Four Reasons Why Biltong is Superior to Beef Jerky

Four Reasons Why Biltong is Superior to Beef Jerky

You're probably wondering what "biltong" is.

Biltong is the best jerky you've never tried 🥩

The truth is, biltong is similar to beef jerky, but there are four BIG reasons why it's superior to jerky:

Spicy Chili Biltong 

Biltong has no sugar 

Beef jerky is LOADED with sugar ❌

Dried meat snacks don't need sugar, yet jerky companies love to sweeten their meat because they know most American consumers are frankly addicted.

Americans now consume upwards of 70 pounds of sugar every year. This is a major reason why we are so metabolically unhealthy, why diabetes is increasing, and why Americans are so obese.

sugar, american diet, jerky

Nowhere in the biltong making process is sugar added. The ingredients in biltong recipes showcase the true flavor of the meat.

Most jerky brands use the beef as a carrier for other flavors. This is where biltong shines, it's a pure meat snack, there's absolutely no need for tons of sugar, or any at all.

What you taste when you eat biltong is the natural meaty flavor of the beef or bison, enhanced by the salt, apple cider vinegar, and spices.  🥩

Most jerky makers see the meat as a carrier for other big flavors. Not the case with biltong. The flavor of the meat itself takes the spotlight.

This is why so many people love our Original Beef biltong! Myself included. Original is unmatched. 

Original Beef Biltong

Biltong is cured, so it's naturally preservative free 

Beef jerky is not naturally shelf-stable, so what jerky manufacturers have to do is load their products with nitrates and nitrates. ☣️

This has been shown to cause cardiovascular harm to humans.

nitrates, nitrites, beef jerky

The reality of the food industry is most of the products you see on the shelves in a grocery store have been in a warehouse (or multiple), transported hundreds of miles, and then spend more time in the back of a grocery store or on the shelf. To minimize the risk of losing product, most big food companies, especially jerky manufacturers have to add preservatives.

Biltong, unlike beef jerky, is naturally cured.

The process of biltong making goes back to the 1600s when the Dutch settlers were pioneering South Africa on their Great Trek.  🇿🇦

great trek, dutch settlers, biltong, South Africa

How do pioneers, pre-modern technology create a meat snack that doesn’t go bad for their long journey? By curing. 

Curing is an ancient, traditional process that has varied throughout history. Some cultures cure by salting the meat heavily, some by drying and smoking the meat.

The Dutch settlers cured wild game by vinegar and salt. First they would soak large strips of meat in vinegar, neutralizing the bacteria, then they would salt the meat, add spices, and air-dry the strips for at least 7 days. Traditionally, the spices that were used were clove and coriander, which have antimicrobial properties.

Nature doesn’t need chemical preservatives!  🌱

The reason most big jerky companies use nitrates and nitrites is because they are mass produced, and are intended to live in warehouses or shelves for a very long time.  🕥

At Farmer Bill’s, our biltong doesn’t sit in a warehouse for months. 

We ship fresh batches, I mean SUPER fresh. When you receive our beef or bison biltong, it is typically within a month or two of the harvest.  🐄

Biltong, biltong slab, beef jerky, grass fed jerky

Beef jerky is full of soy. 

Soy sauce is a flavor enhancer, and makes the tough meat a little softer. 

If you didn’t know, the West is facing a testosterone crisis.

Boys today will have about HALF of the testosterone levels as their grandparents’ generation. 

Testosterone is dropping every year by about 1%.  👀

Chronic low testosterone can increase your risk of early heart disease, osteoporosis, and even in young men, erectile dysfunction. In fact, there’s a growing market for over-the-counter erectile dysfunction drugs for young men in their 20s to 40s. 

This should cause us to stop and reflect on our diets and environment. Because it’s not normal.  🤔

The testosterone crisis doesn’t seem to bother many doctors, it’s a silent crisis, and it sure doesn’t bother the big food manufacturers. 

Soybeans are mass produced because it’s cheap, and companies make a wide variety of products from it. 

soy, testosterone, beef jerky, hormones

Almost every mass produced food product has soy as an ingredient. 

