Friday, August 10, 2012

Clint & Son's Beef Jerky - Original

clint and sons beef jerky
I had reviewed Clint & Son's Beef Jerky a couple of years ago, giving their Original and Hot varieties both four-star ratings. Recently, the company made some minor changes to their jerky, along with all new packaging, and have resubmitted for review.

Clint & Sons is a meat processing facility located in White Deer, TX. The business has been family owned since Clint Freeman opened it up in 1944. Today it's run by his sons and grandchildren.

They've also added more flavors to their jerky line up which I'll be reviewing over the next several weeks.


Ingredients

Beef, water, teriyaki flavored marinade (salt, sugar, hydrolyzed soy protein, dextrose, monosodium glutamate, molasses powder (molasses, wheat starch, soy flour, spices, caramel color), brown sugar, cure (salt, sugar, brown sugar, sodium nitrite, maple syrup), black pepper, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a very light sweetness followed by a very faint saltiness. There's also a smidgeon of black pepper flavor noticeable.

The chewing flavor starts with a slightly increased saltiness and black pepper. I can pick up a light natural meat flavor.

The flavors that seem to define this jerky overall seems to be a combination of black pepper and salt, with a light natural meat flavor. The black pepper is probably the strongest of the flavors.

The natural meat flavors seems to have touches of marinade hiding deep within the fibers that comes out in the chewing, but are barely noticeable. Otherwise, the meat flavor is still quite light, but adds just enough to the seasoning to make this jerky enjoyable.

After having eaten several pieces, the spiciness of the black pepper becomes stronger to the point where it's mostly what I'm tasting.

Overall, it's an old-fashioned style jerky flavor highlighted mostly by the black pepper with a moderate saltiness and light natural meat flavor.

Meat Consistency

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

This is a dry jerky with a dry surface feel. The pieces have a fair amount of flexibility but will crack open with some bending. Chewing requires some effort but overall not too chewy.

The chewing texture starts out feeling like pliable plastic, bending easily in my mouth. There's some initial chewing resistance comparable to overcooked squid steak. Eventually it breaks down and with several chews and takes on a meaty feel, but not exactly like real steak. It still retains some of the chewy, rubbery feel.

I see only scant pieces of fat some pieces, no gristle or tendon. I don't encounter any stringiness or unchewable tissues. It's very meaty.

In terms of clean eating, it's very clean, leaving no residue on my fingers and dropping no fragments of meat or seasoning.

beef jerky
beef jerky
Snack Value

Clint & Sons sells this Original variety from its website at a price of $24.00 for four packages of 3oz each. They charge $10.00 flat rate on any size order. If you bought three of these four-packs, the total comes to $82.00, or a price of $2.28 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.28 per ounce price, it's a decent value. I'm getting an overall good flavor with a good meat consistency, and fair chewing texture. Compared to national brands of jerky sold in stores, it's priced a little higher but offers a little better snackability.

Rating

clint and sons beef jerky nutrition
I'm giving this jerky a good rating.

This Original beef jerky from Clint & Sons generates its flavor mostly through a combination of black pepper and salt with a light natural meat flavor.

Compared to other brands of gourmet Original beef jerky, I find the flavor a little better than average, and substantially better than national brands. While the meat consistency seems to be pretty good in terms of being nearly pure meat, the chewing seemed rubbery.

Still, I found myself reaching for more and more which is what I think a meat snack should do, and still satisfy with its flavor.

My recommended beer pairing would go towards a brown ale, such as the Moose Drool or the Newcastle.

Rating: Good

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