Monday, February 22, 2010

McDonald's Meats - Cajun Smokey Dried Beef Strips

mcdonald's meats beef jerkyNext in the series on McDonald's Meats are these Cajun Smokey Dried Beef Strips. See my previous reviews of their Original Beef Jerky, and Original Smokey Dried Beef Strips.

McDonald's Meats is a full service butcher shop in Clear Lake, MN, in operation since 1914. It was actually in operation before then, but under a different name. The business was handed down from father to son to grandson. The company offers 22 varieties of jerky, smoked over real wood, and made in their own USDA inspected facility.

I found their beef strips tend to be better than their beef jerky in that they seem to have a stronger, and even smokier meat flavor. It's also easier to eat in that you just bite off a chunk, instead of ripping a slab apart.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

House of Jerky - Turkey Black Pepper

house of jerkyI've never been a big fan of turkey jerky, but since there's a lot more of it coming out these days, it's hard not to notice new brands and varieties. And since black pepper jerky is a favorite of mine, it's something I always have to try when I see it.

So with this black pepper turkey variety from House of Jerky, I was very intrigued since "the House" has rated so well with me on this blog on their beef jerkies.

House of Jerky is a husband and wife manufacturer of gourmet jerky, based in Evansville, IN. After having done Google searches for their brand, and read the many reviews and articles on this company, it's clear they have earned a great deal of respect among the meat snack afficionados of this country.

Interestingly, you won't find their products in any major retail outlets, only in small jerky shops and road side jerky stands.

Friday, February 19, 2010

Mountain Ranch Jerky - Mountain Peppered

mountain ranch beef jerkyNext in the series on Mountain Ranch Jerky is this Mountain Peppered Beef Jerky. See my previous review of their Original Beef Jerky.

Mountain Ranch Jerky is a brand of Mountain Ranch Smokehouse located in Fruitland, UT. The company is mostly known for its jerky products, but also smokes hams and turkeys, and makes meat sticks too. They also have a restaurant where you can get yourself a burger or steak.

According to the company, this "Mountain Peppered" beef jerky is their signature seller. It's different from the company's "Original Peppered" beef jerky, in that this Mountain variety includes sugar, and leaves out the onion powder.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Liberty Jerky - Garlic

liberty beef jerkyNext up in the series on Liberty Jerky is this Garlic beef jerky. See my previous review of their Original beef jerky.

Based in Lincoln, CA, Liberty Jerky is one of the newest brands of beef jerky to hit the market, having opened business in November 2009. It's owned by the husband and wife team of Bill and Mary Ann Browne, who have been making beef jerky for over 20 years. Friends and family members liked their jerky so much, that they finally pulled the trigger on starting their own business.

All of Liberty Jerky's flavors seem to revolve around a worcestershire marinated meat, with Montreal steak seasoning. This Garlic variety appears to have the same base, but perhaps adding more garlic.

Ingredients

Beef, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, Montreal steak seasoning (salt, spices [including black pepper, and red pepper], garlic, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, natural flavor, and extractives of paprika), garlic, red pepper.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a light worcestershire flavor, with a fair amount of garlic flavor. There are some bursts of seasoning primarily coriander seed, and a light saltiness.

The chewing flavor starts with a bit more definition from the worcestershire sauce. I can feel a slight spicy tingle in the back of my mouth, and can taste some more of the seasoning.

For being labeled a Garlic beef jerky, it seems to stand up well to that description. I can taste a strong garlic flavor, well more than Liberty's Original variety.

But I still think the most noticeable flavor is the worcestershire sauce, though the garlic is a close second. The worcestershire seems to sit center on my tongue, while the garlic covers the rest of my palate.

The steak seasoning in this shows up a lot as a black pepper flavor, with a fair amount of black pepper aftertaste. But here and there I can get bursts of coriander seed, and sometimes dill, that seem to overpower everything else.

The natural meat flavors are faint, and barely noticeable. Some of these pieces have small streaks of fat that give off a faint fatty flavor, enough to add a more "beefy" flavor.

The level of saltiness seems moderate, though the steak seasoning can make it feel more salty than it really is.

