Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Buffalo Bills Country Cut - Spicy

Buffalo Bills Country Cut - SpicyBuffalo Bills is a brand of beef jerky made by Choo Choo R Snacks, Inc., based out of Lebanon, PA. The company has been in business since 1990, and makes a full slate of meat snacks and candies.

In 2007, the company was named by Inc. Magazine as being one of the top 5,000 fastest growing companies in the USA. Considering that all of their jerky varieties have rated either "best" or "good" on this blog is perhaps a good reason why.

The Country Cut line represents the company's "soft and tender" variety, which has grown to become a popular way for women and elderly consumers to enjoy jerky, particularly since the low-carb dieting craze took off.

The Choo Choo R Snacks Inc. also makes a Western Cut line of thin-cut, dry jerky, and a premium line, along with meat sticks, and candies.

Ingredients

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

Taste

There is a sweetness evident upon putting the first piece into my mouth, followed by a taste that's similar to BBQ sauce. The saltiness comes along after that, followed by the spiciness, and ending with the natural meat flavors.

The sweetness I described is subtle. It's probably only noticeable immediately putting in a piece.

The BBQ sauce taste is something I noticed on this brand's Honey Pepper variety also.

There is also a noticeable garlic taste in this, which I think contributes to the BBQ sauce quality that I described above.

This is definitely a salty jerky. The other flavors in this do a pretty good job of taking your attention away from the saltiness, but over the course of eating several pieces, my tongue lets me know that it needs a soothing splash of drink.

As for this being a spicy jerky? Well, technically it is spicy in that I can feel a hotness on the back of my throat and tongue, but this isn't hot by any means. I'd rate this as "mild medium", while lesser experienced tongues might see this as "medium". It's probably correct that this variety is labeled as "spicy" as opposed to "hot".

I can also see several tiny flecks of black in these suggesting black pepper, even though I don't particularly taste black pepper. The black pepper is likely what contributes to the overall spiciness.

I can also see some chile pepper pieces and seeds on these pieces. I can taste the unique flavor of chile pepper in small amounts, but it's mostly the mild-to-medium burn that I notice the most.

Interestingly, Chile Pepper Magazine rated this Spicy variety from Buffalo Bills as being among the top 10 most spiciest jerkies in the United States. Again, perhaps they're making a distinction between "spicy" and "hot". But either way, I think the folks at Chile Pepper Magazine were working with a small sample of brands. I've had many other brands and varieties spicier than this, and hotter than this.

The natural meat flavors in this is something I notice after chewing and extracting out the juices, mostly due to the other flavors dominating this jerky.

Overall this jerky offers a lot of flavors to enjoy, with that BBQ-like taste, garlic, salt, natural meat flavors, a bit of that chile pepper taste, and slight burning sensation in my mouth.

Meat Consistency

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

This is a semi-moist variety. The pieces tear apart easily, and they chew easily. As a soft and tender variety, I found that this does live up to that description for the most part. I did find a couple pieces that were not as soft and tender as the rest.

I didn't find any bits of tendon or gristle, and only a scant showing of fat on some pieces.

These pieces also leave a layer of oil on my fingers, requiring some wiping or finger licking.

Overall, this variety has a great meat consistency, being easy to tear apart and chew, and offering nothing in the way of tendon or gristle.

Buffalo Bills Country Cut - Spicy

Buffalo Bills Country Cut - Spicy
Product Value

Choo Choo R Snacks sells this Country Cut Spicy 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 see this as a great value. For being average priced, it offers a lot of taste and flavor that lasts throughout the chew, in an easy to eat meat consistency. For snacking purposes, this is a great snack for your money.

As a "spicy" variety, I think it definitely is spicy, in technical terms. I just wouldn't rate this as hot. If you're someone who loves spicy jerky, I think you'll love the taste, but you might feel short-changed on the hotness.

Rating

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

This Country Cut Spicy variety from Buffalo Bills has a great taste combination of natural meat flavors, garlic, salt, the spicy kick of chile pepper, and a taste that almost resembles BBQ. And being a soft and tender variety, it's very easy to eat. That's make this very snackable.

But I find this as being too salty. It actually has less sodium than the brand's Honey Pepper variety I reviewed earlier, which I assigned a best rating to, but for whatever reasons, the saltiness is much more noticeable in this Spicy variety.

I'd also prefer to see more chile pepper seasoning in this. When I see a beef jerky advertised as "spicy", I tend to assume that it's hot.

Otherwise, this jerky still has a great taste, and a meat consistency that lets me enjoy the flavors without distraction. I could eat more of this.

Rating: Good

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