Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Hawaiian Jerky Co - Pineapple Jerky

Hawaiian Jerky Co - Pineapple JerkyWhen I saw this package of pineapple jerky, I wasn't sure what to think or say about it. As someone who loves meat snacks, this dried slice of pineapple resembled something akin to a layer of plywood. But I thought to myself that no one is going to launch a business around something if it ain't at least good.

Hawaiian Jerky Co. was founded in May 2008, by Brian Dunhke who had spent time interning at a couple of resorts on the big island of Hawaii during his college years. After graduating, he returned to Hawaii and took up permanent residence on Maui. The inspiration for his pineapple jerky came from a friend who had lived in Hawaii since the 1970s, and recalled how he would buy up dried pineapple as a way to get a quick burst of energy while surfing. He called it "Hawaiian Jerky".

The company claims this pineapple jerky is differentiated from "dehydrated pineapple" because it contains no aspartame, no sugars, and no sulfur dioxide. It does contain added honey, however.

Ingredients

Pineapple, honey.

Taste

The taste off the surface is a strong pineapple taste, and a very sweet honey taste at that. It's more of the same during the chew, but with more concentrated pineapple taste.

It's not tart like any of the other dehydrated pineapple products out there. It's more smooth and mellow. I think the added honey is a great touch to this, it has a clear honey flavor, not just a sugar flavor.

It also retains a fresh taste, I don't get any sense of this being stale or beyond ripe.

Otherwise, there's not much else to say on the flavor, but that you'll get a great taste of pineapple in this, boosted by some honey.

Meat Consistency

Despite this having a woody appearance, it doesn't feel that way at all. It's somewhat soft, and chews similar to those "Fruit Roll-Ups", but retaining some of the texture of pineapple. I get small pieces of pineapple stuck in the recesses of my teeth.

These are sliced very thin. The edges are more thick, hence the photos below may not give you a true sense of how thin these are. Overall, a bite from this pineapple jerky still provides a chewiness that will satisfy a meat snacker's need to chew.

The core (in the middle) is more hard, but I was still able to chew it. I think there's more tangy flavor in it as well. The company warns consumers not to eat it, but I think it's just there as a liability statement.

There's also a slight stickiness on the surface.

Hawaiian Jerky Co - Pineapple Jerky

Hawaiian Jerky Co - Pineapple Jerky
Product Value

Jerky.com sells this pineapple jerky from its website at a price of $12.49 for a 4 ounce package. That works out to a price of $3.12 per ounce, making this an expensive buy. Keep in mind that price also includes the shipping.

For general jerky snacking purposes, it's definitely snackworthy and it does satisfies a need to chew. But the price of $3.12 per ounce might prevent someone from making this a part of their daily snacking regimen.

As a pineapple jerky, it's offers a decent value with its sweet pineapple taste. Again, the high price begs someone to question if having a piece of dried pineapple that comes free of preservatives is worth paying so much more money than regular dried pineapple.

Rating

I'm giving this a best rating.

This pineapple jerky from Hawaiian Jerky presents a strong, fresh, pineapple taste in a dried fruit product, boosted with a bit of honey. It actually provides a chewing experience that perhaps qualifies the "jerky" name. Together, it's very snackable.

The simplicity in taste might suggest some level of monotony, and it might if I were to continue eating more and more. But the taste of pineapple is another one that I happen to enjoy a lot, and after eating four slices of this stuff, I still want to eat more.

It actually pairs up nicely with beef jerky, especially spicy stuff. After a few ounces of beef jerky, this pineapple jerky provides a sweet contrast that soothes a salted tongue.

A very light tasting beer would go well with this, like a blonde ale.

Rating: Best

Buy this online:

6 comments:

  1. Aparantly Steve has an inordinate amount of time to eat jerky. The evidence: (1) Steve's eats jerky; (2)Steve puts down vegetarianism; and (3)Steve eats more jerky and even found a site to be the sole contributor of jerky-tasting feedback. Awesome. Get a life Steve.

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  2. Thanks Anonymous, I'm enjoying my life right now!

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  3. Thanks to you, Steve, I ordered this awesome Pineapple, based on your review, for my jerky business. Brian, the owner of HJC, is such a pleasure to work with. Everyone who has tried it absolutely loves it! This simple, healthy, uniquely different jerky is WOWing my customers.

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  4. Sounds good, though the claims from the Hawaiian Jerky company are BS. If you take a slice of pineapple and dehydrate it, it won't have any damn aspartame in it. Why in the world would it? And this has no sugar in it? So they've de-sugarized the pineapple and the honey? Sounds pretty much impossible.

    This is dehydrated pineapple. If you like it, buy one of those RonCo food dehydrators and make you own.

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  5. Dear, anonymous,
    There is no claim by the company there is Aspartame in it. That is an added component. This is all natural, adding raw honey drizzle to complement the Maui Pineapple, which happens to be the best quality in the world, hands down! It sounds like you haven't smelled it, nor tasted it. There is no claim by the company that it is sugarless, just no addeded sugar. Take time to read thoroughly, it would help you a lot. Try it before you make comments. Let me know how your dehydrated pineapple tastes.

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  6. did they go out of business or something?

    i found an outdated facebook page for them but their website appears to have vanished.

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