Both start as beef. That's where the similarity ends. Biltong and beef jerky are made differently, taste different, and suit different kinds of snackers. If you've been treating them as interchangeable, you've probably been defaulting to whichever one you saw first. This article helps you make an actual choice.
How They're Made (and Why It Changes Everything)
Biltong is cured in vinegar and coated in a spice blend, then hung to air-dry over several days. No heat. The beef never sees a flame or a dehydrator. That slow, ambient process is what produces biltong's distinctive texture: denser on the outside, softer toward the center, with the beef's natural character still present in every bite.
Jerky is a different process entirely. The meat gets sliced thin, seasoned, then dried fast under heat, either smoked, oven-dried, or dehydrated. The goal is moisture removal, and it happens quickly. That's what gives jerky its chew and its shelf stability. The heat also locks in the seasoning and adds smokiness that biltong simply doesn't have.
Neither method is better in some objective sense. They're just different objectives. Biltong is built around the beef. Jerky is built around the seasoning experience.
What They Actually Taste Like
Biltong is savory and meat-forward. The vinegar cure does its job and disappears. You don't taste it in the final product. What you get instead is the beef itself, with spice sitting on top of it rather than through it. Our Original flavor is the purest version of this: simple seasoning, grass-fed beef doing most of the work. Peri Peri adds real heat without sweetness. Loaded Garlic gives you a bolder, aromatic bite. None of them are sweet.
Jerky varies more widely. The category spans everything from gas station strips glazed in corn syrup to small-batch smoked beef with real depth. But the baseline profile for most commercial jerky leans sweet, brown sugar, honey, teriyaki, with smoke layered in. Our Meat Candy leans into that honestly. It's sweet, it's nostalgic, and it's made with the same full-muscle beef we use for biltong. That matters. But if you want savory-only, jerky is going to fight you on that.
The other thing worth knowing: biltong is typically fattier than jerky. That's not a flaw. Fat is where a lot of flavor lives, and in a slow-dried product it distributes through the meat differently than in a heat-processed one. If you're used to lean, dry jerky and you try biltong for the first time, the texture will feel almost rich by comparison.
Texture: The Real Deciding Factor
This is where most people land when they figure out which one they prefer.
Biltong texture depends on how it's cut and how dry it is. A slab sliced fresh gives you a tender bite that breaks apart cleanly. Pre-sliced biltong is slightly drier and more consistent. Neither requires the jaw workout that thin-sliced commercial jerky does. If you find jerky exhausting to eat in quantity, biltong is worth trying. It's a fundamentally different chew.
Jerky's texture is more uniform. The heat-drying process creates a consistent strip that holds up to being tossed in a bag, stuffed in a pocket, and forgotten for a while. It doesn't change much between the first piece and the last. That consistency is part of the appeal.
Biltong, especially in slab form, can vary. The center of a thick slab will be softer than the edge. Some people love that variation. Some people find it unpredictable. Worth knowing before you order.
Shelf Life and Portability
Jerky has a longer shelf life once opened, mainly because it starts drier. It also handles ambient storage with less fuss. If you're throwing something in a gym bag and not thinking about it again for three days, jerky is more forgiving.
Biltong is fine at room temperature for several days after opening, but it responds to humidity more than jerky does. Store it in a cool, dry spot with airflow and it holds well. Seal it in an airtight bag with no airflow and you'll start losing texture within a day or two. It's not fragile. It just has preferences.
For most snacking situations, both work. The gap in convenience is smaller than the marketing around jerky suggests. Where it matters is extreme portability: multi-day travel, outdoor trips, or situations where you genuinely cannot control storage conditions. Jerky wins that one.
Which One Should You Actually Buy?
If you want to taste the beef, savory, spiced, no sweetness, start with biltong. Our Sampler Pack includes Original, Peri Peri, and Loaded Garlic, which is the fastest way to figure out where you land on the flavor spectrum without committing to a full bag of something unfamiliar.
If you want smokiness, sweetness, and the familiar jerky experience done with real full-muscle beef (not the mechanically separated shortcuts a lot of the category leans on), Meat Candy is the honest version of that.
Some people end up keeping both around. They're not really competing for the same moment. Biltong is what you reach for when you want something substantial. Jerky is what you grab when you want a quick hit on the go. Knowing the difference means you stop buying the wrong one by accident.
Still deciding? These are the questions we get most often before someone places their first order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is biltong sweeter or more savory than beef jerky?
Biltong is savory. The vinegar cure draws out moisture without adding sweetness, and traditional spice blends rely on coriander, pepper, and salt. Most commercial beef jerky includes some form of sugar, brown sugar, honey, or teriyaki, which gives it a noticeably sweeter profile. If you're avoiding sugar in your snacks, biltong is the more reliable option. Our Meat Candy is the exception: it leans into sweetness deliberately, and it's labeled that way.
Which has more protein, biltong or beef jerky?
Biltong typically comes out ahead on protein per ounce because it retains more of the beef's natural fat and protein structure through air-drying rather than heat processing. The exact numbers vary by cut and dryness, but biltong made from full-muscle grass-fed beef is generally one of the more protein-dense snacks you can find. Jerky can be comparable, but lean commercial jerky often compensates for flavor with added sugar, which affects the overall macro profile.
Can I eat biltong if I've never liked jerky?
Yes, and it's worth trying. The texture is completely different. Jerky's chew puts some people off. It's tough, stringy, and requires sustained effort. Biltong, especially freshly sliced from a slab, is more tender and breaks apart more naturally. The flavor is also less aggressive. If your issue with jerky is the sweetness or the smoke, biltong sidesteps both of those things. Start with our Sampler Pack to try all three flavors before committing to a full bag.
Does biltong need to be refrigerated after opening?
No, but it needs airflow and a cool, dry environment. Sealing biltong in an airtight container traps moisture and softens the texture quickly. A paper bag or a loosely covered container at room temperature works better for short-term storage. If you're keeping it for more than a week after opening, move it to the fridge. Slabs hold up longer than pre-sliced biltong because there's less surface area exposed to air.
Is biltong or jerky better for keto?
Biltong is generally the better fit. Traditional biltong uses no sugar in the curing process, which keeps carbs extremely low, often under 1 gram per ounce. Most commercial jerky includes sugar in the marinade, which adds carbs even in small servings. Check the label on any jerky before assuming it's keto-friendly. For biltong, the ingredient list should be short: beef, vinegar, salt, and spices. If you see sugar listed, it's not traditional biltong.
What's the difference between biltong slabs and sliced biltong?
Slabs are the whole dried piece of beef, uncut. You slice them yourself, which means you control the thickness. Thicker slices are more tender and substantial, thinner slices dry out a bit more and have a firmer chew. Pre-sliced biltong is more convenient and consistent but has a slightly drier texture by the time it reaches you. If texture matters to you, slabs are worth the extra step. If convenience is the priority, sliced biltong is the easier everyday option.
Why is biltong more expensive than most beef jerky?
A few reasons. Biltong is made from whole muscle cuts of beef, not trim or mechanically separated meat. The air-drying process takes several days rather than hours, which means more time and space per batch. Grass-fed beef costs more than commodity beef. And because biltong loses significant weight during drying, you're paying for the concentrated end product, not the raw weight. What looks like a price gap versus cheap jerky is mostly a quality gap explained.
