Thursday, May 28, 2009

Alien Fresh Jerky - Ahi Tuna Jerky

Alien Fresh Jerky - Ahi Tuna JerkyNext in the series on Alien Fresh Jerky is this Ahi Tuna Jerky. See my previous reviews on Alien Fresh Jerky.

This is my first Ahi Tuna Jerky, so I have little to compare with. I did a couple of salmon jerky brands, and even a clam jerky, so I'm eager to get more seafood jerky on this blog.

Alien Fresh Jerky is a brand of The Ramallos Corporation, based out of Las Vegas, NV, but sells their jerky through their famous store in Baker, CA, (at least famous to Southern Californians on their way up to Las Vegas). This particular ahi tuna jerky was produced by TM Jerky & Processing based out of Monrovia, CA. TM Jerky private labels jerky for a wide variety of brands.

Ingredients

Ahi Tuna, teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, water, seasoning (salt, sugar, brown sugar, maple sugar, sodium nitrite), spices.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a fishy flavor, followed quickly by a smoky flavor, and then a slight sweet. With some sucking, I get a light soy sauce flavor, and some saltiness. Overall the flavor intensity on the surface is very light.

In the chewing, the first thing I notice is some more smokiness, then a light meat flavor, and a bit more saltiness.

As far as this tasting like tuna, it seems to vary from piece to piece. The first piece I had came with very little meat flavor. The second piece I had provided more meat flavor. It definitely has a tuna fish flavor, however, as well as a tuna fish smell. Some pieces have a darker colored edges or ends, and I found a more intense "fishy" flavor.

But as far as other flavors are concerned, they're quite light. There's that sweetness off the surface, but is quickly gone once I get into the chewing. The smokiness is also light, but seems to remain throughout the chewing.

The salt intensity remains light throughout eating this. Even after eating several pieces, the salt intensity doesn't really build much.

The primary flavor you're going to get out of this is the tuna meat flavor, with some pieces having a light flavor, and others being moderate in flavor. If anything else, you'll notice a bit of sweet initially, and a light saltiness throughout. Overall, the jerky has a light flavor intensity.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, sliced to a medium-to-thick thickness, and in medium sized pieces.

It seems to be a dry jerky, but it feels like there's enough moisture in this that you could argue it's semi-moist. Tearing pieces apart with my fingers is easy to do, and the chewing is also easy.

The chewing texture starts out feeling stiff yet flexible, but easily breaks apart with some sucking and light biting. It actually becomes somewhat crumbly at first, but as the meat hydrates it meshes together like a piece of cooked tuna meat.

It's nowhere near being soft and moist like a chunk of fresh cooked tuna, instead it's very much like beef jerky, chewy, dry, but having a fish-like chewing texture.

I found no bones, no chunks of fat, no pieces of skin. It seems to be all meat.

It's also pretty clean eating. My fingers don't really pick up any stickiness, and only a slight fishy smell. Tearing pieces apart don't cause any meat fragments to fall off.




Snack Value

I bought this Ahi Tuna Jerky from the Alien Fresh Jerky store in Baker, CA. Each 4oz bag is priced at $8.00. However, they have a deal where you buy three bags for $20.00, and I bought six bags (each a different variety) total for $40.00. That works out to a price of $1.67 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $1.67 price per ounce, it seems to provide a fair value. I'm getting an average amount of snackability, mostly because it has a decent flavor, a good chewing texture as far as tuna is concerned, and it's easy to eat. The $1.67 price is right in the ballpark with most mass-market jerky, and I think you'll get an equal amount of satisfaction and snackability in return.

As an Ahi Tuna jerky, at the same $1.67 price per ounce, I think it provides a good value. I do get the flavor of tuna in this, with some pieces having a light flavor, and others stronger. It offers a chewing texture that feels like eating tuna, albeit in a dry jerky form, and considering it's pretty clean eating as far as fish goes, I think it's something extra to consider.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Ahi Tuna jerky from Alien Fresh Jerky seems to provide a moderate amount of tuna fish flavor, and a good tuna fish chewing texture, in an easy to eat jerky form.

But I actually found it to be somewhat bland. Aside from a decent tuna flavor, there's little other flavor to enjoy. Aside from the light sweetness, light salitness, and light smokiness, there's nothing in this to spicen up that tuna meat flavor. I'd like to get more black pepper, more garlic, some cayenne pepper maybe, to make that meat flavor more interesting.

Being that this is the first Ahi Tuna jerky I've had, I have little else to compare with, and Alien Fresh Jerky benefits from that. But in trying to be as objective as possible, it still seems to be a good jerky as far as Ahi Tuna jerky goes.

Rating: Good (4/5)

1 comment:

  1. This was the first time i had ever seen tuna jerky. Picked it up on the way to Vegas to try it out. I really enjoyed it and picked some more up on the way back. I was driking new castle while eating it. Good stuff.

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