Geelvet biltong - What is it?

By now you would have passed by a stall in a market or next to the road with a large handwritten sign reading: "GEELVET BILTONG". But what is it? Why is it yellow? and why all the sudden craze?

Grading Beef

So to get into it, you first need to understand the different types of grade beef there are. We have a page Our Beef that delves into the different cuts and qualities but what we don't mention here is fat colour. Yellow fat is from an older animal, classified as C-Grade, that has the yellow colour due to age.

But is it any good? The short answer is yes. Because it comes from a C-Grade animal, it has the most amount of flavour in both meat and fat. There are however some downsides depending on your preference. The meat is flavourful, yes but can be tough.

Our Theory

Introduction

Our theory here at Crackly's, is that the craze for it came from somewhere else:

If you google "Biltong shop near me" right now, I'm sure you'll find a platter of options to choose from. You may try one of them and come across the unpleasant phenomena of a fat layer forming on the roof or "palate" of your mouth. This is caused by using the wrong fat in biltong or what we refer to as the "bad fat" of the buttock. So why do biltong manufacturers use it? It all comes down to saving cost and minimising waste.

Taking Shortcuts

Manufacturers buy whole sections of meat to get the cuts they need and pay for it per kilogram. So anything they cannot use, increases the cost of their final product if they have to throw it away. Using some of the bad fat allows them to maximize their cost to weight ratio. This tactic is usually applied in wors products as the amounts can be controlled.

Tender vs Flavour

Enter geelvet biltong. Sold as the solution to the fat layer in mouth experience.

The truth is that as long as biltong is manufactured using the "good" or outer fat and not the "bad" or inner fat, there will be no layer.

At Crackly's we purposefully took the A-Grade route because the outcome resulted in a tender product. We also only use the "good", outer fat which can be proved with its translucent properties and not experiencing the fat layer in your mouth. Buy any one of our products and you'll see for yourself.

Rump and Fillet is a perfect example. Rump has loads of flavour but can be tough to chew. Fillet on the other hand has less flavour but tender. Its up to preference.

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