There's a slight bit of heat in this due to the red pepper. I still see this as mild on my hot scale, but someone with less tolerance might find this having a medium amount of heat.

Overall, what you're going to taste in this is the worcestershire marinade, but with a fair amount of garlic flavor mixed in. The steak seasoning shows up mostly as black pepper with bursts of coriander seed and dill.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced to a medium thickness, and in strips of ranging from three to six inches long.

This is a dry jerky with a dry, woody feel. They have a slight bit of flexibility, but any amount of bending will make these pieces tear apart. Tearing pieces apart with my fingers seems easy to do, and ease of chewing ranges between easy to moderate.

The chewing texture starts out feeling coarse and woody, but easily bends and compacts as I chew down. It seems to reduce down to a soft mass in about 15 seconds, and at that point it feels just like a piece of steak, comparable to one cooked well-done.

I can see some small streaks of fat on these pieces, but don't really see any tendon or gristle. While chewing, I do get a fair amount of stringiness, and sometimes I'll end up with a small wad of unchewable tissue.

In terms of clean eating, there's no residue left on my fingertips while handling this jerky, but biting off chunks does cause a fair amount of meat fragments and seasoning to fly off on my lap.

beef jerky

beef jerky
Snack Value

Liberty Jerky sells this Garlic variety from its website at a price of $5.99 for a 3.5oz bag. Shipping costs from Lincoln, CA to Menifee, CA for five of these bags is $5.70, for a total cost of $35.65. That works out to a price of $2.04 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.04 price per ounce, this seems to provide a good value. I'm finding a lot of snackability for its excellent flavor, good meat consistency and great chewing texture. That $2.04 price per ounce is only slightly higher than you'd pay at the grocery store for a Jack Link's or Oberto, but yet you're getting far better flavor and consistency.

As a Garlic beef jerky, at the same $2.04 price per ounce, it's also a good value. I do taste a good deal of garlic in this jerky, more so than Liberty's Original variety. If you're buying this specifically for the garlic flavor, I think you'll be satisfied.

Rating

beef jerky nutritionI'm giving this a best rating.

This Garlic beef jerky from Liberty Jerky is comparable to Liberty's Original variety, but with more garlic flavor. The extra layer of garlic gives this jerky enough of a pop that it seems to wake up my senses when I put a piece into my mouth, and keeps my interest at a high level.

The overall sense I get with this jerky is like eating a grilled, marinated and seasoned steak. I get that black pepper flavor, with bursts of coriander seed and dill, and the taste of worcestershire gives it that steak-sauce flavor. It even has a steak-like chewing texture, but still a little chewy like you'd expect jerky to be.

There's actually a lot of jerky brands that rely on worcestershire and steak seasoning, but the additional layer of garlic gives this particular jerky that extra flavor dimension to rise above the rest. I actually think this Garlic variety ought to be Liberty's original jerky.

As for my recommended beer pairing, I'd still go with a porter, like Stone Smoked Porter, or a Deschutes Black Butte Porter.

Rating: Best

Buy this online:

Monday, February 15, 2010

Mark's Meat Co. - Lemongrass Teriyaki

mark's meat co.Mark's Meat Co. is a new beef jerky brand having launched this year. It's based out of Carmichael, CA, and is the creation of two friends, Mark and Chris.

Mark had been making jerky for about six years, when he had Chris try some of it out. Chris was quite impressed, enough so that he encouraged Mark to launch a business. Now the two are business partners.

This "Lemongrass Teriyaki" beef jerky is described as using lemongrass to add a unique asian-style citrus flavor, along with ginger and garlic.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Big Ben's Beef Jerky - Original

Ben Roethlisberger beef jerkyBig Ben's Beef Jerky features the name and likeness of Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is his own branded beef jerky.

It's actually the creation of PLB Sports, Inc., based out of Pittsburgh, PA. They own several lines of snack foods with sports celebrities on them. They're the ones who own "Flutie Flakes", and have since expanded to several more sports heroes, including Ed McCaffrey's Dijon Mustard, Dustin Pedroia Black Bean Salsa, and John Elway's Comeback Crunch.

