How to Store Droëwors (and How Long It Actually Lasts)
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How to store droëwors: keep sealed packs in a cool cupboard until the date on the label. Once opened, move the sticks to a paper bag, keep them cool and dry, and eat them within three to five days, or refrigerate for up to two or three weeks. Freeze anything you want to keep longer. Never leave opened droëwors sealed in plastic at room temperature.
Storing droëwors is a short article in South Africa, because it does not get stored. It gets eaten in the car. In the US, where a bag arrives by mail and has to survive a Texas summer and your self-control, a few rules help.
How long does droëwors last?
| Where | How | How long |
|---|---|---|
| Cupboard, unopened | In its sealed pack, cool and dark | Until the date on the pack. Sealed commercial packs are often dated up to 12 months. |
| Counter, opened | Paper bag, cool and dry, out of the sun | About 3 to 5 days |
| Fridge, opened | Paper bag, or loosely wrapped in paper | About 2 to 3 weeks |
| Fridge, vacuum-sealed | Airtight, cold | A couple of months |
| Freezer | Airtight bag, portioned | Best within 1 to 2 months, safe for longer |
Those ranges come from producers and from the USDA storage chart for hard and dry sausage, which gives three weeks in the fridge after opening and one to two months in the freezer. The USDA chart was written for salami-style sausage, so treat it as the outer limit. US droëwors makers are stricter: several say to eat an opened pack within about four days.
Why does droëwors go off faster than biltong?
One word: fat. Biltong is a solid piece of lean beef. Droëwors is mince with fat mixed through it, and fat reacts with air. Leave it long enough and it turns rancid, which is a taste you will recognise the instant you meet it. Stale oil, old crayons, a paint tin.
That is also why real droëwors is never made with pork. Pork fat goes rancid much faster as it dries, and a 2018 study that tested it found the pork version oxidised far more than beef and game.
The sticks are also thin. A thin stick left out in dry air keeps drying until it is a pencil. Good for snapping, hard on the teeth.
Paper bag or plastic?
Paper for anything you have opened. Meat that still holds a little moisture needs to breathe. Seal it in plastic on a warm counter and the moisture has nowhere to go, the surface turns damp, and mould moves in. The same rule applies to biltong, and it is covered in more detail in how to store biltong.
Plastic is fine in two cases: the original sealed pack, and vacuum-sealed sticks in the fridge or freezer. In both, the air has been taken out, and cold slows everything down.
Fridge or room temperature?
Droëwors is shelf-stable. Researchers who measured commercial South African droëwors found a water activity of 0.76 to 0.82, dry enough to keep at room temperature. So the cupboard is fine for a few days.
The catch is that room temperature in a Cape Town pantry and room temperature in an Austin garage in August are not the same thing. Heat speeds up rancidity. If your kitchen runs warm, or you will not finish the bag this week, use the fridge. Take the sticks out twenty minutes before you eat them. Cold fat tastes of nothing.
Can you freeze droëwors?
Yes, and it freezes well. Portion it into airtight bags with the air squeezed out so you only thaw what you will eat. Thaw in the fridge, then move it to paper. Frozen droëwors stays safe well past two months. The quality slowly drops after that, because fat keeps oxidising even in a freezer, just very slowly.
How can you tell if droëwors has gone bad?
- Smell it. Fresh droëwors smells of beef, coriander and clove. Rancid droëwors smells sharp, sour or like old oil. Trust your nose.
- Look for fuzz. Anything soft, raised or fuzzy on the surface is mould, whatever the colour. Bin it.
- Check the white bits. Hard, dry, crystalline white specks are usually salt that has worked its way to the surface. That is harmless. If you cannot tell salt from mould, treat it as mould. The ten-second finger test for fat, salt and mould is in white stuff on beef sticks.
- Feel it. Slimy or tacky is a no. Dry, firm and a little oily is how it should be.
How long should droëwors hang if you make it yourself?
Home recipes usually land at three to five days in a biltong box, until the sticks have lost somewhere between 40% and 60% of their weight and snap when bent. Hang it, weigh it, and stop when you like the texture. Once it is dry it comes down and goes into paper. Leaving it hanging just keeps drying it. The full method is in the droëwors recipe, and the box itself in the biltong box guide.
Frequently asked questions
Should droëwors be stored in the fridge?
Opened droëwors keeps for a few days in a paper bag at cool room temperature. Refrigerate it if your kitchen is warm or you will not finish it within three to five days.
How long does droëwors last once opened?
About three to five days in a paper bag in a cool, dry place, or two to three weeks in the fridge. Several US producers recommend eating an opened pack within four days.
Can you freeze droëwors?
Yes. Freeze it in airtight portions with the air removed. It is best within one to two months and stays safe for longer.
Why does droëwors go rancid?
Droëwors contains fat, and fat oxidises when exposed to air and warmth. That is why it has a shorter life than lean biltong and why it should be kept cool.
Is white stuff on droëwors mould?
Hard, dry, crystalline white specks are usually salt. Anything soft, fuzzy or raised is mould and the droëwors should be thrown away. If in doubt, throw it out.
Droëwors is on the Billi Tong's launch list. We are not open yet, so the only way in early is a Founding 50 spot: $100 for a first-batch founder box of biltong. Questions go to cal@btbiltong.com.
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