Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Wild Bill's Bacon Jerky

wild bills bacon jerky
Wild Bill's brand of jerky is owned by Monogram Food Solutions, based out of Memphis, TN. Monogram also owns the Trails Best brand of jerky, as well as several others.

This Bacon Jerky was launched a year ago this month, and sold as Wild Bill's throughout the Eastern USA, but also as Trails Best in the Western USA and at Wal-Mart, and then as Uncle Buck's Jerky throughout Bass Pro Shops.

I had previously written a review of the Trails Best Bacon Jerky last July. This Wild Bill's version is basically the same jerky, just a different name, all being made from Monogram's meat processing facilities in Minnesota, Virginia, and Indiana.


Ingredients

Cured with water, salt, sugar, smoke flavoring, sodium phosphate, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a smoky, bacon flavor. A moderate saltiness comes in next, then followed by a bacon-fat flavor.

The chewing flavor starts with a more defined bacon flavor, much like real, good old fashioned bacon fresh out of the frying pan. The saltiness increases.

For being labeled as "Bacon Jerky", this certainly fits the bill. It tastes just like real bacon, the same kind of bacon you get from the grocery store, but in thicker sliced variety, more comparable to bacon ends.

There's a nice smoky flavor in this jerky, and it seems to be a little more noticeable than regular bacon.

That's largely the flavor of this jerky, just pure, good old fashioned, just like mom used to fry up on a Sunday morning, kind of bacon flavor. It's a little more salty than standard bacon. I don't taste any other seasonings.

The sugar ingredient noted above is barely noticeable.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be real slices of bacon, thicker than standard bacon, more similar to bacon ends.

It's mostly a dry jerky with slightly moist, slightly oily surface feel. This is more like bacon cooked half-way between soft and crispy. These are rather easy to eat, with some of the meatier pieces requiring a little bit of effort.

The chewing texture starts out feeling moist and tender, but having the same chewy, dry feel of jerky. The meat tends to be more dry and chewy, while the fat is soft and lends a fair amount of moisture to the meat. It chews down fairly easily and quickly, and by the time it renders into a soft mass, it feels just like real bacon, cooked halfway between crisp and soft.

While there's a good deal of fat on these pieces, it's to be expected when it's bacon. But having said that, there's a lot of meat too, more so than standard bacon. No stringiness, no gristle or tendon, just pure pork belly heaven.

In terms of clean eating, my fingertips pick up a fine layer of oil, but not enough to require a licking or wiping.

bacon jerky

bacon jerky
Snack Value

Wild Bill's sells this Bacon Jerky from its website at a price of $4.25 for a 3oz package. I don't see a price for shipping, but if it's the same as the Trails Best brand, then it's free. That works out to a price of $1.42 per ounce, which is actually cheaper than Trails Best.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $1.42 per ounce price, it's an excellent value. I'm getting a lot of snackability for a good over flavor, good meat consistency, and good chewing texture. Compared to major brands of jerky found in grocery stores, it's priced the same, but offers better snackability.

As a bacon jerky, at the same $1.42 per ounce price, it's an excellent value. It's priced much less than competing bacon jerky brands, but offers perhaps a similar or better flavor, and better meat consistency and chewing.

Rating

bacon jerky nutrition
I'm giving this a best rating.

This Bacon Jerky from Wild Bill's gives you real bacony goodness, but in a jerky form factor. No longer do you have fry it up in a pan to enjoy, just open up a bag and let the feeding frenzy begin. It tastes just like real bacon, it's just thicker, and meatier, like you get in a package of bacon ends.

I really liked the smokiness in this, and the full rich flavor of bacon meat. Even the bacon fat on this jerky is good. What I really liked in particular is that this jerky has more meat than you would find on standard bacon. I want to say something like 75% meat, 25% fat. Compare that to standard bacon and you're usually getting more like 50/50, or less.

This Bacon Jerky could be improved with some dashes of seasoning, or some maple syrup flavor (kinda of like when the syrup runs off the pancakes and gets all over your bacon). But, it's still surprisingly good in terms of representing bacon flavor, giving you a jerky-like chew, and giving you thick chunks of meat.

Rating: Best

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1 comment:

  1. I found this product at my local 7-11. They had it "on clearance" for $1.99 per 3oz bag! I bought one and I loved it so much I bought a 2nd bag the next night!I finished the second bag and went back to 7-11 because I knew there was one bag left. To my dismay, it was gone! I just ordered three, 3oz bags from Will Bills website, and they charged me $4.99 for shipping, so the shipping isn't free! Still worth it though, as it's a great product for bacon lovers!!

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