Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Riley's Jerky - Teriyaki

riley's jerkyLast in the series on Riley's Jerky is this Teriyaki beef jerky. Read my reviews of other flavors from Riley's Jerky.

Riley's Jerky is based out of Greenville, CA founded in 1980 by Riley Burkholder. Today it's run by Britt Burkholder and Bradley Bentz. Up until now, Riley's Jerky was only available in local stores throughout Northern California. But recently they launched a website and now have online ordering installed.

All their jerky is hand cut into chunks and contains no added preservatives.

Ingredients

Beef, teriyaki sauce, water, garlic salt.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a fair amount of saltiness and sweet. The teriyaki flavor is noticeable here.

The chewing flavor starts with a little stronger saltiness that seems to manifest itself as soy sauce. I can also pick up some light natural meat flavors.

For being labeled a "Teriyaki" beef jerky, there's a light teriyaki flavor noticeable on the surface of these pieces. But as soon as I start chewing, that flavor is taken over by a stronger soy sauce, and at that point that's all I taste. The sweetness is more noticeable on the surface, and then in the chewing it all but fades away.

The natural meat flavors become more noticeable about half way into the chewing once the sweetness wears off. But they're not quite as noticeable as Riley's Jerky's other flavors. They still have that roasted meat flavor, or something like beef stew meat.

The level of saltiness in this seems high, perhaps a little higher than in Riley's Jerky's other flavors.

Overall, the teriyaki flavor is rather short-lived in this jerky I think, I can taste it on the surface, but once I get into chewing its taken over by a strong soy sauce flavor and saltiness. You're not going to get a thick sweet teriyaki flavor.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, cut into chunks, comparable to beef stew meat, in small pieces.

This is a dry jerky, with a dry surface feel. These pieces are hard with no flexibility. Tearing pieces apart with my fingers is difficult, though some pieces are shaped in such a way they can be torn with some effort. Chewing ranges from moderate to tough.

The chewing texture starts out feeling dry and woody. Most pieces are too tough to start chewing right away, you need to suck on them first for awhile. Once I start chewing, it takes about 15 seconds to chew down to a soft mass. At that point, it feels just like a real piece of meat, more like eating a chunk of stew meat, or roasted beef.

I don't see any signs of fat on these chunks, nor any gristle or tendon. I didn't pick up any stringiness either, or any unchewable wads of tissue.

As for clean eating, it's seems very clean. No residue on my fingers and no bits of meat flying off as I tear pieces apart.

teriyaki beef jerky

teriyaki beef jerky
Snack Value

Riley's Jerky currently sells this Teriyaki Beef Jerky from their website at a price of $4.40 for a 3oz package. If you bought four packages, the shipping comes to $7.00, for a total of $24.60. That works out to a price of $2.05 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.05 price per ounce, it's a fair value. I'm only getting an average amount of snackability for an overall satisfactory flavor and good chewing texture. Compared to major brands of beef jerky you find in grocery stores, it seems to have a comparable snackability.

As a teriyaki beef jerky, at the same $2.05 price per ounce, it's a fair value as well. The teriyaki is largely noticeable on the surface of these pieces, and once I start chewing all I taste is soy sauce. Compared to major brands of teriyaki beef jerky, it's comparable in quality.

Rating

riley's jerky nutrition factsI'm giving this an average rating.

This Teriyaki beef jerky from Riley's Jerky offers a teriyaki flavor on the surface of these pieces, but it seems to get lost behind a stronger soy sauce flavor once I start chewing. Riley's Jerky advertises this as having a "hint of sugar and wine", but when I buy teriyaki beef jerky I want all the characteristics I get from a japanese restaurant, including a thick sweet, a tangy wine flavor, and a pungent ginger contrast. I'm not getting that in this.

But it still offers a nice natural meat flavor, and a good chewing texture though rather tough to chew. But of all the flavors that Riley's Jerky offers, I think this Teriyaki is a little more easy to chew.

And like other flavors from Riley's Jerky it's rather salty. The higher saltiness wouldn't be too bad if I could get more flavor than just soy sauce. As it is, there isn't much other flavor in this to divert my attention from the saltiness.

For my recommended beer pairing, go with something thick on body to help counter the heavier saltiness, like a russian imperial stout. North Coast Brewing's Old Rasputin should go well with this.

Rating: Average

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