Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Sturgis Beef Jerky - Original

Sturgis Beef JerkySturgis Beef Jerky is a brand of G&G Enterprises, Inc. based out of Sturgis, SD. The company original started in 1964 by the Gap family and over the years grew their brand by selling to local residents, ranchers, and many bikers who attend the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. They credit their loyal fans for helping them refine their recipe into what they currently sell today.

In 2002 they incorporated into G&G Enterprises, Inc. and now manufacture jerky in their own USDA inspected facility.

The company offers three beef jerky flavors in all, including this Original, a Teriyaki, and a Peppered, which I'll be reviewing all in the coming weeks.

Ingredients

Beef, water, salt, spices, sugar, dextrose, garlic, sodium nitrite, propyl gallate, citric acid, BHT, spice extractives.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a saltiness, along with a light touch of black pepper.

The chewing flavor starts with an increased saltiness, but also a noticeable garlic, and faint amounts of rosemary, or perhaps oregano. There's just a light bit of natural meat flavor.

The saltiness seems to generate the most flavor in this jerky. It feels like it sits at a high level, but still not too high for my tolerance. The garlic also generates a noticeable degree of flavor but not too strong, as well as a noticeable but still overall light bite of black pepper. That faint touch of rosemary or oregano continues through much of these pieces.

The natural meat flavor in this is pretty light. It's almost not noticeable at all, and perhaps would not be if I was to just snack away on this. But analyzing this carefully for the review, I can taste a little bit of it.

This jerky doesn't taste sweet at all despite the sugar and dextrose listed in the ingredients. If anything it just adds a touch of body to the overall flavor.

Overall, what you're going to notice in this jerky is primarily a high saltiness, with a noticeable garlic and black pepper, and faint touches of rosemary or oregano.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into strips of medium thickness and in lengths of ranging from one to five inches.

This is a dry jerky with a dry surface feel, but with a faint oiliness. Some strips can bend 180 degrees back on itself without cracking, while others will crack open at about 90 degrees or more. Biting chunks off are somewhat easy, while chewing is generally chewy, a bit laborious, but still not too tough.

The chewing texture starts out feeling stiff but not too hard. There's some initial chewing resistance, but it tends to break apart without any excessive chewing. Several chews later it gets down to a soft mass, and at that point it has a meaty, steak-like chewing texture, comparable to a steak cooked medium-well.

These strips appear to be very lean, with no visible signs of fat, no tendon or gristle. I do feel some stringiness, but it doesn't really get in the way nor produce any significant unchewable tissues.

It's also very clean eating. My fingertips pick up just a faint touch of oiliness, but still clean enough to type on my keyboard without any licking or wiping.

sturgis beef jerky

sturgis beef jerky
Snack Value

Sturgis Beef Jerky sells this Original variety from its website at a price of $7.95 for a 4.5oz package. If you bought four packages, with shipping out to Southern California, it totals up to $38.62. That works out to a price of $2.15 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.15 price per ounce, it seems to present a fair value. I'm getting an average amount of snackability for an overall satisfactory flavor, good meat consistency, good chewing texture. Compared to the major brands of jerky found in grocery stores, it's priced a little bit more, but doesn't seem to produce any better flavor, though a little bit better meat and chewing.

Rating

sturgis beef jerky nutrition factsI'm giving this an average rating.

This Original variety from Sturgis Beef Jerky provides mostly a salty flavor, but with some noticeable garlic and black pepper, and touches of either rosemary or oregano. It's an overall snackable blend of seasonings, that combined with its good meat consistency and good chewing texture, makes for a decent jerky to satisfy a meat snacking urge.

But I don't really see it as a gourmet beef jerky or possessing any qualities that a jerky aficionado could relish as part of his or her secret stash. It's a rather salty jerky, and I don't particularly enjoy jerky with this much saltiness. But I do think that faint bit of rosemary or oregano is a nice touch.

Moreover, it's somewhat tough, though not too bad. But I found some strips to be rather dry and laborious to get through.

My choice for a good beer pairing would be a double IPA, allowing the sweeter malt and floral notes of the hops to contrast against the stronger saltiness and lack of sweetness of the jerky. Try a Grand Teton Lost Continent, or the Russian River Pliny the Elder.

Rating: Average

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