The first review for Lehigh Biltong will be on a 2.5 ounce/71 gram bag of their traditional flavored beef biltong. This flavor is advertised to only include five ingredients (salt, beef, pepper, vinegar, coriander). This bag was kindly submitted for review by the owner Dan Levy.
This Lehigh Biltong brand is distributed under the name of Lehigh Biltong LLC, and is located in Los Angeles, California. Dan first tried biltong as a boy while visiting family in South Africa. As a student in Lehigh University, there was great demand for his homemade biltong. In 2015, Dan launched the Lehigh Biltong brand name. Remarkably, you can order a free 1 ounce\28 gram sample bag from the Lehigh Biltong web site, with no shipping charges. Do it!
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Salt, Pepper, Vinegar, Coriander Seed.
The beef used is not guaranteed to be free of growth hormones or additional antibiotics. Also, the beef is not guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.
The liquid marinade consists of just healthy vinegar.
Some people call black pepper the King of Spices. The herb coriander is used, which is similar to cilantro, and offers many health benefits.
The sugar level is perfect, having 0 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. The salt level is quite respectable at 200mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky.
This jerky does qualify to have no sodium nitrite used as a preservative. Instead, kosher salt is the main preservative, and vinegar to a lesser extent. Admirably, there is no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These pieces of biltong are small in size, and sliced medium to thin. The texture is near soft and tender, which results in strips that are easy to chew. There are visible signs of fat that enhance the overall natural beef flavor. Handling this biltong leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
For a flavor that really only uses 4 ingredients excluding beef, there is a great overall blend of flavors here. A mild tanginess from vinegar is present. Both the coriander and black pepper flavors blend in beautifully, and taste fantastic.
With no sweetness, there is a great deal of natural beef flavor. The fat greatly accentuates the natural beef flavor even more. Overall, this flavor captures an authentic, classic tasting South African biltong.
A 2.5 ounce/71 gram bag sells online for $6.50. That works out to $2.60 an ounce, which rates as a slightly expensive price. Everybody should try biltong in their lifetime. Do yourself a favor, order a free 1 ounce/28 gram sample bag, and find out for yourself.
Excellent (10/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
Credit is deserved for boldly stating on the bag that only five ingredients are used.
This resealable plastic bag has a paper exterior. On the bag it advertises to recycle, “The most efficient way to recycle is to reuse”. The logo is the company name with an eagle flying off with the letter ‘B’ from the word Biltong.
Facts printed on this bag are “Seasoned Dried Beef”, “Made With Five Ingredients”, and “This bag can be used as a water resistant pouch”. There is a great blurb printed on the bag about biltong and Lehigh Biltong.
All important bag categories are covered with this bag. Missing categories are a bar code, a hole to hang on hooks, a transparent window to view the biltong, and the jerky weight is not stated in grams. Their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram handles are provided. To the credit of Lehigh Biltong, a phone number is provided for customer inquiries
Order their jerky online: www.lehighbiltong.com
Do you ship to Texas?
Hi Michael,
We are now partnered with Brooklyn Biltong and they do ship to Texas.