Real Steak Jerky - Original Recipe

Real Steak Jerky is a brand of RSJ Ventures, LLC based out of Naples, FL. It was launched in 2009 by a couple of golf buddies, Dennis Riedel and Blair Swiler.

Blair was an executive chef and had been making jerky for many years. The two decided that golf courses around Florida needed to stock it in their pro shops, and thus began their venture into making jerky. Real Steak Jerky is now available in pro shops across the United States, as well as many half-way houses and grill rooms.

The company says their jerky is hand cut from USDA Choice flank steak, and made with premium ingredients like raw cane sugar, naturally brewed soy sauce, and 100% raw horseradish root. They carry only two varieties, this Original Recipe and a Chipotle Cracked Pepper.

Ingredients

Beef flank steak, soy sauce, sugar, horseradish, worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, black pepper, red pepper, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a sweetness and a smokiness. There's a light saltiness following.

The chewing flavor starts with much of the same, but adding faint touches of black pepper and a very faint bit of heat. There's a noticeable natural meat flavor coming in. I can pick up a light saucy flavor, perhaps more as worcestershire. Faint bits of black pepper and red pepper are detectable in the background.

The flavors that seem to define this jerky overall is the combination of sweet and smoky, with a light saltiness. The natural meat flavors seem to have the next most impact, while the saucy flavor staying behind.

The seasonings of black pepper and red pepper, are not well noticeable in each piece, but after eating several pieces they build up a noticeable aftertaste and light burn.

The natural meat flavors are more defined in some pieces, and less so in others. But all pieces seem to offer some to a lesser or greater degree. They have a flavor much like a well-done cooked steak.

For the most part, what you're going to get is a lot of sweet & smoky flavors with a light saltiness. You'll pick up a natural meat flavor, and a light saucy flavor, along with the black pepper and red pepper remaining as back up singers.

Meat Consistency

These are cuts of whole meat, sliced into a strips of two to five inches in length.

This is a semi-moist jerky with a semi-moist surface feel. It's quite soft and tender, and very easy to eat.

The chewing texture starts out feeling soft and tender, offering no chewing resistance. It chews down quickly, and immediately feels like eating chunks of tender, roasted beef, very much feeling like real meat.

I don't see any visible streaks or spots of fat, nor any gristle or tendon. I did not encounter any stringiness or unchewable tissues. It's seems to be all meat.

In terms of clean eating, it's quite clean, leaving very little, or almost no residue on my fingers.

Snack Value

Real Steak Jerky sells this Original Recipe variety from its website at a price of $54.00 for ten 1.5oz packages. Shipping is $7.00 flat rate. That works out to $4.07 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $4.07 per ounce price, it's a fair value. I'm getting a good overall flavor with an excellent meat consistency and excellent chewing texture. That price is still double what you'd pay for major brands of jerky sold in stores, though offers a better flavor and much better meat consistency.

There are still other gourmet brands that offer better flavor, though maybe not as good meat consistency, but at far less cost.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Original Recipe beef jerky from Real Steak Jerky offers mostly a sweet & smoky taste with a moderate to light natural meat flavor. There's a light saucy flavor with an even lighter touch of black pepper and red pepper in the background.

But the real winner in this jerky is the meat consistency. It's very soft and tender, chewing easily, and feeling just like real chunks of tender steak. And it seems to be all meat, with no fat, gristle, stringiness or unchewable tissues.  The tenderness of these pieces seems to create the feeling of juiciness.

The flavor itself is still good, but mostly thanks to the natural meat flavors that make a decent to good showing from piece to piece. Otherwise, the recipe itself seems unremarkable compared to the hundreds of other original recipe brands I've tried.

My recommended beer pairing for this, go with an IPA, try the Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA, or the Lagunitas IPA.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://www.realsteakjerky.com/