Friday, July 11, 2008

Enjoy Beef Jerky - Hot

Enjoy Beef Jerky - HotEnjoy Foods International is a business that has been making meat snacks since 1971 under the "Enjoy" brand.

In 2000 & 2001 it hit financial difficulty and eventually fell into the hands of a receivership. Today, it continues to operate under Saab Enterprises, which does business as "Enjoy Foods International". Saab makes the jerky themselves in their own meat processing unit, and also produces the "Hickory's Best" brand.

The Enjoy brand can be found in select convenience stores and markets in rural areas, as well as in large urban areas within such stores like Sam's Club, Smart & Final, and Food 4 Less.

It's also made without preservatives.

Ingredients

Beef, teriyaki sauce, spices, brown sugar, garlic, liquid smoke.

Chile pepper is obviously an ingredient, being clearly visible on the pieces.

Taste

Probably first notable is the soy sauce on these pieces, with its accompanying saltiness. I know the ingredients list says teriyaki sauce, but tastes more like soy sauce. The chile pepper makes itself known pretty soon after. I can also sense the liquid smoke additive very quickly too. There is also a sweetness found on the surface of these pieces, but not detected during the chew.

I can detect the natural meat taste to a moderate degree, and for being preservative free, this does have a slighty stale, slightly rank taste. The meat tastes like it's just starting to turn.

As for being a "hot" variety, this definitely has a spicy kick to it. My taste buds are wanting to call this "medium", but I can understand someone else wanting to call it "hot".

This is probably too salty for my preference, I don't necessarily get a salt-scorch from these pieces, but it's salty enough that it seems to take over the other flavors.

The flavor doesn't last very long throughout the chew, however.

Overall, it's a good taste. You really can't go wrong with soy sauce, some sugar, a little garlic, and a dousing of chile pepper. The meat ought to have a fresher taste, though.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be real cuts of meat, sliced thin, and in small pieces. Note that I bought the 1oz bag, which doesn't leave much room for large pieces. If I had a larger bag, I could probably get a better sense of the taste and meat consistency.

The company says they use only top and bottom rounds.

This is a dry jerky, one that retains a flexibility. Being that it's sliced pretty thin, it's fairly easy to eat. It has a consistency that if sliced more thick, it would become very difficult to eat.

Because this jerky is cut into small bite-sizes, some pieces don't contain any visible bits of chile pepper, and don't offer much hot taste.

I did find some bits of tendon, but no gristle, and very little fat.

Overall, the meat consistency in this tiny 1oz bag provides for a good beef jerky experience. Perhaps a larger bag with bigger pieces would give me better information.

Enjoy Beef Jerky - Hot

Enjoy Beef Jerky - Hot

Product Value

I paid $1.99 for this 1oz bag at the Pine Mountain General Store in Pine Mountain Club, CA. That's right on the border between average and expensive. If you bought this from Enjoy's website, you can get the 1oz bag for $1.48, and you can get it cheaper per ounce if you buy it in larger bags.

But for what I paid, I'd say that it offers "so-so" value in enjoyment. For that price, you're not getting a great jerky. You'd have to buy the larger 3.65oz bag to push the price down to about $1.35 per ounce, and then you'd have a good value.

As a hot variety, it lives up to that billing, though not very hot. I could stand to get some more chile pepper seasoning, however. People who don't care much for hot foods, usually don't buy something labeled, "hot". So then, why do companies continue to label something as hot, and only make it somewhat hot? If only hot food lovers buy hot foods, then obviously they have the tolerance for something hotter.

Rating

I'm giving this an average rating.

It has a great snackability as a general purpose jerky, and general purpose snack food. But nothing else stood out as being exceptional. The taste was good, but not necessarily remarkable compared against the other jerkies I've had. I found it on the salty side, and the natural meat flavors have a slightly stale taste.

However, this is the kind of jerky that would do well to satisfy your snacking habits while performing other tasks, like driving, typing away, or watching a movie. The meat consistency in these small pieces offers little to detract your attention. If you can buy this in a larger sized bag, it might be cheap enough to warrant such use.

Rating: Average

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1 comment:

  1. Thanks for your effort to educate all of us on our quest for the best beef jerky knowledge. I would like to inform you of what appears to be a change in Enjoy Premium hot Beef Jerky Ingredients VS what is listed on your site. You state on your web site the following ingrediants are:
    Beef, teriyaki sauce, spices, brown sugar, garlic, liquid smoke. I recently purchased 2 8 OZ. packages from their web site. The currant ingrediants are as follows: Beef,Teriyaki Sauce (Soy Sauce, [water,wheat,soybeans, salt] Wine, Sugar, Water, Vinegar, Salt, Onion Powder, Spices, Succinic Acid, Garlic Powder), Spices, Brown Sugar, Garlic, Liquid Smoke. This new recipies doesn't taste the same to me as the "old Enjoy" too sweet and moist.
    Regards, Ed

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