Biltong

The one thing every South African misses when moving to the UK is biltong. You can get it here in London, but you'll pay a small fortune, and it's never just right. So after scouring the Web for information, I went down to the DIY store and got some bits to build my very own biltong maker. I'll admit, it's the most over-engineered dryer ever, but I wanted one that would last a while and get the job done in this cold, humid environment. In South Africa, you can just use a cardboard box with a bulb in it and you'll have biltong in a few days. I didn't want to take any chances with mould or bacteria, so I fitted a bathroom extractor fan to a nice and sterile plastic storage box. Luckily my local Wickes still stocks the outlawed incandescent bulbs, so I bought a couple of 55 Watters and connected a light on the opposite end of the box, and this will hopefully generate a little heat to dry the air a bit. So here's my first attempt — day one of The Biltong Project.