Dundalk Dan's Awesome Beef Jerky - Habanero

Dundalk Dan's Awesome Beef Jerky is a brand of Hard Working Foods, LLC based out of Baltimore, MD. It was started by Dan Dawes in 2013, the CEO of an Internet marketing firm with a passion for meat snacks.

Dundalk Dan's claims their jerky is made in small batches and hand trimmed, and then marinated for 3 days.

This "Habanero" variety is described by the company as being, "hot, but not too hot", and inspired by their fans asking for a jerky a little more spicy than their famous Sriracha Style.


Ingredients

Beef, water, gluten free soy sauce, sugar, salt, natural smoke flavor, distilled vinegar, onion powder, spices, habanero pepper, garlic powder

Review

The first flavor I pick up on the palate is salt, followed by the habanero pepper flavor. The habanero heat comes in right away and builds up. The chewing brings on a touch of sweet, along with a slight soy sauces, and touches of garlic and onion seasonings.

For being named, "Habanero" it definitely fills the billing. There's quite of bit of heat in this, despite the company claiming it to be "hot, but not too hot", and there's also a fair amount of habanero flavor too. On our heat scale, it rates as "hot" (level 5 out of 5). Certainly, it's not as hot as the actual habanero pepper itself, but this is still a high enough burn that only true chile pepper lovers and culinary masochists would want to scarf in mass quantities. Your scalp will sweat, your nostrils will run, and your eyes will water, and that's exactly what habanero jerky fans are looking for.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is a lightly saucy, lightly sweet, savory marinade, bolstered with a touch of garlic and onion seasoning, a light smoke flavoring, with the natural habanero flavor sitting on top, and good dose of burn.

The meat consistency looks great. These are slices cut modestly thick, with the expected level of chewiness, yet still easy to bite through. They take several chews before softening up and by the time they're chewed down soft, they take on a meaty, steak-like texture. Only light streaks of fat can be seen, but otherwise no stringiness and nothing unchewable.

Verdict

Keep a bottle of water handy (or a glass of milk) because this Habanero jerky from Dundalk Dan's dishes out an appropriate level of burn for one of the world's hottest chile peppers. Though still not as hot the habanero itself, this jerky is perhaps one of the hotter habanero varieties we've reviewed, and one of the better ones too. We love that it delivers the actual flavor of habanero, but more so with a good dose of heat, because what other reason would anyone want habanero jerky? Yet this jerky also satisfies for its light sweet and light seasonings, along with a meaty, steak-like chew, and does a good job of letting the little orange-colored fire bomb take center stage. It's otherwise a simple jerky, with just a single lead actor, but does a good job of giving habanero pepper lovers their money's worth in savory meat snack.

Rating: Best (5/5)

Buy this online:

• https://www.dundalkdan.com