No biltong box, no hot air oven, no dehydrator forcing it along with heat — just a hook, somewhere dark with air moving through it, and time.
It belongs to a family you already know. Salted beef hung in moving air turns up all over Europe — bresaola in Lombardy, cecina in Spain, Bündnerfleisch in the Alps. Biltong is the South African one: cut into strips rather than left whole, and leaning on vinegar as much as salt.
Mikkel's hangs in a Copenhagen apartment. The Meatdryer hook follows the weight as it drops, so you know when the meat has lost the half of itself it needs to lose, instead of pressing it with a thumb and hoping.
Shop the Recipe
Everything you need to make Biltong at home — just like Mikkel.
- Meatdryer Hook — Hang and dry your meat anywhere, from a basement to a city apartment.
- Butcher Twine for Hanging Meat — Tie your strips securely before hanging.
- Accessory Hook for Hanging Meat — Expand your setup to hang heavier pieces.
