Steak 'N A Bag - Original

Steak 'N A Bag is a brand of jerky owned and operated by Runnin Wild Foods based out of Norcross, GA. They've been in business for about 7 years now.

The company was launched by a couple of brothers originally producing steak seasoning blends. Not longer after the company launched, they began making jerky, and once they had the recipe perfected, the Steak 'N A Bag lineup was added to their inventory. Since then, they added a line of beef sticks dubbed, "Steak Sticks".

This Original variety of jerky is said to be "...so intense you might develop a swagger. Rich. Bold. Authentic smokehouse seasoning. Rip off a piece of this incredibly tasty, tender and moist Steak n' a Bag and just try to walk a straight line. Yea, it’s that good."

Ingredients

Beef, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, paprika, spices, garlic, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a salty, slightly smoky flavor. There's a moderate sweetness mixed in, and a light garlic & onion flavor.

The chewing brings in an increased saltiness with an increased garlic & onion. The sweetness tails off, while a very subtle natural meat flavor is noticeable.

For being marketed as the company's "Original" variety, it's quite bold in flavor, mostly as a strong seasoning blend of salt, garlic, and onion. There's an initial sweetness, but as I continue to chew it wears off and I'm left with mostly that strong seasoning blend.

Otherwise, flavors that define this jerky is starts with the strong saltiness but with some sweet mixed in. As the sweet wears off, the garlic & onion really becomes noticeable. There's perhaps a dusting of black pepper flavor, but it's hard to determine behind the strong saltiness.

The natural meat flavors are slight. I can identify it without having to search hard, but it doesn't really dominate the chew. The garlic taste is stronger than the natural meat flavors.

Together, the ingredients combine to create a strong salty jerky with a garlic & onion flavor, and touches of sweet.

In terms of heat, there's none. It's quite mild.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, cut into strips of three-to-four inches in length, and sliced medium thickness.

This is a dry jerky with a semi-moist surface feel, and slightly oily to the touch. The pieces have a plastic like flexibility to them, and are easy to bite off and chew.

The chewing texture starts out with a somewhat soft and tender feel, a little waxy, but somewhat meaty. They easily chew down to a soft mass and at that point, feels kinda mushy and not really like a piece of steak.

I do see some small spots of fat on these pieces, and I can taste them as well, leaving a light oiliness in my mouth. Otherwise, I don't see any gristle or tendon, and I didn't encounter any stringiness or unchewable wads of tissue.

In terms of clean eating, it's pretty clean aside from a very thin oily/waxy film on my fingers, but nothing requiring a licking or wiping.

Snack Value

Runnin Wild Foods sells this Original beef jerky from its website at a price of $5.99 for a 3.25oz package. They offer $10.00 flat rate shipping on all orders of $50.00 or more. If you bought 10 packages, it would work out to a price of $2.15 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.15 per ounce price, it's a good value. Compared other other brands of "Original" beef jerky, it has a lot more flavor, and a good flavor at that, albeit rather salty. It has a good meat consistency, chews easily, though not quite steak-like.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Original variety of "Steak 'N A Bag" from Runnin Wild Foods offers a good overall flavor, mostly as a garlic & onion seasoning blend with a light sweetness and high saltiness. Compared to other brands of "Original" beef jerky, it's more flavorful and more savory

The high level of saltiness can wear on me after awhile, though it helps to have something to drink to counteract. But for general jerky snacking it's seems to be fine. The meat consistency seems good, being mostly meaty with nothing stringy or unchewable, and offering a tender easy chew.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• https://www.runninwildfoods.com/