Interesting pictures of a Korean kitchen knife being forged

As to cuts, I often use bottom round. You want to trim off the fat as it will go rancid. Not a problem with wild game, but a lot of store bought meat is marbled with fat. Bottom round seems easy to trim and not too marbled, and also not too pricy as cuts go.

People think you need a lot of heat and dryness, but I don't think that's true. It seems that too quick of drying may create a skin over the meat that actually promotes the mold growth. Just hang it and let it be.

I do get a kick out of hanging the dripping slabs of meat over the sink, right in front of the kitchen window.
 
i occasionally make jerky in a dedicated store-bought dehydrator with a thermostat, i use beef slices at 60C (140F) min for an hour then 50C till done, to prevent nasty bacteria according the site i got the recipippy from. surprising how much it shrinks. and how fast it disappears after it's done.

i haven't yet made my own biltong, but assume it also shrinks quite a bit as it dehydrates.
 
I thought that the classic way to make biltong was to hang it in a big cardboard box with a 100 watt incandescent bulb in it to help with the air circulation and dehydration?
 
MoparsBob, well cardboard probably not around here so much, it would soak up too much water. But yes a wooden box with a light-bulb in the bottom is exactly the classic way to make biltong these days, however traditionally biltong is made by air-drying it hung from a shady tree in the breeze, protected from insects – or from the rafters of a room so Howard has gone "OLD SCHOOL" on his. But the box is more standard now, and that is the way I plan to make it. From what I remember FLANK steak type cuts of game animals are the ones that are usually used. At least that is what I plan to use, I have some Elk coming in if my B-I-L is successful during Elk season that I think will make wonderful biltong. If not I still have a bit of deer with a couple cuts that are close enough to top round to work. And I still think if I can I want to get some bear for a batch. But so far circumstances are being annoyingly negative about me going bear hunting anytime this spring.
 
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Hi Shavru, In my experience, bear meat is quite variable in edibility, depending on what the bear has been eating. If the bear has been foraging for nuts and berrys, insects, etc., then the meat can be very tastey. If the bear has been eating fish, well, then it tastes pretty fishey. We are what we eat, as the old german proverb says. But bear meat is surprisingly "rich", and it seems to fill you up a lot faster than some other meats. I have a friend who cooks up a mean sweet-and-sour bear roast that's to die for! And most bear meat is pretty fatty, so I'm not sure how well it would work for biltong?
 
I've harvested all my bears in a very remote area of NW Saskatchewan where the territories and Alberta meet. I'm not sure of their diet, I've never had the pleasure to ask. I do know a few things. They aren't junk yard bears as we're over 160 miles north of La Loche in the middle of nowhere. I've harvested them in both spring and fall. Fall bears are definitely more fatty. However, much like pork, the meat is not marbled but the fat is exterior to the muscle masses. The meat in all I've ever harvested is very lean as is moose, elk and deer. I've made many of bear completely into bear and jerky sans the few cuts my Denai Indian guides asked for. I never thought any further sanitation or preparation requirements necessary over any other wild game or domestically raised meats. I did the processing in a non commercial environment with only common sense restrictions. Not one person ever suffered ill health, darn near a thousand pounds of raw unprocessed bear meat to begin with. Several hypotheses prevail: I've harvested exceptionally clean living, non-smoking bears, some may not carry out common sense preperation techniques or bear meat is not naturally tainted much like swine with trichinosis in the dark ages when fed slop. If you're not shooting junk yard bears IMHO, the meat is no different than any other wild game. That said, since it is so naturally lean, any cut can make perfect jerky or biltong if your knife skills are worth a hill of beans.
 
While the info Howard presents is good info in general. I would tend to agree with BB that where the bear is harvested probably has a significant impact. Bear in and of its self is not the problem. Bears that spend their time in human garbage dumps are probably very questionable however.

I rarely go for Fall bear as the times I have hunted them do indeed seem to have a less appetizing result. Spring bears on the other hand I have had very good success with as they are generally fairly lean and the taste has a very mild sweet undertone. Fall bears that have been eating a lot of salmon to bulk up for hibernation seem to have a more pronounced slightly muddy/unpleasant undertaste. While BB mentioned that he hasn't polled his bears on their eating habits and preferences. I bet he actually knows pretty well what food stuffs are available in what season in the areas he hunts so he does have a pretty good general idea. As for biltong. I have never had the actual meat be fatty. Large layers of fat can be removed quite easily as long as the fat doesn't mix into the meat and that is what I usually find with the bears I have harvested in the past.

The places I used to hunt bear are between GMUs 25A and 25D out way north of Ft Yukon. That is where the guide I usually use has his areas of expertise. There really isn't much human activity out there as most of the surrounding area is BLM property that they limit VERY heavily. Haven't heard back if that area is still open and if so how the hunting is these years.
 
I bought some Biltong over the internet, it's pretty good! Like thicker, softer jerky but with a little sweeter taste.

I gave some to my daughter to try, she immediately spit it out. A few days later I gave her some but told her it was meat bubble gum. Now she loves the stuff!

My new Korean kitchen knives arrived. They seem identical to my old one in every way except the handles are laquered. I don't notice a temper line on them like the old one, though, so maybe these aren't edge hardened. Maybe one will show up in a week or two.

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Those look good. Does the top larger one have some sort of metal cap on the end or what is that.

A crusher of some sort, magnet (not likely).

Meat Bubblegum, that's a new classis right there again. How old is the daughter again, I forgot.

My daughter is out of town at a seminar dealy hymer so dad has been dropping my granddaughter off very early the last couple mornings. I'm not used to a 1 year old using my bed as a trampoline while I'm still in it.
Not a bad way to wake up though. Fortunately the wife is a very early riser, unlike myself who isn't. So she's up to let her in.
While I get a few precious more minutes to rest my eyes.
 
She's 3, what they call a "threenager " because she has the attitude of a teenager.

The metal dealy is a garlic crusher, my old one had it too. Koreans loooooove garlic!
 
My fun to be one year old granddaughter sometimes thinks she's a teenager too. I think she's a bit early in that area.

Don't even talk but gets what she wants via whines and grunts and pointing. Actually my wife does the same thing??????
 
I got that set too!! Along with the original you posted, and one smaller...sashimi knife I think? The set didn't seem quite as well made, blades were a bit less than perfectly straight, but they're still cool, and you do get what you pay for! That being said, I still think they're better than most commercial knives of the same price. After all, they've got...Seoul... :D
 
I haven't yet tried using them so I can't comment yet on how well they work, but they do definitely look cooler than a knife set you could get for the same price from Walmart or whatever! I'll be curious to see if the steel turns color at the edge like the old one did...
 
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Latest acquisition. It's an African Takouba but the blade looks European and quite old. There might be something written in the fuller, hard to tell from the picture. The blade's chewed to bits towards the tip.
 
Hmm. Very fun blade to do a lot of research on. So many fun things to explore in 1 blade.



Blue answered a lot of my questions with his other post on Recent Acquisitions so.... edited :D
 
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These new knives are working quite well, the middle sized one is now my wife's "go-to" knife. It's the only one she uses aside from the Old Hickory paring knife. The Old Hickory holds and edge for a heck of a lot longer though. The Korean ones need to be touched up after every other use. A quick swipe on a steel or the bottom of a coffee mug does the trick.

The edge has turned quite black while the rest of the blade has stayed shiny. Must be laminated steel.
 
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