Another year is close to its end, with the Christmas and New Year / Festive Season upon us. As the post title suggests, something from a little left field: a WiFI biltong box! There are nonetheless electronic goodies involved – the box has a display, with a temperature and humidity sensor. The display has in-built WiFi connectivity so that the temperature and humidity can be monitored remotely. And also the potential to control a number of switches, relays, or what-have-you; for example to switch a heater, a humidifier, a dehumidifier, etc.

(For those who don’t know what biltong is then of course Wikipedia is a source of information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biltong. Think non marinated beef jerky and one is close, originating from South Africa, and the taste is exquisite!)

The plan is for a proper write up of the display unit, but for now, and given it’s Christmas Eve, a couple of pictures:

WiFi Biltong Recipe

Of course not complete without a suitable recipe! Here’s something I found out on the web, forgotten where, but tried and tested multiple times.

Ingredients:

1-2 kg Lean beef, e.g., topside or top round
100 mL Salt
50 mL Roasted cracked pepper
120 mL Roasted cracked coriander seeds
100 mL Brown sugar
10 mL Bicarbonate soda
20 mL Smoked paprika
5 mL Cayenne pepper
0.5 cup White wine vinegar
0.5 cup Red wine vinegar
0.5 cup Malt vinegar
60 mL Worcestershire sauce

Method:

  1. Combine all wet ingredients
  2. Cut meat with grain into strips, 1-1.5 inches wide
  3. Soak meat for 60-120 minutes
  4. Roast pepper corns
  5. Roast coriander seeds
  6. Crush both
  7. Mix all dry ingredients
  8. Drain and dry meat
  9. Coat in spices
  10. Place in fridge for 12-18 hours
  11. Pat dry meat
  12. Hang in meat curing cabinet
  13. Dry for 2-3 days depending on how “wet” one likes it

The biltong made to date has turned out fantastically!

UPDATE: See the post WiFi display module for details of the display, the WiFi interface (based on a Photon module), interfacing of the temperature / humidity sensor, etc.