Sunday, July 27, 2008

Buffalo Bills Country Cut - Mild

Buffalo Bills Country Cut - MildBuffalo Bills Beef Jerky is a brand that's been around since 1990, produced by a company called Choo Choo R Snacks, Inc, of Lebanon, PA. The company was established by five independent snack food distributors.

Their "Country Cut" line of beef jerky represents the brand's answer to the soft and tender jerky that the industry has been pushing towards women and elderly consumers. In addition to this Mild variety, it also includes a Spicy variety, as well as Teriyaki, Barbecue, and Honey Pepper.

The company also makes a "Western Cut" variety under the same brand, representing the more traditional dry and thin cut jerky. They also make meat sticks and candies.

Ingredients

Beef, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, paprika, spices, garlic, sodium nitrite.

Taste

There's a strong smoky flavor that comes out right away in this, even though the package doesn't state liquid smoke. I can sense some sweetness, a good amount of saltiness, the garlic, and the natural meat flavors.

While this variety is advertised as "mild", it's certainly packed with flavor. I'd say a lot of that taste is salt. The saltiness isn't that bad after eating the first couple of ounces, but later into the package it wears on me. There seems to be plenty of other flavors in this that my attention is evenly divided by them all, but over time, the saltiness dominates.

That sweetness I described is not strong, but just enough to make itself known, mostly upon first putting a piece into my mouth.

I can see tiny specks of black on these pieces, which looks to be black pepper. These pieces do give off a peppery aftertaste that builds up over several pieces.

The natural meat flavors is something I notice after all the flavors have made their exit. I mostly have to chew a piece, and extract out the juices to find it. It's not a strong meat flavor, but enough to make itself known.

This variety also has that same barbecue aroma and taste that the Spicy and Honey & Pepper varieties have. I think the garlic and slight sweetness helps establish this flavor.

Overall, this is a very tasty jerky. It actually tastes very much like the Spicy variety, just a lot less spicy. The taste that seems to last throughout the chew is the saltiness and the garlic.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be cuts of real meat, sliced into medium and thick thickness, and in small to medium sized pieces.

This is a semi-moist variety. For the most part its very easy to tear apart and chew. I did find some pieces that were just "easy" as opposed to "very easy". Overall, this jerky offers no resistance to veteran meat snackers.

I did find small bits of chewy tendon or membrane of some type, but nothing out of the ordinary, and no gristle at all. Some pieces did have bits of fat.

Overall, the meat consistency in this review sample is very good, offering no distraction to my snacking enjoyment.

Buffalo Bills Country Cut - Mild

Buffalo Bills Country Cut - Mild
Product Value

Choo Choo R Snacks sells this Country Cut Mild variety from its website at a price of $5.49 for a 3.5oz package. That works out to $1.57 per oz, putting this into the average price range.

I'd consider this a pretty good buy. For general jerky snacking purposes, it's very flavorful, easy to eat, and is quite snackable.

As a mild variety, it's strong on flavor, but not hot at all. I think "mild" is a good way to put this. People who can't stand spicy foods might actually see this as having a spicy kick, however. There is indeed a faint spiciness that lingers in my mouth, but offering no burn.

Rating

Buffalo Bills Country Cut - MildI'm giving this a good rating.

While this variety advertises itself as "Mild", it's actually packed with flavor; it's just not going to burn your tongue. It has a complexity of flavors between the sweetness, saltiness, smokiness, garlic, black pepper, and natural meat flavors that lasts throughout the chew, all in an easy to eat jerky.

But while it's flavorful, it's still the saltiness that eventually takes center stage after having eaten several pieces. I keep finding myself taking a swig of water in between pieces.

But the complexity of tastes and the easy-to-eat consistency, still makes this very snackable and hard to resist. You'll just want to keep a bottle of water handy to relieve that saltiness.

Rating: Good

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