Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Clint & Sons - Yard Bird Chicken Jerky

clint and sons jerky
Chicken Jerky continues to proliferate the meat snack industry as a more tasty alternative to Turkey Jerky. This entry from Clint & Sons is the fourth chicken jerky brand I've review thus far (see others).

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.

Yard Bird Chicken Jerky, as best as I can tell, is not related to Yard Bird Jerky, a different brand of chicken jerky, based in Temple, TX.


Ingredients

Chicken, water, teriyaki flavored seasoning, brown sugar, cure, black pepper, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a lightly sweet and salty flavor, with a hint of smokiness.

The chewing flavor starts with an increased smokiness and saltiness. Maybe a tad of garlic and onion is detected, and just a touch of soy sauce is noticeable towards the end of chewing.

After eating several pieces, a noticeable black pepper comes into view.

As a chicken jerky there is very little chicken meat flavor. I can, however, taste something that resembles chicken, but not necessarily the meat. It actually tastes like a combination of roasted, dried chicken skin, but I'm guessing that's actually the result of smoking and/or roasting.

Otherwise, the flavor(s) that tend to define this jerky is that smoky, dried & roasted chicken skin flavor. It's actually a good flavor, I think. It just doesn't taste like chicken meat. Next is the moderate saltiness, then a touch of soy sauce, and a hint of garlic.

It's largely a mild flavored jerky, with just a bit of spice. Imagine eating the dried, roasted, smoky, but seasoned skin on a chicken breast, and that's mostly what I get from this jerky.

Meat Consistency

This jerky appears to be slices of whole meat, sliced thin, in small slabs.

This is a dry jerky with a dry surface feel. They have a flexibility like that of thin pieces of soft plastic. Ease of chewing seems to be moderate.

The chewing texture starts out feeling pliable, and the first initial chews feel stiff and rubbery. After several more chews, it breaks down into tiny bits, still a little rubbery, but morphing into something meaty and fibrous. When chewed down to a soft mass, it's somewhat like chicken-meat, but still on the chewy, rubbery side.

The meat looks quite lean, no pieces of fat visible. I didn't encounter any unchewable wads of tissue.

In terms of clean eating, it's quite clean, leaving only a very fine oily film on my fingertips.

chicken jerky
chicken jerky
Snack Value

Clint & Sons sells this Chicken Jerky from its website at a price of $22.50 for four 3oz packages. Shipping is flat rate at $10.00. If you bought three of these four-packs, the total comes to $77.50, or a price of $2.15 per ounce.

For general chicken jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.15 per ounce price, it's a decent value. I'm getting an overall satisfying flavor, good meat consistency, though a rubbery chewing texture. Compared to other brands of chicken jerky, it's priced competitively and seems to offer a decent jerky snacking experience.

Rating

clint and sons jerky nutrition
I'm giving this an average rating.

This Yard Bird Chicken Jerky from Clint & Sons offers a flavor that resembles the smoky, dried, roasted skin from a chicken breast. There's a little bit of garlic seasoning, and black pepper flavor too.

The meat consistency and chewing seems kind of rubbery, not feeling much like eating real chicken meat.

Otherwise, it's not bad as a snack, and I think it's actually better than turkey jerky, even if it tastes like dried chicken skin. Compared to other brands of chicken jerky I've reviewed, it's not the best, but not the worst. It's definitely the more mild brand thus far, but something more suited for convenience stores.

My recommended beer pairing, go with a fruity wheat beer, like any of the Shock Tops, or the Wailua Wheat from Kona Brewing.

Rating: Average

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