Friday, April 11, 2008

Albertson's Beef Jerky - Peppered

I picked up a bag of Albertson's own brand of beef jerky, the peppered variety, since peppered is one of my favorites.

I'm not sure who exactly makes their beef jerky, the packaging doesn't say. But for average-priced jerky, it's not bad not all.

Taste

The ingredients list shows the following flavorings: sugar, vinegar, salt, MSG, spice, and citric acid. Oddly it doesn't list pepper, being that this is the peppered variety.

For the most part, what I taste is the natural beef flavors. There is some salt taste, but nicely enough, the salt is just right, not overpowering at all.

As far as pepper is concerned, there is very little pepper to be seen. One might wonder if this is actually the "original" flavor that got put into the wrong bag. Most of the pieces have only a slight pepper taste, while a few pieces had a stronger peppery flavor.

There is also a subtle smoky flavor too. The package says that this jerky is smoked with genuine mesquite.

Meat Consistency

Albertson's appears to use real cuts of meat. The package says they use "premium cuts of lean 100% beef".

Some of the pieces are marblized with fat, something I have a preference for.

The pieces are mostly dry, but still flexible. It takes a bit of work to bite off a piece. If you tear it apart with the grain, some of the pieces come apart easily, while others still take some work.

These are mostly cut to average thickness.

Product Value

I paid $4.99 for a four ounce bag, which works out to $1.25 per ounce, putting this in the average ball park, but in the lower echelon of average.

For a somewhat low-priced jerky, this is actually a good buy. It provides a lot of snackability, if you just want to work your jaws while watching a movie, or something.

If you really like peppered jerky, you might be disappointed that this is only slightly peppered. I wouldn't buy this again for myself. But if you happen to like jerky with a slight peppery taste, this might be for you.

I'm giving this an "average" rating. As a beef jerky, it's ok, and it's lower price-point kept it from a lower rating. But I found it rather dry, tough to tear apart, and lacking in a strong peppery flavor.

Rating: Average (3/5)

2 comments:

  1. The MSG content must be very high. Yesterday I had the jerky first time ever. I ate around an ounce. Two hours later I suffered incredible strong vertigo, and got very sick to my stomach. As to the taste, I do admit it is good. As to MSG poisoning - if you are sensitive, avoid the stuff at all cost. One star, because I can't rate it any lower.

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