Thursday, October 30, 2014

Jerky Gold Marinade

jerky gold marinade
Jerky Gold Marinade is a brand of Jerky Gold Marinade Company, LLC based out of Endwell, NY. It's the creation of Matthew Parkes, using a marinade recipe his father perfected decades ago.

The marinade recipe was originally shared with his father's co-workers, all of whom had been avid hunters. He began selling the marinade as "R.C. Parks Authentic Jerky Juice", and had distributed it through sporting retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Cabela’s.

His son Matthew eventually took over the business. Now as "Jerky Gold Marinade", Parkes offers his father's famous recipe to hunters and anyone else wants to make their own jerky at home.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

JerkyX

jerkyx
JerkyX is a new brand of jerky that debuted in 2013. It was started by Rob Evans, based out of Helotes, TX, who had been experimenting with a dehydrator and dozens of recipes.

The company started after he came up with a way to mix jerky with energy drink ingredients. He opted using ground beef instead of whole muscle to make it easier to eat. It was when he received a lot of compliments, even from women, that he decided he was on to something.

JerkyX currently comes in one flavor, though he claims to have a habanero variety in the works. Currently, JerkyX is sold in stores in the San Antonio, TX area, and on Amazon.com, as well as its own website.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Lucky Brand Jerky - Jerky Sticks

lucky brand jerky sticks
Lucky Brand Jerky is a new brand of jerky, but has a long history. It's the product of Nebraska Star Beef, a family owned business that has been producing premium beef, along with beef jerky, for over 100 years.

Recently, the company changed the way it raises cattle, returning to its roots on herdsmanship, grass-fed, without antibiotics and growth hormones, and allowing their animals roam freely. Their jerky is made with no MSG, no sodium nitrite, and no artificial ingredients.

This "Stick Jerky" looks like traditional meat sticks, or snack sausage, except it's not in a casing. It's really more like chopped and formed jerky, formed into meat sticks. Flavors come in Original, Peppered, Teriyaki, and Red Pepper.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Fusion Jerky - Turkey

fusion jerky
Fusion Jerky is a new brand of jerky that has managed to get a lot notice from other big brands in the jerky business. Based out of South San Francisco, CA it's the creation of KaiYen Mai, a mother of two and avid outdoorswoman, who wanted to focus on Asian-style jerky.

"In my home country of Taiwan, jerky is a celebrated delicacy, akin to a fine wine", Mai says in her marketing materials. Fusion Jerky offers beef, turkey, chicken, and pork styles encompassing eight flavors. It's made using US raised animals at their ranch in Scottsbluff, NE. It's marketed as gluten-free, all natural, preservative free, and nitrate free.

These turkey jerky varieties are said to be made from breast meat at the company's own USDA-inspected facility in Scottsbluff, NE.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Lucky Brand Jerky - Red Pepper

lucky brand jerky
Lucky Brand Jerky is a new brand of jerky, but has a long history. It's the product of Nebraska Star Beef, a family owned business that has been producing premium beef, along with beef jerky, for over 100 years.

Recently, the company changed the way it raises cattle, returning to its roots on herdsmanship, grass-fed, without antibiotics and growth hormones, and allowing their animals roam freely. Their jerky is made with no MSG, no sodium nitrite, and no artificial ingredients.

This Red Pepper Beef Jerky is part of their "Slab Style" line. The company claims to make it the "old fashioned way", using thick slices of marbled Angus beef which is then seasoned and marinated. The line also includes Teriyaki, Peppered, and Original.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Fusion Jerky - Beef Jerky

fusion jerky
Fusion Jerky is a new brand of jerky that has managed to get a lot notice from other big brands in the jerky business. Based out of South San Francisco, CA it's the creation of KaiYen Mai, a mother of two and avid outdoorswoman, who wanted to focus on Asian-style jerky.

"In my home country of Taiwan, jerky is a celebrated delicacy, akin to a fine wine", Mai says in her marketing materials. Fusion Jerky offers beef, turkey, chicken, and pork styles encompassing eight flavors. It's made using US raised animals at their ranch in Scottsbluff, NE. It's marketed as gluten-free, all natural, preservative free, and nitrate free.

Fusion Jerky is made at its own Scottsbluff, NE facility. Mai goes on to write that her family has spent 50 years in the in the meat industry.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Lucky Brand Jerky - Peppered

lucky brand jerky
Lucky Brand Jerky is a new brand of jerky, but has a long history. It's the product of Nebraska Star Beef, a family owned business that has been producing premium beef, along with beef jerky, for over 100 years.

Recently, the company changed the way it raises cattle, returning to its roots on herdsmanship, grass-fed, without antibiotics and growth hormones, and allowing their animals roam freely. Their jerky is made with no MSG, no sodium nitrite, and no artificial ingredients.

