Beef jerky vs biltong compared: origin, curing process, texture, seasoning and honest sugar/sodium/protein facts — plus where BEEF'D's low-sugar jerky fits.
If you’ve stood in front of a servo snack aisle wondering whether to grab a bag of jerky or a bag of biltong, you’re really asking a question about two different preservation traditions. The beef jerky vs biltong debate isn’t about one being “better” — it’s about two different cuts, cures and textures that both land on high-protein, shelf-stable beef, just by different roads.
Biltong is South African in origin, born out of a need to preserve meat before refrigeration existed. Jerky has its own long history too — Indigenous and colonial preservation methods across the Americas, and a home-grown Australian tradition of drying meat for shearers, drovers and swaggies heading into the bush. Both are answers to the same problem: how do you make beef last without a fridge. How beef jerky is made gives the full rundown on the modern process if you want the detail.
This is the real technical difference, and it’s the one that drives everything else — texture, chew, and how long each one lasts on the shelf.
Beef jerky is thinly or thick-sliced beef that’s marinated (usually in a wet or dry seasoning blend), then dried using low, consistent heat — a dehydrator, smoker, or commercial oven running low and slow. The heat does double duty: it flavours the meat and pulls out enough moisture that the final product is shelf-stable at room temperature.
Biltong is cured rather than cooked. Strips of beef (often on the bone-in cut, sliced with the grain rather than against it) are coated in vinegar, salt and spices — usually coriander and black pepper as the backbone — then hung to air-dry in a controlled, ventilated environment, sometimes for a week or more. There’s no direct heat involved; it’s closer to a curing process than a cooking one.
That difference in method is why the two products don’t taste or chew the same, even though both start as beef and end as a dried snack.
Jerky, especially thick-cut jerky, tends to have a firmer, chewier bite — you work at it, which is part of the appeal for a lot of people. Biltong is typically softer and more tender, with a texture that can range from moist and almost fudgy in the centre to firmer at the edges, depending on how long it’s been hung. Neither is right or wrong; it comes down to what you’re after in a mouthful.
Biltong seasoning is fairly consistent across brands — coriander seed and black pepper are the signature, with vinegar giving it a slight tang. Jerky seasoning is far more varied because the marinade-and-dry process lends itself to a wider flavour range: peppered, teriyaki, chilli, smokey, and everything in between. If you’re after a specific flavour hit rather than a single consistent profile, jerky generally gives you more to choose from.
Because both are essentially dried, seasoned beef, their base nutrition profile lands in a similar zone — high protein, low carb, low fat if a lean cut is used. Where products diverge is in the specifics:
For a deeper look at where beef jerky sits nutritionally, is beef jerky healthy covers the wider picture, and beef jerky protein content breaks down protein numbers across the category.
We make jerky, not biltong, so we’ll be upfront about that rather than pretend otherwise. What we’ve built is a thick-cut jerky made from 100% premium Australian eye of round — a lean cut — produced in Geelong, Victoria. Every batch is NATA-tested, so the figures on the pack are independently verified. On protein, our Original sits at 62g per 100g, with Chilli, Teriyaki and Smokey close behind, all landing at the top end of what you’ll typically find in the category. On sugar, our Original is 0.4g per 100g — low, deliberately, because we didn’t want a sugary marinade doing the flavour work.
Like any dried, cured meat — jerky or biltong — sodium is part of the deal. Ours sits in the typical range for the category (roughly 1500-1900mg per 100g), and we’d rather tell you that plainly than dodge it. It’s a whole-food snack with a genuinely useful protein-to-sugar ratio, not a health food, and we’re not going to claim otherwise.
One note on allergens, because it matters and it’s per-flavour, not blanket: our Original is Gluten Nil Detected. Chilli, Teriyaki and Smokey are flavoured products and do contain gluten (plus soy, and Teriyaki also contains sesame) — they are not gluten-free. If gluten-free matters to you, Original is the one to reach for, and it’s always worth checking the current pack label since formulations can be updated. More detail at is beef jerky gluten-free.
If you like a firmer chew and want more flavour variety, jerky — including thick-cut Australian jerky like ours — is the better fit. If you prefer a softer, more tender bite with a consistent peppery-coriander profile and traditionally lower sugar, biltong is worth seeking out. Both can be a smart high-protein snack when you check the label for sugar and keep an eye on portion size given the sodium. If you’re weighing it up against other snack formats entirely, beef jerky vs protein bar is a useful next read.
Want to try ours and judge the texture and sugar content for yourself? Check the full BEEF’D range or head straight to the shop to order.
Not inherently — both are high-protein, high-sodium dried beef products. The difference comes down to individual products: some jerky uses sugary marinades that push sugar content up, while traditional biltong recipes tend to use little sugar. Always check the nutrition panel rather than assuming one category is automatically healthier than the other.
They're generally similar, since both are lean, dried beef. Protein content varies more by brand, cut and moisture level than by whether it's classified as jerky or biltong. Look for the per-100g protein figure on the pack to compare properly.
Biltong is air-cured without direct heat, often hung for several days to a week or more, which produces a more tender, sometimes fudgy texture. Jerky is dried using low heat, which tends to produce a firmer, chewier result, especially with thick-cut styles.
Our Original flavour is Gluten Nil Detected. Chilli, Teriyaki and Smokey are flavoured products and contain gluten (plus soy, and Teriyaki also contains sesame), so they are not gluten-free. Always check the current pack label to confirm before you buy.
Traditional biltong recipes typically use minimal sugar, and some jerky — including our Original at 0.4g per 100g — is also genuinely low-sugar. The key is checking the actual nutrition panel of the specific product rather than assuming based on category alone, since sugary marinades are common in commercial jerky.
Up to 62% protein, low sugar, NATA tested — proudly made in Geelong. Real meat, real thick.
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