DIY Biltong Drying Cabinet - Build Thread

[Chocolate Teapot]

Picked up this little gem today for the princely sum of £4, my intention is to convert it in to a super biltong drying cupboard!

Before I start cutting holes in it and putting things in places I was wondering if anyone has built anything similar or has knowledge greater than my own about these things.

The cupboard is 36" high 18" wide 18" deep. Has a glass rear and a front wooden door.

Questions:

1) How many fans and where should I put them? on top or on the sides at the bottom etc
2) How many lights should I put in there?
3) Ventilation holes, should these be at the top, bottom or both? Does it matter?
4) Sealing, the front door doesn't close fully with about a 2mm gap most of the way around, should I get some sealing things and hook and latch so all the air is being drawn in through filtered vents?
5) has anyone any experience in some sort of thermostat or temperature controlled build?

I'm hoping for something similar to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V8HWEMHCVA&li...

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

[OldJohnnyYen]

Is it going be worth it? I do mine in one of these.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Dehydrator-Ad...

Cheap as chips.

[calibrax]

OldJohnnyYen said:

Is it going be worth it? I do mine in one of these.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Dehydrator-Ad...

Cheap as chips.

That will do jerky, but will it do biltong (i.e. much thicker pieces of meat)?

[Chocolate Teapot]

OldJohnnyYen said:

Is it going be worth it? I do mine in one of these.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Dehydrator-Ad...

Cheap as chips.

Of course it's worth it, there won't be any of that fruit nonsense going in mine!!

[OldJohnnyYen]

It'll do biltong, even my own twist on biltong with mallasses I've tried chorizo with mixed success, stuff like that needs to be aged to taste great though.

[Chocolate Teapot]

Created a quick hanging rack for the Biltong cabinet today, used the original shelf holders so I can experiment and move things around:





Cost so far:

Cabinet: £4
Dowel Rack: £5

[escargot]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

&

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Ignore the guy who said to get a fruit drier from amazon - he is clearly a homosexual.

[Chocolate Teapot]

It's taken a couple of weeks for bits and pieces to arrive as i'm doing it as cheaply as possible and some parts have come from ebay & China!


Holes being drilled with a 70mm hole saw as I didn't have a 100+ mm one


Tidied up a bit with the jigsaw, doesn't need to be too neat as there are covers going over the top so you won't see the hole, it just needed to be within the square outline I had drawn on


More drilling for light fittings, you can also see the 70mm holes ready for me to put vents & filters on


View from the top with the fan covers going on


Fans attached with 4mm x 60mm bolts through the top


How it currently looks until some more bits and pieces arrive


Cost so far:

Cabinet: £4
Dowel Rack: £5
Fans: £3
Fan Covers: £2
Light fittings: £2
Bolts: £3

Parts on order:

70mm vent covers x 12: £4.50
Carbon filter for vents: £2
Draft seal for door: £2
Door latch: £1

£28.50 total so far

[Chocolate Teapot]

All finished, Lidl have topside and silverside on offer at £5.99/kg at the moment so going to pick some up tomorrow. My local butcher charges around £14/kg so need to take a look at where to get the best value meat from.

Vinyl wrap on the inside to make it easier to clean and wiring going in, I've wired the two fans together and also the two lights, attached a multi socket to the underside so there is only one plug and switch


Window seal and some hooks to keep the air input filtered


All done, some aluminium sheet thing attached to the door to protect the bulbs from any drips, fans and filters also attached





Cost:

Cabinet: £4
Dowel Rack: £5
Fans: £3
Fan Covers: £2
Light fittings: £2
Bolts: £3
70mm vent covers x 12: £4.50
Carbon filter for vents: £2
Draft seal for door: £2
Door latch: £1
Vinyl: £6

£34.50 total, your fruit drying nonsense can do one

[calibrax]

Brilliant thread. Looking forward to seeing the results!

[Chocolate Teapot]

We have meat! 2.5kg of Lidl topside for £15, marinated in apple cider vinegar and safari biltong spice.

I'm currently messing around with the light bulbs, I started with one 40w bulb but have now placed a second 40w as the temp was only around 12 degrees and 70% humidity, I think closer to 20 would be better for the humidity in my outbuilding although not sure how accurate the weather device is inside that cabinet.

day 1:

[z4chris99]

get some vivarium bulbs, really hot buggers!

[SpydieNut]

I use a 100W bulb for the first 24-36 hours, then a 60W for another couple of days. Seems to work, doing 2-3kg of meat at a time. Took me ages looking for old-fashioned, incandescent light bulbs over 40W - in the end I had to get them off eBay

Looking good BTW

[Chocolate Teapot]

My local DIY store sells 100w, I have a couple of these but just worried about baking the outside before the inside is dry, will see how it looks later but it seems to be doing well now, some of the small chili pieces are looking really good!

[madbadger]

Excellent.

That looks great.

[Chocolate Teapot]

Day 2 (24hours):

[madbadger]

That looks exactly the same.

[Chocolate Teapot]

madbadger said:

That looks exactly the same.

Not if you look closely that picture was taken at 4.30pm yesterday as well so it's not a full 24 hours progress

There is definite darkening of the meat, I've done the squidge test and it's getting dry, the smaller bits I think may be ready tomorrow!

[madbadger]

Chocolate Teapot said:

madbadger said:

That looks exactly the same.

Not if you look closely that picture was taken at 4.30pm yesterday as well so it's not a full 24 hours progress

There is definite darkening of the meat, I've done the squidge test and it's getting dry, the smaller bits I think may be ready tomorrow!

Spot on.

You can't beat a good squidge test.

[FerdiZ28]

Nice work, good DIY.

Did you know that Carrie Fisher is big into her Biltong? Last count she has 465 dryers, all capable of drying one steak each. Dominates her lounge but she can't get enough.

Enjoy the chewy goodness.