The best meat for biltong is a lean, single muscle with a long, straight grain and very little connective tissue, which is why rump, silverside and topside top most home makers' lists. Cuts like these dry evenly, slice cleanly and take on a vinegar and coriander cure without turning greasy.
Rump is our pick for a beefier batch, especially when you buy a whole rump and break it into biltong-ready muscles yourself.
Below, we rank the usual cuts, then cover thickness, grain, trimming, curing, safety and biltong vs jerky.
What Makes a Good Cut for Biltong?
A good cut for biltong is lean, comes from a single muscle, has a grain that runs one way and can be cut into strips of even thickness. Those traits decide how evenly the meat dries and how it eats once sliced.
- Lean: fat does not dry the way muscle does and can turn rancid while the strips hang, so leaner beef keeps better and tastes cleaner.
- A single muscle: strips cut from one muscle hold together, while strips that cross a seam tend to split apart as they dry.
- A long grain: fibres running the length of the strip let it hang without tearing and slice neatly across the grain later.
- Minimal connective tissue: silverskin and gristle stay tough and chewy no matter how long they dry.
- Even thickness: a uniform strip dries at the same rate from end to end, avoiding wet centres and brittle tips.
Best Meat for Biltong: The Usual Cuts Ranked
For most home batches, the best beef for biltong is rump, silverside or topside, with eye round as a lean, mild option and eye fillet as a luxury one.
| Cut | Why it works | Watch out for | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rump (centre and eye) | Beefy flavour, lean once trimmed, bought whole so you set the thickness | Several muscles with grain running different ways, so seam it first | Richer, beefier biltong |
| Silverside | Long, coarse grain and lean meat; the traditional South African choice | Firm bite and a fat cap that needs trimming | Classic biltong |
| Topside | Lean, with a finer grain and softer texture | Large, uneven pieces need squaring off | Tender, everyday biltong |
| Eye round (girello) | Very lean and evenly round, so strips come out uniform | Mild flavour, and it dries hard if left too long | Lean snacking strips with bold spices |
| Eye fillet | Extremely tender with almost no connective tissue | The priciest option per kilo | A small, special batch |
Rump: Our Pick for Flavour
Unlike silverside, rump steak comes from a cluster of muscles: the cap, the eye, the centre and the tri tip. Once separated, the centre (sold trimmed as rostbiff) and the eye give long, lean strips with the deep, beefy flavour rump is known for.
Silverside and Topside: The Traditional Choices
Silverside is the classic South African biltong cut, valued for its long, coarse grain and forgiving drying. Topside comes from the inside of the same hind leg and eats slightly finer and softer. Neither is part of our range, so ask a local butcher for a whole piece rather than strips.
Eye Round and Eye Fillet
Eye round, often sold as girello, is very lean and neatly cylindrical, though its mild flavour needs a punchier spice mix. Eye fillet makes beautifully tender biltong, but at its price it suits a small, special batch.
How Thick Should You Cut Biltong?
Cut biltong strips roughly 2 to 2.5cm thick, so they dry right through over several days without the outside hardening long before the centre.
Thinner strips of around 1cm dry faster and give a firmer, drier result. Thicker strips stay moist in the middle, which plenty of people love, but they take longer and give mould more time to take hold in humid weather.
Keep every strip close to the same size so the batch finishes together, and firm the meat in the freezer for around 30 minutes first for cleaner cuts.
Expect drying to take anywhere from three days to a week or more, depending on thickness, airflow and humidity.
Should You Cut Biltong With or Against the Grain?
Cut raw biltong strips with the grain, then slice the finished biltong across the grain to eat. Long fibres running down each strip hold it together while it hangs, and slicing across them at the end keeps each bite tender rather than stringy.
With rump, each muscle has its own grain direction, so seam the whole piece into single muscles first, following the same lines you would use to cut rump steak.
Halve the tri tip where its grain changes direction, and expect the longest, straightest strips to come from the centre.
How to Trim Beef for Biltong
Trim off the silverskin, sinew and nearly all of the external fat, leaving no more than a thin edge if you like a little richness. Fat stays soft and turns rancid first, while silverskin dries into a chewy, leathery band.
Trimmed rump already sits among the leanest steak cuts, so the centre and eye need little more than a tidy up. The rump cap is the exception: its thick fat cover makes it a poor biltong cut and a far better roast.
Save the offcuts for stir fries, skewers or stock, so nothing from the whole rump goes to waste.
The Basic Biltong Cure: Vinegar, Salt and Coriander
A basic biltong cure needs only vinegar, coarse salt, toasted coriander seed and black pepper, with brown sugar as an optional extra. Every family has its own ratios, so start with a light hand on the salt and adjust from batch to batch.
- Toast whole coriander seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, then crush them coarsely.
- Dip or brush each strip in vinegar. Brown malt and apple cider vinegar are both common choices.
- Rub the strips with the salt, coriander and pepper, then cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
- Shake off the excess spice and hang the strips so none touch, in a dry, airy spot or a biltong box with a gentle fan.
Chilli, garlic or Worcestershire sauce are popular extras, but the classic flavour comes from vinegar and coriander alone.
Is Homemade Biltong Safe?
Homemade biltong is never cooked, so its safety rests on clean handling, enough salt and steady drying in dry, moving air. Food Standards Australia New Zealand groups biltong with jerky as an uncooked ready-to-eat dried meat, and its risk statement on dried meat names too little salt and the wrong mix of time, temperature and humidity as key risks.
Keep raw beef in the fridge at 5°C or below until it goes into the cure, as the Food Safety Information Council advises. Cure in the fridge too, wash hands, knives and boards after handling raw meat, and hang strips with space between them.
Commercial dried meat must reach a water activity of 0.85 or lower under the Food Standards Code, which home cooks cannot measure, so err towards a firmer finish. Throw out any strip that smells off, feels slimy or grows fuzzy mould.
Biltong vs Jerky: What Is the Difference?
Biltong is cured in vinegar and spices and air dried in thick strips without heat, while jerky is sliced thin, marinated and dried with heat in a matter of hours.
| Feature | Biltong | Jerky |
|---|---|---|
| Cut | Thick strips, about 2 to 2.5cm | Thin slices, about 4 to 5mm |
| Flavour base | Vinegar, salt and coriander | Savoury marinade, often with soy and sugar |
| Drying | Air dried over several days | Heated, then dried at 55 to 60°C for hours |
| Texture | Sliced to serve, moist to dry inside | Evenly chewy |
If you would rather finish in an afternoon, homemade beef jerky uses the same lean rump, heated to 71°C first and then dried in an oven or dehydrator.
Buying Beef for Biltong
Buy a whole, lean piece rather than pre-cut strips, so you control the thickness, the trim and the grain. Expect each batch to shrink noticeably as it dries.
Regular makers can stock up through our bulk packs, freeze portions and thaw each one in the fridge before cutting. Every order arrives chilled and vacuum sealed in an insulated box.
Conclusion
The best meat for biltong is lean, comes from a single muscle and has a long, even grain, and a seamed rump delivers all three with plenty of beefy flavour.
Cut with the grain, trim hard, keep the cure simple and give the strips time to dry properly.
When you are ready, a whole rump from Cost Cut Meats arrives chilled and ready to break down for your next batch.
