Steak 'N A Bag - Bold Hickory

Next in the series on Steak 'N A Bag beef jerky is this Bold Hickory variety. See our previous reviews of Steak 'N A Bag.

Owned and operated by Runnin Wild Foods based out of Norcross, GA, the Steak 'N A Bag brand was conceived by a couple of brothers originally producing steak seasoning blends. Since then, they've gone on to add beef sticks to their product line-up.

According to the company, this Bold Hickory beef jerky is described as, "Loaded with authentic smokehouse seasoning, this Steak 'N A Bag may be incredibly tender and moist, but it’s also buckin’ with big, bold hickory flavor."

Ingredients

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

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a moderate saltiness, a bit of sweet, and a noticeable smokiness. There's touches of spice in the background, particularly a garlic.

The chewing brings in more saltiness, with a little more noticeable smokiness. There's a light natural meat flavor.

For being marketed as "Bold Hickory", there's definitely a smokiness in this, more as the liquid smoke flavor. As far as the word, "Bold" is concerned, the smokiness is pronounced enough to identify, but I'm not sure bold is the right word. It's more moderate and mild.

Otherwise the flavors that define this jerky starts largely with the saltiness. The hickory smoke flavor is strong enough to list as the second-most identifiable, with touches of garlic and a bit of sweet. The natural meat flavors tend to lay the foundation.

Overall, the ingredients combine to create something that doesn't really grab me from any angle. It's more of a basic flavor, or Original flavor, with some hickory smoke flavor added. It's not bad, it just doesn't define itself very well.

There's no heat to this, it's quite mild.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, sliced to a medium thickness, and in small to medium sized pieces.

This is probably more similar to a "soft and tender" variety of jerky. I found most of the pieces to have a moist feel, while a few seemed more dry. But overall, it seems easy to tear apart, and easy to chew.

The chewing texture is mostly steak-like once you chew it long enough. The more moist pieces are a tad mushy. But overall, it's a good, meaty texture.

I do see a fair amount of fat on this jerky, and can even taste it. Where I can't see any fat, I can still taste it. For the most part however, I don't really see this as spoiling the flavor. It actually enhances it, giving it a more beef-like flavor. But I didn't find any chewy connective tissues like tendon or gristle.

In terms of cleanliness, this jerky tends to leave a bit of chili powder on my finger tips. But other than that, I'm not getting much residue or meat fragments on my lap.

Snack Value

Runnin Wild Foods sells this Bold Hickory 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 fair value. It has a satisfying flavor, generating a fair amount of snackability, though salty, with a tender, easy chewing. Compared other other brands of jerky, it has an average flavor, a good meat consistency and decent chewing.

As a hickory smoked beef jerky, at the same $2.15 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting a good deal of hickory smoke flavor, but not the real wood smoke flavor, yet enough to give you what you're paying for.

Rating

I'm giving this an average rating.

This Bold Hickory beef jerky from Steak 'N A Bag gives out a good deal of hickory smoke flavoring, with a satisfying blend of seasonings. It has a tender, easy chew with a light natural meat flavor with touches of marbled fat.

Overall, it's hard to define this jerky as something other than a regular, basic, beef jerky flavor with some extra smoke flavoring added. It'd be better to offer an extra seasoning to perk this up, or an unusual marinade to add some pizzazz. Otherwise, this is just your basic smoke flavoring which tends to show up in far too many other brands.

But if you just love to taste smoke flavoring, then perhaps this is your brand.

Rating: Average

Buy this online:

• https://www.runninwildfoods.com/