Friday, April 23, 2010

Clint & Sons Beef Jerky - Hot

clint & sons beef jerkyNext in the series on Clint & Sons Beef Jerky is this Hot variety. See my previous review of their Original variety.

Clint & Sons is a meat processing facility located in White Deer, TX. It's a family run business that goes back to 1944 when Clint Freeman opened it up. Today it's run by his sons and grandchildren.

The company's primary business is in custom slaughtering and processing, but beef jerky is a popular product of theirs. They only offer two varieties of beef jerky, the Original I reviewed earlier, and this Hot.

Ingredients

Beef, water, teriyaki flavored marinade (salt, sugar, hydrolyzed soy protein, dextrose, monosodium glutamate, molasses powder (molasses, wheat starch, soy flour), spices and caramel color), Cure (salt, sugar, brown sugar, sodium nitrite (0.84%), maple sugar), black pepper, red pepper, cayenne pepper.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a smoky flavor and saltiness, and then followed soon by some spicy heat.

The chewing flavor starts with a stronger saltiness, some cayenne pepper flavor, and a light smoky natural meat flavor. Meanwhile, the spicy heat builds up some more.

For being marketed as a "hot" beef jerky, it does have a fair mount of heat and it does have a noticeable chile pepper flavor. On my personal hot scale, some pieces get up to a medium-hot, while others are just medium, and I think hot food lovers would see it the same. There's enough heat to enjoy the burn without making you break a sweat.

Otherwise, this Hot variety seems comparable to Clint & Son's Original variety. It has a high level of saltiness, although the sodium content in this is actually lower than their Original variety. In addition, the same light smoky natural meat flavor is there, but having more of a cured meat flavor, comparable to a summer sausage.

One difference is that I don't really taste the black pepper in this like I could in the Original variety. I think perhaps the more dominant chile pepper seasonings are blocking out that flavor.

Overall, what you're going to find in this jerky is a high salty flavor, with a fair amount of heat, a noticeable chile pepper flavor, and a light smoky natural meat flavor.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced thin, and in small pieces.

This is a dry jerky with a dry surface feel. There's a fair amount of flexibility in these pieces, but they'll still crack apart with just a little bending. They tear apart easily enough with my fingers, with just a bit of resistance. Ease of chewing is moderate to slightly tough.

The chewing texture starts out with a stiff, plastic feel, and a fair amount of chewing resistance. If chewed immediately, it can give your jaws a moderate work out. If you just suck on the surface flavors for a bit it'll help soften things up. Once chewed down to a soft mass, it feels like just a piece of steak, one cooked medium.

This jerky seems quite lean, seeing no pieces of fat, tendon, or gristle. In the chewing I encountered no unchewable wads of tissue, and found very little stringiness.

It's also pretty clean eating, finding no residue on my fingers, and seeing no tiny fragments of meat flying off as I tore pieces.

hot beef jerky

hot beef jerky
Snack Value

Clint & Sons sells this Hot beef jerky from their website in various package sizes. You can buy a full pound bag for $16.95, with shipping costs of $7.50. That works out to a price of $1.53 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $1.53 per ounce price, this seems to provide a good value. I'm getting a good deal of snackability for its good overall flavor and good meat consistency. That $1.53 price is cheaper than what you'd pay for national jerky brands at the grocery store, but yet you're getting a better jerky.

As a hot beef jerky, at the same $1.53 price per ounce, it's also a good value. I do a fair amount of heat, enough to please the hot food lover, and even throws in a noticeable chile pepper flavor.

Rating

beef jerky nutrition factsI'm giving this a good rating.

This Hot Beef Jerky from Clint & Sons is definitely above the average assortment of beef jerky brands labeled as "hot" in that it provides enough heat to enjoy without making the hot food lover break out in a sweat, and even lets you taste the flavor of chile peppers.

Like with their Original variety, this Hot variety has the same high level of saltiness, and a touch of sweet. It also has the light smoky natural meat flavor as well, and comes with a good meat consistency and chewing texture.

But while I think it's better than the average assortment of hot beef jerky, and I even think this it's better than Clint & Son's Original beef jerky, I still don't find anything in here that beckons me to assign a higher rating. It's a good tasting jerky, with a good meat consistency, but in comparison to all the other gourmet brands I've tried, there's nothing here that "wows" me.

For my recommended beer pairing, I'd stick to the brown ale that I offered with the Original variety, such as a Newcastle Brown Ale, or a Moose Drool.

Rating: Good

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