Soy contains a concentrated amount of phytoestrogen, which has been shown to cause hormonal disruption in both males and females. Soy is still a new food to the Western diet, and while it is not the main culprit of our testosterone deficit crisis, its ubiquity makes it hard to avoid. 

The other culprits contributing to hormonal disruption in boys and young men you need to watch out for are: 

Atrazine, which has been proven to make male frogs androgynous
Phthalates, which are in many of the plastics we touch and consume every day
Personal care products like body wash and soaps that contain chemical fragrances and endocrine disruptors
Plastic water bottles, which have been shown to leech plastic and other chemicals into the water. 

Your best course of action to maintain healthy hormonal balance is to avoid all of these things, get adequate sleep, exercise regularly, and remove soy from your diet completely. 

We are uncompromising when it comes to selling a soy free product. 💪

We invested months into a new manufacturer selling the best quality of beef in Florida, but they would not budge on adding soy sauce to the recipe, so we had to part ways. 

The vast majority of meat snacks contain soy, we want to offer you something better.  🏆

MEGA VALUE Carnivore Feast - 12 Pack Beef & Bison Biltong 

Biltong is air-dried, not dehydrated. 

When beef jerky is made, manufacturers heat and dehydrate the meat. 

When meat is heated, it denatures some of the protein, minerals, and nutrients naturally found in the meat. Some of the additives beef jerky makers add also denature the meat. Not by a ton, but this is just one more reason why biltong is the superior meat snack.🥇

If you compare the nutrition facts, ounce to ounce, biltong has about twice the amount of protein than jerky. 🥩

Biltong is not heated or dehydrated, but rather air-dried. 

The result is not only a more nutrient-dense snack, but it’s softer than jerky, which can be very hard and tough. The air-drying process preserves the nutrients, protein content, and moisture.

You will notice there’s a good amount of fat in biltong. 😍

The beautiful marbling is not only aesthetically pleasing, but supplies your brain with the saturated fat it needs to function well. 

biltong, beef jerky, grass-fed jerky

That's right, fat is good for you! 

Animal fat has been blamed for what trans fats and seed oils have done. In the 90s, the messaging was strong against animal fats. Did you know McDonalds used to fry their french fries in beef tallow? 🍟 🐄

Americans slowly switched from using animal fats in their diets, to highly inflammatory seed oils. ❌

Throw out your margarine, and get some grass-fed butter! You should be eating good fats regularly. 🧈

Biltong is a great source of healthy fat. Beef jerky simply doesn’t have the full spectrum of nutrients that biltong offers. 

When it comes to meat snacks, Biltong is King.  🥩👑

Try it here:  

If you have never tried biltong, you need to experience its goodness.

Pure meat, in its most natural form.

We are obsessed with sourcing the best beef & bison in America to make the best biltong on the market.

We have four flavors of Biltong: 

Original Beef 💙

Spicy Chili Beef 🌶️

Smokehouse Beef 💨

Original Bison 🖤

Variety 4-Pack 

We also sell 1 pound slabs that are wonderful for dinner parties, adding to different dishes like omelettes or quesadillas, or just snacking on at home 

biltong, charcuterie, biltong slab, grass-fed jerky

Original Beef Slab (1lb) 

We ship small batches very fresh, and have been getting tons of 5 star reviews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Plenty of Free Shipping options available! You also get 20% Cash back or store credit on your first order!  💲

We encourage you to subscribe  🤝🏻 You get the best deal, and you won't have to worry about what you're going to snack on ✅ We will keep your pantry stocked with the best meat snacks money can buy. 👌

Taste and see the difference of artisan made biltong, your tastebuds will thank you! 

Back to blog

1 comment

I’m living the carnivore lifestyle and have never felt better in my life. Your biltong compliments the carnivore lifestyle and is definitely delicious, even the fat. The fat part just melts in your mouth and enhances the meat, so the fat is what my body uses for energy. I try to get the fattier cuts of meat. I’ve actually ate the fat off the piece of biltong first. 😅

Steven Williams

Leave a comment