Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Wild Bill's Jerky - Premium Bulk Beef Jerky

wild bills beef jerky
This "Premium Bulk Beef Jerky" is effectively the jerky that made Wild Bill's Jerky famous. The long thick strips of whole meat, marinated, seasoned, and then hickory smoked, are sold in 15oz packages.

And because it comes in such a large package, the company sells a glass mason jar, at a tall 10" height, with rubber seal and metal clasp, designed to showcase Wild Bill's Jerky in all of its pistol-packing glory, keeping it fresh for later use.

Up until now, I had only reviewed jerky from their "Tender Tips" line, as well as their new Bacon Jerky. So it would only do Wild Bill's justice that I review their marquee product.


Ingredients

Beef, soy sauce, garlic, pepper, red pepper. Sprayed with potassium sorbate.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a moderate saltiness and a light smokiness. Some sweet starts to come in while the saltiness starts to manifest as a soy sauce. A bit of the garlic is noticeable.

The chewing flavor starts with a more defined and stronger soy sauce flavor. It brings with it a touch of spiciness, and hints of black pepper.

For being labeled, "Hickory Smoked", it does have a noticeable smokiness, particularly in the first piece I tasted. The soy sauce, however, tends to dominate, and washes out much of that smokiness from my taste buds.

Otherwise, the flavor that defines this jerky overall is the soy sauce, having a strong flavor and associated saltiness. A little bit of garlic is noticeable, along with light amounts of black pepper.

The red pepper is only noticeable as a light spiciness, that when combined with the black pepper, registers on my personal heat scale as mild-medium (level 2 out of 5).

The natural meat flavors are lightly noticeable towards the latter part of chewing as the soy sauce wears off a bit. Otherwise, it's largely overshadowed by the stronger soy sauce.

Overall, it's classic beef jerky flavor for an otherwise old fashioned, old world style jerky, relying mostly on soy sauce for taste, with touches of seasonings, and a hickory smoke flavor coloring the background.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into strips of 8 to 10 inches in length, and sliced thick.

This is a dry jerky with a mostly dry, but faintly oily, surface feel. They have a fair amount of flexibility, but are otherwise stiff. Chewing seems moderate in ease.

The chewing texture starts out feeling stiff and dry, with a fair amount of chewing resistance. As it starts to break down, chewing is still rather laborious, though taking on a meaty feel. Once chewed down to a soft mass, it still has meaty texture, but not exactly steak-like, a little more dry, slightly crumbly.

I don't see any bits of fat or gristle on these strips. I didn't encounter any stringiness or unchewable wads of tissue. It's pure meat.

In terms of clean eating, it's mostly clean, leaving only a thin film of oil on my fingertips, though not enough to warrant a licking and wiping before touching the keyboard.

wild bills beef jerky

wild bills beef jerky

Snack Value

Wild Bill's Jerky sells this package of Premium Bulk Beef Jerky from its website at a price of $25.00 for a 15oz bag. I don't see shipping info, so assuming there's no shipping costs, it works out to $1.67 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $1.67 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting an overall satisfying flavor, excellent meat consistency, and decent chewing texture. Compared to other brands of jerky sold in stores, it's a comparable jerky in snackability but at a little lower cost.

Rating

I'm giving this an average rating.

This Hickory Smoked Premium Bulk Beef Jerky from Wild Bill's packs in a lot of flavor, but mostly as soy sauce, with touches of garlic, black pepper, and red pepper seasonings. I do, however, get a noticeable hickory smokiness, and a very light natural meat flavor to go along with it.

Otherwise, it's the classic Wild Bill's Hickory Smoked jerky flavor, much the same as the Hickory Smoked Tender Tips I reviewed a few years ago, being rather strong on soy sauce and saltiness, creating a scorch on my taste buds.

But this Premium Bulk size is one notch better with its long strips of lean meat, bearing no stringiness, no fat, and nothing unchewable, considerably better than the smaller chunks and pieces found in the Tender Tips line.

This stuff looks and feels like the old fashioned style jerky you find in mason jars at the counter of a country store.

Rating: Average

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5 comments:

  1. Where's the nutritional label for this product? What is the sodium content per serving? How is this different from the "original" 15 oz jerky for $19.00?

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  2. It's the same exact jerky. You can see the nutritional label on a review of their Tender Tips, which is also the same jerky: http://www.bestbeefjerky.org/2009/06/wild-bills-beef-jerky-hickory-smoked.html

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  3. this is by far the best jerky ive ever had... Tried a piece at an Indian Reservation, in Akron NY, and after devouring the piece, I rushed to get more.. Way better product than these companies that sell in the supermarkets... Wild Bills may be a bit pricey, buts its worth it for sure,,

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    Replies
    1. This is my favorite jerky, I like my jerky on the dry side.

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  4. Could you recommend some whole meat jerky strips? I really need some that are relatively long (at LEAST 8", preferably closer to 12"), consistent in size, and come in traditional, black pepper, and teriyaki flavors. So far, the only thing I've found that fits the bill are Jack Link's Smokehouse jerky, but it's not very good. I appreciate your feedback!

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