Just Smoked Salmon is a brand name of Wright Distributing, Inc., based out of Port Angeles, WA.
The company started out in 1999 focusing on distributing smoked salmon products but has since expanded to include other seafood including tuna, clams, trout, oysters, and others.
While this package is labeled "Teriyaki Jerky", I can't tell if it was truly meant to be a jerky, or if it's really just smoked salmon. But since it carries the "jerky" description, I sought to do a review. I also have a package of their "Candy Jerky" which I'll review later.
Cured with salt, water, sugar, dextrose, flavoring
Taste
The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a smoked salmon flavor, with a light sweet flavor, and some saltiness.
The chewing flavor starts with more smoked salmon flavor, a bit more sweet, and a bit more saltiness.
For being dubbed a "Teriyaki Jerky", it doesn't really taste like teriyaki at all. However, it does have a light sweet flavor on the surface, and even in the chewing, but that's the extent of this teriyaki jerky. That's not to say it's bad, however. For smoked salmon, it's very good. But if I bought this specifically because I wanted teriyaki flavor on smoked salmon, I'd be a little disappointed.
Otherwise, I'm getting a lot of smoked salmon flavor, in the truest sense of smoked salmon. It's very smoky, and has a good salmon flavor.
In terms of saltiness, it has a medium level intensity.
Overall, what you're going to taste in this is lots of smoked salmon flavor, with a medium level of saltiness, and just a light bit of sweet.
Meat Consistency
These are filets of whole salmon, sliced very thick, and in lengths of about five inches.
This is very moist inside, and quite wet and oily on the surface. It falls apart just like you'd expect smoked salmon to do, and very easy to chew.
It chews exactly like a piece of smoked salmon, very soft, very moist. This is not chewy at all. In fact, this is not jerky. This is just smoked salmon.
Some pieces have skin on the back, but very thin, and I can't really feel it when chewing. I found no bones, and no pieces of fat, and nothing chewy or crunchy. It's all soft, moist, lean meat.
This can be quite messy to eat. Each time I handle a piece I have to lick off the oil from my fingers and wipe on my jeans. You'll need a plate to sit these on, otherwise, the water and oil will run out of the package.
Snack Value
Just Smoked Salmon sells this Teriyaki Jerky from its website at a price of $11.96 for an 8oz package. I bought two packages, one of this Teriyaki, and their "Candy Jerky". Add to that shipping costs of $12.35, and the total came to $36.29. That works out to a price of $2.27 per ounce.
For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.27 price per ounce, it's a decent value. I'm getting a lot of snackability from this due to the great flavor of smoked salmon, though it's not really jerky, and doesn't provide the chewing that you'd expect from jerky. But compared to the mass-market jerky brands you find at the grocery store, I'm still very happy to eat this stuff.
As a Teriyaki flavored smoked salmon, at the $2.27 price per ounce, it's actually a good value. Smoked salmon sold online tends to vary from $2.50 up to $3.00 per ounce, with shipping included. I'm not an expert on smoked salmon, but I found a good flavor and consistency with this.
Rating
I'm giving this a good rating.
This "Teriyaki Jerky" from Just Smoked Salmon is not really jerky at all. It's just smoked salmon, as moist and soft as smoked salmon typically is. Actual salmon jerky should be more dry and offer more chewiness.
But on it's own merits, it's quite good. I got a lot of smoky salmon flavor, with a just the right amount of saltiness, and a light bit of sweet both on the surface and in the chewing.
It's not at all teriyaki however. I don't taste true teriyaki in this. All I really get is a light sweet, no soy sauce, no sake, no ginger.
I'm only staying away from the higher "best" rating because I don't feel it holds up to its advertised flavor of teriyaki, and it's not jerky in my opinion. Regardless, it's still great as smoked salmon goes, and seems to be a good value.
For my recommended beer pairing, I'd try going with a brown ale, like a Newcastle, or a Moose Drool.
Rating: Good
Buy this online:
Salmon jerky is popular in the health food market because there is no fat, yet heavy natural fish oils. From my experimentation, the natural fish oils and the fact that it is a flaky fish make it difficult to get a chewy jerky like texture as you would expect with other meats. I am not sure that you can overcome the fishy flavor. Seems to me that the smoked salmon flavor is the end result to look for. The point of Salmon jerky is more about the healthy snack than the chewy texture we are used to. The review is well done and I look forward to trying some Just Smoked Salmon for myself.
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