Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Jeff Foxworthy Beef Jerky - Peppered

Jeff Foxworthy Beef Jerky is yet another entry into the foray of packaged foods where celebrities past their prime try to milk whatever name recognition they still have left. It's right up there with the Newman's Own brand salad dressings and Dick Van Patten's brand of dog food. Foxworthy also has a line of BBQ sauces.

Jeff Foxworthy doesn't make his own beef jerky, rather it only carries his name. It's actually a product of Monogram Food Solutions, LLC of Memphis, TN. They also own the Trails Best brand of beef jerky, and they also produce the NASCAR branded sausages and meats. Monogram got its start in 2004, when it purchased the King Cotton and Circle B brands of lunch meats from Sara Lee.

Monogram Food Solutions pays a licensing fee to Foxworthy, and it turns out that the comedian himself is an investor in this jerky product. Monogram makes this jerky at its meat processing plant in Chandler, MN.

The package also includes a statement from Foxworthy himself, claiming that this is the best jerky he has ever had, and that his name would not be on it if weren't the case. I certainly don't doubt him, presuming he doesn't eat much beef jerky.

Ingredients

Beef, water, brown sugar, contains 2% or less of the following: salt, hydrolized soy protein, dextrose, spices, soy sauce, natural smoke flavor, sodium erythorbate, flavorings, sodium nitrite.

Taste

There is a peppery aroma that I get immediately upon putting a piece into my mouth. I can kinda sense a tad bit of sweetness, and a significant amount of saltiness. With some chewing, I can get the soy sauce taste, which tastes kinda like the chinese style soy sauce, and then the natural beef flavors.

This has a good peppery flavor to it. It's not too strong, but enough to warrant the "Peppered" label on the package.

The saltiness is rather dominant in this. While I can taste the soy sauce back there, it's largely the salt that dominates the flavor of this jerky. If you have high blood pressure, you might want to consult your physician before eating this.

There's also a substantial amount of natural beef taste that comes out in this.

Overall, it has a decent taste, though quite salty. It continues to provide a combination of salt, pepper, and natural beef flavors all throughout the chew.

Meat Consistency

This is a chopped & formed jerky, served up in small to medium sized pieces, and in thick slices. Even though the package says that it's, "Made From Solid Slices of Beef Steak", that doesn't necessarily mean it remains in that state. All chopped & formed jerky started out as solid pieces of animal at one time.

This is a dry jerky, but does not retain much flexibility. As soon as I try to bend a piece, it snaps in two. It's easier to break a piece apart by bending it, rather than tearing a piece off. It's also on the chewy side. I think this is just fine for guys watching football, sitting around a campfire. But I don't see yuppie chicks trying to eat this stuff after working out at the gym.

The black pepper is embedded inside the pieces, being part of the chopped beef meal.

And while a lot of chopped & formed jerkies have bits of hard pieces, like bone or cartilage, I do not find anything like that here.

Overall, this has an "ok" meat consistency. Mainly, it's rather tough. To enjoy this, you'll have to let it sit in your mouth for several seconds to soften up.

Jeff Foxworthy Beef Jerky - Peppered

Jeff Foxworthy Beef Jerky - Peppered
Product Value

I paid $4.99 for this 4oz package at a Mitsuwa Market in San Diego, CA. That works out to a price of $1.25 per oz, making this an average priced buy.

I'd say that makes this an "ok" buy. For general purpose snacking, it's ok as long as you love lots of salt. For me, the saltiness wears me down and I don't find this very enjoyable after several pieces. It's also rather tough to eat.

As a peppered jerky, it's a good buy because there is a good amount of peppery taste in this, not a boat load of pepper, but enough to make itself known right away.

Rating

Jeff Foxworthy Beef Jerky - PepperedI'm giving this an average rating.

This peppered variety of Jeff Foxworthy Beef Jerky gives out a good peppery flavor combined with a strong beef taste, in a chopped & formed meat consistency.

But while it does have a snackability, it's not a strong one. You might find this more snackable in the first few pieces. After that, the strong saltiness will tire you out. But if the saltiness doesn't get to you, the tough meat consistency will.

Lastly, there is also a lack of flavor complexity. For the most part, this is just salt and pepper on smoky meat. I'd like to get some other taste dimension to this, perhaps more sweetness, or more garlic, just so that my brain can have some fun disecting the flavors.

Having eaten this jerky, I think I understand why Jeff Foxworthy Beef Jerky never really caught on. If I were him I'd invest in a beef jerky product with a different company, and put some better jokes on the package.

Rating: Average

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2 comments:

  1. Love Jeff Foxworthy - but not his Jerky, I gave it to my dog... my dog is mad at me.

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  2. From Jeff Foxworthy, I'd say his Ham Jerky is probably the best of his line.

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