Big Ben's Beef Jerky is made by Mirab USA, who makes private labeled jerky for hundreds of brands, including the Tony Stewart's Beef Jerky I reviewed earlier.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Jerk Nation - Original Spicy

jerk nationJerk Nation is a new beef jerky brand launching just last month. It's owned by Adams Gourmet, Inc. based out of Parkland, FL.

It's the first to incorporate the "shake & season" concept, where the beef jerky comes with a seasoning packet. You tear open the packet, pour the seasoning into the bag, seal it, and shake. The result is a seasoned beef jerky. The advantage is that you can control how much seasoning to put on, or perhaps enhance it with your own kitchen seasonings.

The jerky is manufactured by Magnolia Provision based out of Knoxville, TN, who makes the Smoky Mountain brand. I've reviewed a couple of their flavors on this site, and awarded one of them with a five-star rating, but that was based on their own unique blend of flavorings.

Jerk Nation offers four flavors which I'll be reviewing separately over the next few weeks. Adam Ramati, who created Jerk Nation, says he's working on more flavors right now.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Samak Smoke House - Spicy Chipotle Beef Jerky

samak smoke house jerkyNext in the series on Samak Smoke House is this Spicy Chipotle Beef Jerky. See my previous review of their All Natural Beef Jerky.

Samak Smoke House is a smoke house and country store located in Kamas, UT. It's a mom & pop business run by an actual mom and pop, Jen Hisey and David Witham. The couple makes jerky in their own USDA inspected facility, smoking them over cherry wood chips. They also smoke salmon, trout, buffalo, and deer.

Samak Smoke House offers two lines of jerky, this black package, which is their "all natural" line, and a tan package, which is their regular jerky.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

McDonald's Meats - Smokey Dried Beef Strips

mcdonald's meat smokey dried beef stripsNext in the series on McDonald's Meats are these Smokey Dried Beef Strips. See my previous review of their Original Beef Jerky.

McDonald's Meats is a full service butcher shop in Clear Lake, MN, in operation since 1914. It was actually in operation before then, but under a different name. The business was handed down from father to son to grandson. The company offers 22 varieties of jerky, smoked over real wood, and made in their own USDA inspected facility.

These beef strips are different from their beef jerky due to the cut of the meat of course. But the ingredients are the same as the beef jerky I reviewed early. However, the different cut of meat can also alter the flavor of the meat, as well as the consistency & texture.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Liberty Jerky - Original

liberty jerkyLiberty Jerky is one of the newest brands of beef jerky to hit the market, having opened business in November 2009. The company is based in Lincoln, CA.

It's owned by the husband and wife team of Bill and Mary Ann Browne, who have been making beef jerky for over 20 years. Friends and family members liked their jerky so much, that they finally pulled the trigger on starting their own business.

The name "Liberty Jerky" comes from Bill's middle name, "Liberty", a name that traces back through family history to an old ancestor named Liberty Browne who was born in July 1776, the time when the United States declared its independence. Since then, descendants have been named Liberty, either as a first or middle name.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Insane Jerky - Spicy Beef Jerky

insane jerkyNext in the series on Insane Jerky (and the last until they come out with more varieties), is this Spicy Beef Jerky. See my previous reviews of their Sweet & Spicy, Jamaican Style, and Original varieties.

Insane Jerky focuses on "halal certified" foods, which is the muslim equivalent of kosher. There's a special way the animal is slaughtered, with the blood being drained more thoroughly. I'm told that alters the flavor of the beef.

Note: I had previously reviewed this Spicy Beef Jerky last September, and gave it an "average" rating (read that review here). Since then, the company switched meat processors and revised their recipe, producing a more moist, more flavorful jerky.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Mountain Ranch Jerky - Original Beef

mountain ranch jerkyMountain Ranch Jerky is a brand of Mountain Ranch Smokehouse located in Fruitland, UT.

The company is mostly known for its jerky products, but also smokes hams and turkeys, and makes meat sticks too. They also have a restaurant where you can get yourself a burger or steak.

Mountain Ranch claims that all their jerky is cut by hand, and smoked over real mesquite wood. They make jerky in their own USDA inspected facility.

This Original beef jerky is just one of six flavors that Mountain Ranch Smokehouse offers, and I'll be reviewing each one throughout this month.