This Peppered Beef Jerky is part of their "Slab Style" line. The company claims to make it the "old fashioned way", using thick slices of marbled Angus beef which is then seasoned and marinated. The line also includes Teriyaki, Original, and Red Pepper.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Just How Natural is Your “All-Natural” Beef Jerky?

by Matt Tolnick

For decades, beef jerky was a niche snack that had a small but dedicated cult following. Regardless of the brand, the flavors of mass-marketed jerky were unimaginative and limited. With an artisanal food movement sweeping America (in conjunction with the entrenched craft beer movement), beef jerky has been reimagined.

No longer is beef jerky dry, tough, and reserved for road tripping or camping. Jerky is increasingly appealing to active, health-conscious types looking for an all-natural, low-calorie, low-carb snack. For the modest calorie count in a serving of beef jerky (100 calories or fewer), there’s a fair amount of chewing, which is satisfying. And the high protein content (typically 10-12 grams per ounce) helps build muscle and keeps us full. Contrary to popular belief, jerky is not a male dominated snack; 45% of our company’s online consumers are women.

Recently, even some of the most mass-market jerky companies have begun to remove some of the more objectionable “ingredients” long found in their products, such as nitrites, preservatives, MSG, and high fructose corn syrup.

Having removed the aforementioned ingredients, many jerky companies now claim to offer “all-natural” jerky. By its own admission, the FDA’s definition of “natural” fails to consider the unnatural processes by which whole foods are created. And since most beef in America is unnaturally fattened “on feedlots eating a concentrated mix of corn, soy, grains, and other supplements, plus hormones and antibiotics”, many jerky companies are deceiving consumers. Since the predominant ingredient in their jerky is, of course, beef, these “all-natural” claims are particularly concerning.

Many well-meaning consumers who want to avoid unnatural food products are willing to seek out and pay a premium for “all-natural” beef jerky. But in most of these “all-natural” jerky products, the primary ingredient is beef raised in the most unnatural of ways. Like humans, cows are what they eat. And when we eat cows artificially plumped on an unnatural diet of genetically modified grains, antibiotics, and steroids, they lose many of the benefits typical of naturally raised cows. If your “all-natural” jerky doesn’t also say “100% grass-fed,” your jerky is anything but “all-natural.”

For a variety of reasons elucidated by the NRDC, 100% grass-fed beef is better than conventional beef. It’s better for the environment, more humane for the animal during its life, and it’s far healthier than grain-fed beef. At big food corporations, there is a desire to create highly marketable foods that are tasty and cheap. Taking the time and expense to offer truly healthy food products is considered risky because many consumers are deterred by the higher prices of higher quality, cleaner foods. With America’s increasing wealth gap, this is a valid concern and may be sound, shrewd business strategy. But by profiteering on the “all-natural” language, despite offering beef jerky with beef that’s raised unnaturally, the American public is being misled.

As Americans, we love negative externalities, pushing off the costs of our choices onto the system, onto our future selves, and onto future generations...all so we can save a few bucks in the present. Public policy should discourage this behavior. Instead, we should create a system where the standards for “all-natural” actually consider the processes by which our food (and particularly our meat) is grown.

Matt Tolnick is the Founder and CEO of Lawless Jerky®, a 100% grass-fed beef jerky company specializing in all-natural and gluten-free flavors. Creating jerky in internationally inspired flavors like Mango Habanero, Honey Chipotle, Japanese Curry, and more, Lawless Jerky is the only brand endorsed by the Humane Society for its efforts in sustainability and humane treatment of animals.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Lucky Brand Jerky - Teriyaki

lucky brand jerky
Lucky Brand Jerky is a new brand of jerky, but has a long history. It's the product of Nebraska Star Beef, a family owned business that has been producing premium beef, along with beef jerky, for over 100 years.

Recently, the company changed the way it raises cattle, returning to its roots on herdsmanship, grass-fed, without antibiotics and growth hormones, and allowing their animals roam freely. Their jerky is made with no MSG and no sodium nitrite.

This Teriyaki Beef Jerky is part of their "Slab Style" line. The company claims to make it the "old fashioned way", using thick slices of marbled Angus beef which is then seasoned and marinated. The line also includes Teriyaki, Peppered, and Red Pepper.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Lucky Brand Jerky - Original

lucky brand jerky
Lucky Brand Jerky is a new brand of jerky, but has a long history. It's the product of Nebraska Star Beef, a family owned business that has been producing premium beef, along with beef jerky, for over 100 years.

Recently, the company changed the way it raises cattle, returning to its roots on herdsmanship, grass-fed, without antibiotics and growth hormones, and allowing their animals roam freely. Their jerky is made with no MSG, no sodium nitrite, and no artificial ingredients.

This Original Beef Jerky is part of their "Slab Style" line. The company claims to make it the "old fashioned way", using thick slices of marbled Angus beef which is then seasoned and marinated. The line also includes Teriyaki, Peppered, and Red Pepper.