Redneck Seasonings - Filet of Ghost Beef Jerky

Redneck Seasonings is a brand run by Ray Templeton out of Moscow, ID. Over the past couple of years the business has been selling seasonings, jerky, and bratwurst.

Among his specialities is infused sea salts, where he infuses a variety of flavorings to impart unique flavored sea salts. The inspiration for his line of jerky came when he started using a Bhut Jolokia Inufsed Sea Salt. Today, his jerky brined with this particular blend, and produced into two flavors, this Filet of Ghost (a milder variety), and Danse Macabre (a more hot variety).

Templeton makes the jerky himself and sells it at the Moscow Farmers Market as well as online.

Ingredients

Beef, brown sugar, white sugar, Bhut Jolokia Infused Sea Salt

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a moderate saltiness and a touch of smokiness. There's a light bit of heat building up. There's also an oily/fatty flavor too along with a touch of sweet.

The chewing brings in a much of the same flavors, but with more definition, except that I can pick up a light natural meat flavor too.

For being marketed as "Filet of Ghost" made with Bhut Jolokia Sea Salt, it seems to hold up well. Like the company claims, it's not overly hot. It gets warms, and there is some heat that builds up, but it manages to stay at a low enough level for a wider variety of jerky snackers to tolerate.

But otherwise, the flavors that define this jerky starts largely with the Bhut Jolokia Infused Sea Salt. There is indeed a significant saltiness to this jerky, but it doesn't scorch the mouth too bad initially. However after eating several pieces, the saltiness starts to wear me out. The natural meat flavors are quite noticeable as the chewing goes on, mixed with a fair amount of marbleized fat. The moderate sweetness and touches of Bhut Jolokia pepper flavors round out the other flavors.

The level of heat in this feels to be at a medium-hot level on my personal heat scale (level 4 out of 5). It's probably at the upper-limits of most jerky snackers, while still very tolerable for hot food fanatics. The higher level of saltiness perhaps makes it feel more hot than it really is.

The natural meat flavors are quite tasty, having an aged flavor but mixed with a nice fattiness to impart a more beefy experience.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into thick strips.

This is a dry jerky with a slightly oily surface feel. The pieces have a flexible, rubbery feel. Biting off chunks can take some effort to do, while chewing can be a little tough.

The chewing texture starts out feeling stiff and rubbery. With several chews, it breaks apart and feels fibrous. Eventually it chews down to a soft mass and takes on a more steak-like feel, as if cooked medium, but still keeping a little bit of that rubbery character.

I can see several streaks and bits of fat on these pieces, which contributes to the overall flavor. There's a little bit of stringiness, but well tolerable. I didn't encounter any gristle or tendon, nor any unchewable tissues.

As for clean eating, my fingers pick up a light oily film, just enough to require a licking and wiping before touching the keyboard.

Snack Value

Redneck Seasonings sells this Filet of Ghost Beef Jerky online at a price of approximately $1.56 per ounce. Each package is weighed separately and individually priced. Shipping is flat rate at $5.95 to anywhere in the USA. If you bought 16 ounces of this jerky, with shipping added, it would work out to $1.93 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $1.93 per ounce price, this offers a good value. I'm getting a good overall flavor, good chewing texture and good meat consistency. Though it tends to be somewhat tough, it's not too rough on the jaws muscles. It's just rather salty. Compared to other national brands of jerky, it's priced about the same, but offers a better flavor and chewing texture.

As a Bhut Jolokia flavored jerky, at the same $1.93 per ounce price, it's also good value. Considering the company admits up front that the heat is toned way down for a Bhut Jolokia beef jerky, you're still getting what the company is promising, a Ghost Pepper jerky that more people can tolerate.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Filet of Ghost beef jerky from Redneck Seasonings does a great job of delivering a beefy, aged, natural meat flavor, with a nice marbleized fat flavor. It even has a light touch of smokiness, even if the packaging doesn't say anything about being smoked. You get a light amount of the Bhut Jolokia flavor and heat, and light touches of sweet.

However, it tends to have too much salt for my personal preference. Perhaps toned down a little more would make it more tolerable.

Although it tends to be a little tough, it's actually a good meat consistency. It feels like I'm chewing a real piece of steak, though a touch on the rubbery side. It's not all that much stringy, and nothing unchewable.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://www.redneckseasonings.com/