Saturday, April 26, 2008

Smokey's Beef Jerky - Teriyaki Turkey

Smokey's Beef JerkySmokey's Beef Jerky is a little jerky business in Big Bear Lake, CA, located right on Big Bear Lake Blvd inside a little house. They also sell candies and coffee blends.

All their jerky is presented inside a display case, it's not sealed in plastic bags like so much other jerky is. But that only means you have to eat it right away, or otherwise it dries out and loses its freshness. They don't use any preservatives and is made 100% all natural ingredients.

Taste

Because I don't have a package label, I can't give you an ingredients list.

Mostly what I taste right away is a thick sweet teriyaki flavor and the natural turkey flavors. There is also some smokiness to this as well. In the background is a bit of black pepper.

What I also like is what I can't taste much of: salt.

Meat Consistency

These are made with real chunks of turkey, and cut into medium sized pieces.

The pieces I have here for review are largely dry, except for the fact that they are covered in a moist teriyaki basting. But they are still easy to tear apart and chew. Being that this is turkey, it doesn't chew like beef, which I don't expect it to. This is actually interesting, most of the turkey jerky I've had from other brands tend to chew and tear just like beef. Smokey's brand of turkey jerky actually has the characteristics of turkey.

I found some small chunks of fat on one piece, and that piece also had a piece of tendon (or something like tendon) in it.

Product Value

I paid $16.50 for 8 ounces of mixed variety. That works out to $2.06 per ounce, putting this into the expensive category. Note that the company's website shows a price of $15.00 for 8 ounces, which would put it at $1.88 per ounce, just barely into the "average" ballpark.

As a turkey jerky, I think this has great value because you're getting some great jerky experience in something that's easy to tear off and chew, and offers plenty of natural turkey flavor. Being a teriyaki variety, you're also getting a lot of teriyaki taste.

It also offers good snackability, I found myself wanting to reach for more.

Smokey's Beef Jerky - Teriyaki Turkey

Smokey's Beef Jerky - Teriyaki Turkey

Rating

I'm giving this variety a "best" rating.

All throughout eating these review pieces, I found myself straddling the line between "good" and "best". Something in me kept wanting something a little more moist. It's a tad on the dry side.

But I thought the taste was exceptional. As a teriyaki variety, you're getting a lot of thick sweet teriyaki flavor. The addition of black pepper gives it the right amount of contrast in spiciness.

The fact that you're also getting some good turkey flavors in this is to be commended. You don't find many turkey jerkies that actually taste like real turkey.

Rating: Best

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