Asteroid Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 (edited) Hi allSo with Xmas around the corner I was hoping to make a few batches of biltong for consumption during the festivities. Bought the meat (6kg rump), spices, etc All good to go ...then discovered we needed a light bulb, soDOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN BUY AN INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULB (or equivalent) for use in the dryer. We tried Bunnings but no such luck as you can apparently only buy energy saving bulbs these days.Cheers.Andrew<Brisbane> Edited November 30, 2013 by Asteroid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 As far as I know incandescent light bulbs are, or has already been phased out due to them being energy inefficient. My hubby put a 25 watt globe in our biltong drier and it does the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaL Posted November 30, 2013 Report Share Posted November 30, 2013 You can still occasionally get them in Coles or the cheap $2 shops, otherwise http://australia.rs-online.com/web/c/lighting/incandescent-light-bulbs/http://ee.ret.gov.au/energy-efficiency/lightingI definitely have bought them, because my globes constantly blow and I am not putting expensive energy savers in only to have them blow after a week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted December 1, 2013 Report Share Posted December 1, 2013 Got this one for my dryer, works like a charm (From coles)http://shop.coles.com.au/online/national/mirabella-globe-fancy-round-40-watt-bayonet-cap-pearl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted December 3, 2013 Report Share Posted December 3, 2013 I use the OSRAM 60W ones from Bunnings, they work a treat, but with the air temp in Perth what it is these days I have disabled my heating in the biltong dryer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted December 3, 2013 Report Share Posted December 3, 2013 Do you guys use home-made biltong dryers or bought ones? I made one out of a cheap cupboard with a fan, ventilation holes and insect netting. I'm thinking about adding a light bulb as well because it doesn't seem to dry quick enough if I make anything over 1kg. Thing is, I'm worried about the fire risk aspect of adding a light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted December 3, 2013 Report Share Posted December 3, 2013 I got the older model of thishttp://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/111227562387?hlpht=true&ops=true&viphx=1&lpid=94Had someone bring me one from south africa and it has a light fitted, the recommendation is to use a 40w light as anything higher and you may start cooking the meat The light should be fine from a fire perspective however i have my dryer placed where if it was to catch fire it wont set the whole house alight just in case Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asteroid Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 Thanks all.A mate of mine sorted me out with a few incandescents he had lying around - he's an electrical engineer and can get them easily as they make good resistors for load testing ....and the occassional batch of billies @HansaPlease - We are using a bought dryer, but back in SA made my own out of a 25l plastic paint bucket. Worked a treat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted December 11, 2013 Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 The light should be fine from a fire perspective however i have my dryer placed where if it was to catch fire it wont set the whole house alight just in caseThis is what worries me a bit. Mines downstairs on ground level in the "junk room" most of our house is upstairs, so if downstairs goes "poof" then I'm in a bit of trouble. Not sure the insurance company would find my biltong maker legit I'm also considering trying one of these round plastic "food dehydrators" that you see that do dried fruit etc for about $50. Any thoughts on those? Or maybe I should stop being a cheapskate and just spend the $150 on a proper biltong maker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 My husband "modified" our biltong maker after doing it for a long time. He decided, unless you live somewhere very wet, you dont need the bulb. So out that went. You do however now need mega wind force. He recons its all about the fan So, he took one of our pedestal house fans and pulled the legs off it. Then placed it face down on top of the box. It blows the living daylights out of the meat, but we can eat biltong in two days from hanging. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted December 16, 2013 Report Share Posted December 16, 2013 Must add, the biltong maker stands indoors, in the kitchen. Probably a different matter if it was out in the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryVR Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 The food dehydrators work and absolute treat. We got a Sunbeam on EBay and have never looked back. Enjoy, and no fire risk!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 The food dehydrators work and absolute treat. We got a Sunbeam on EBay and have never looked back. Enjoy, and no fire risk!!!Excellent! Thank you. One more question, is it one with a fan only setting or do you actually make your biltong with a low heat setting? I'm worried about cooking the meat rather than drying it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted December 20, 2013 Report Share Posted December 20, 2013 HeyWarm air can carry more water, so the idea behind the light is to slightly warm up the air in the process reducing the humidity in the air and making the meat dry faster, the meat will pick up a bit of radiated heat from the light but it wont be much because there will be airflow over the meat cooling it off fast as well.We run a 40w light, it is perhaps 3 cm away from the meat and no problem with the meat getting cooked.CheersNev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted December 21, 2013 Report Share Posted December 21, 2013 I took the plunge and bought a food dehydrator from Aldi today. My first test batch is on at the moment, lets see how this goes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heymanse Posted December 22, 2013 Report Share Posted December 22, 2013 I took the plunge and bought a food dehydrator from Aldi today. My first test batch is on at the moment, lets see how this goes...Let us know what you think of it and send some pics please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansaPlease Posted December 22, 2013 Report Share Posted December 22, 2013 (edited) Let us know what you think of it and send some pics please?Well, so far I'm impressed. I'm on my second batch already. The first batch took about 28 hours to make. 30Minutes preparation, 8 hours curing in the fridgeand only about 19 hours drying time. It was way too salty - my own fault - so I've put on my second batch now. The taste and consistency other than the saltiness was good, about how I would expect biltong to be. The dehydrator did well.I've got about 800 grams in there but reckon I could probably fit 1.5 kilos easily. Not bad for 40 bucks! Just have to keep it on the lowest temparature setting and turn/swap the trays a couple of times to get more even drying. (Trying to add photos but it's saying they're too large?!) Edited December 22, 2013 by HansaPlease Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted December 22, 2013 Report Share Posted December 22, 2013 Just hung the next batch of meat,We are trying something completely different this time, im making spice like the biltong shop premixed stuff, (As opposed to the stand and rinse way) will see how it turns out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeInOz Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 As said by Nev the higher the temperature the greater the water vapour it can carry. But when the temperature is high and the humidity is high then what? I asked a friend of mine to check the RH in Joburg in winter, about 30% at 25 degrees. Ex tobacco farmers told me humidity must be below 60% to dry it.. There is information on the BOM website about thisWhen we lived in Mackay I used a cardboard box with a fan and lamp. As the humidity roze I started getting mould problems from the 80-95% humidity, at 30 to 36 deg heating was not an option. The thread below has some biltong making boxes including my rather large one, the picture of the box with two cars in a shed is on the link belowhttp://www.saaustralia.org/index.php/topic/23142-home-made-biltong/page-2 So I decided an industrial style dryer was the answer. I installed an airconditioner in the sealed box to cool the air to 17 deg, this caused the water in the air to come out of the box into a jugThe water came out into a jug then after a time 0.5 hr the aircon is switched off, In winter a heater came on for 15 min but in summer the temperature drifted up to 30 deg in an houra small fan circulated the air all the time and there was a dual timer for heater and air conditionerI used a small Temp RH monitor to check what was happening I could get the RH down to about 40% in any weather. I had several South Africans come and ask to see the box but when they saw the size they all just walked away shaking their headsI could and did dry between 5 and 30 kg at a time, which I was vacuum packing slicing and selling for $30 a kilo. This lead to several people using the aircon of their homes to hang biltong during the day while at work day 1 usually removed about 2 L of water, day 2 about 1-2 L and then reducing waterBy measuring the water removed I could estimate the mass of the remaining meat and tell when it was dry I sold the box due to it being to big to move easily but a new one could be on the drawing board, I currently have a small box with only a fan fitted but it is a bit slow in Brisbane, maybe a light bulb is needed 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 I like it, a ton of work but a great solution Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.