Most cured meat on a shelf keeps because something was added to it. Ours keeps because of how it is cured and how it is sealed. That is the whole approach, and it is why this page exists.
Vacuum sealed before it leaves us
Every order is vacuum packed the day it is dispatched. Drawing the air out is what protects the product in transit — no oxygen means nothing to drive spoilage or turn the fat, so the biltong arrives in the condition it left in rather than slowly deteriorating in a bag.
A sealed pouch is stable at room temperature for nine to twelve months. It does not need to be refrigerated until you open it.
Nothing added to make it last
No nitrates, no nitrites, no added sugar, no preservatives beyond the salt and vinegar used to cure the meat in the first place. We haven’t found anything else we need.
This is the part the vacuum seal earns us. Commercially cured meat generally relies on curing salts to stay safe on a shelf; we rely on a proper cure, low moisture and an airtight pack. It costs more and it limits how we can ship, and we think it is worth both.
Sent Express, deliberately
Everything goes Australia Post Express Post, tracked, from Hervey Bay. That is not about convenience — it is about keeping a food parcel out of the network for as few days as possible. Fewer days in transit means fewer days in a hot van.
Rates and delivery windows are on the shipping page.
When it arrives: let it breathe
Open the pouch and leave it open for 10–15 minutes before you eat anything. This matters more than it sounds like it does.
A vacuum pack holds the biltong under pressure with nowhere for the aroma to go. Open one straight out of the box and it will smell sharper and more vinegary than the product actually tastes, and the slices will feel denser and slightly damp from being compressed against each other.
Give it a quarter of an hour in open air and both settle: the cure aroma dissipates, the surface firms up, and you get the texture and the smell we intended. If you have ever opened a vacuum pack of anything and thought it seemed off, this is usually what you were noticing.
Once it is open
- Don’t seal it up warm or damp. Let it air first, as above, then close it.
- A paper bag is better than plastic if you are keeping it on the bench for a day or two — it lets moisture out instead of trapping it.
- Freezing works and does no harm to the flavour, though it softens the texture slightly on thawing.
A white bloom is usually salt
Crystallised salt drawn out by the cure looks alarming and is harmless. Salt is dry and crystalline and brushes off; mould is fuzzy and grows in distinct raised patches. If you are not sure which you’re looking at, send us a photo and we will tell you honestly.
If anything is genuinely wrong with your order, the return policy covers it and you won’t need to post anything back.