Blank and Sons - Texas Heat Jerky

Blank and Sons is a new brand of beef jerky that started up just over a year ago, based out of Nacogdoches, TX. It's run by Damon Blank and his wife Tammy, along with their sons Danton, Dalton, and Dagon. The family had been in the restaurant business from 1988 to 2002. They had wanted to remain in the food industry and opted to launch a jerky business.

Blank and Sons is themed after the State of Texas, and the flavors they offer are paired with various flags used throughout the Lone Star State's history. They claim their jerky is hand made in small batches, but is bold and big as their Texas-sized pride.

This "Texas Heat Jerky" is marketed by the company as putting the hot Texas sun into each bag of jerky, offering the, "perfect amount of pepper and spices".

Ingredients

Beef inside round, soy sauce, water, worcestershire, light brown sugar, kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, garlic powder, garlic salt, crushed red pepper flakes, chili powder, onion powder, apple cider vinegar, cayenne pepper powder, sodium nitrite.

Review

The first flavors that I pick up on the tongue is a strong seasoning blend, with a notable garlic flavor. I can pick up some black pepper, along with a salty, sauce flavor. The chewing brings on a bit more saltiness, along with a little more garlic, and touches of cayenne pepper. There's a light bit of heat noticeable too.

For being labeled, "Texas Heat Beef Jerky", and offering a "perfect amount of pepper and spices", it seems to hold up well. I certainly get a spicy flavor, which feels like a blend of black pepper and cayenne pepper, but I also get a light amount of heat from both the black pepper and chile pepper. Overall, it's not that hot however. I'd rate this on my personal heat scale as "medium" (level 3 out of 5). But it certainly is very bold and flavorful, including quite salty, and something that might overwhelm the tamer tongued taster.

The meat consistency seems excellent. It comes in slabs sliced to a medium thickness, and retains an expected jerky chewiness, though still somewhat easy to chew through. The chewing feels meaty initially, and once chewed all the way down, it feels like a grilled steak cooked well done. I don't see much fat on these slabs, but I do pick up some light stringiness. Otherwise, nothing unchewable.

Verdict: This "Texas Heat Beef Jerky" from Blank and Sons seems to live up to its claims of being hot and peppery with its blend of black pepper, cayenne, and red pepper. It's not a seething heat, however, but still hot enough to warrant its claims. This tastes similar to the company's "Black Peppered Beef Jerky", which is actually a derivative of their "Our First Beef Jerky", a combination of strong garlic and black pepper, but with some Tex-Mex spices added. Like the company's other flavors, this "Texas Heat Beef Jerky" is also rather salty, which wears me out after a few pieces.

Rating: Good