Desert Star Texas Style Brisket - Teriyaki

Next in the series on Desert Star Texas Style Brisket is this Teriyaki variety. See my previous reviews of their Sweet & Hot and Original varieties.

Desert Star is a brand of Prime Snax, Inc., based out of Salt Lake City, UT. The company makes two lines of jerky under the Desert Star brand, this Texas Style Brisket, which is a brisket cut into thin strips, and a plain Beef Jerky much like what you get with the major brands.

This "Texas Style Brisket" appears to be an homage to the success that Country Archer has had with beef brisket jerky. Stamped on the package are the words "Country Butcher™ Premium Recipe", Country Butcher is a brand owned by Country Archer. Country Archer private labels this recipe for several brands across the country.

Ingredients

Beef brisket, teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, pineapple juice, garlic powder, worcestershire sauce, honey, pepper, ginger.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a strong sweet flavor and a meaty flavor. There's a fair amount of saltiness that comes in quick, and finally the teriyaki flavor starts coming in.

The chewing flavor starts with a bit more definition from the teriyaki, largely a slight pungent taste most likely from the ginger.

For being advertised as a Teriyaki beef jerky, it seems to have a teriyaki flavor but very sweet. On the other hand, good teriyaki ought to be very sweet, however the soy sauce flavor doesn't come in well. But I do taste a light bite from the ginger, and a faint tanginess. Overall, it seems to have all the characteristics of a good teriyaki, just very sweet.

As for natural meat flavors I don't really taste much. However, I noticed one large slice that offered a well noticed flavor with some fatty mixed in. Otherwise, that meaty flavor I reported finding on the surface of these pieces don't really continue into the chewing.

The level of saltiness in this seems moderate, or slightly high. But the heavy sweetness seems to soften its impact pretty well.

There are bits of black pepper visible on this jerky and here and there I do pick up a light amount of flavor.

Overall, what you're going to notice in this jerky is a heavy sweet flavor, a well-rounded teriyaki flavor, and a good deal of saltiness. You may find a natural meat flavor in some pieces.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced thin, and in small strips. There's a good deal of small crumbled bits in the bottom of the bag.

This a semi-moist jerky overall, though some pieces are dry. Most of this jerky has a semi-moist surface feel, while some others feel dry. The drier pieces still have a lot of flexibility, bending all the way around without cracking. Tearing pieces apart is easy to do, and chewing is easy.

The chewing texture starts out feeling soft and very pliable. It doesn't take much chewing before it's rendered into a soft mass. And by that point, it doesn't feel much like real meat at all, it's kinda gummy. The drier pieces have the same soft, pliable start, and chew down just as easily, and still have a little of the gumminess, but has some meaty texture to it. Nothing in this however, chews like a steak.

There's a fair amount of fat on these pieces, being that its beef brisket, and they add more mushiness to the chewing. They also leave behind some unchewable wads of tissue. There's also a good deal of stringiness.

In terms of clean eating, it seems to be mostly clean. I get just a faint bit of residue on my fingers, but still dry enough to type on my keyboard.




Snack Value

Prime Snax sells Desert Star Texas Style Brisket beef jerky from its website at a price of $5.99 for a 3oz package. If you bought four packages, and had them mailed to Southern California, they'll tack on shipping of $5.00, for a total of $28.96. That works out to a price of $2.41 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.41 price per ounce, it seems to provide a fair value. I'm getting an average amount of snackability for its good overall flavor, but mediocre meat consistency, though easy eating. That $2.41 price per ounce is considerably higher than what you'd pay in the grocery store for a major brand of jerky, but offers a comparable snackability.

As a Teriyaki beef brisket jerky, at the same $2.41 price per ounce, it's a decent value. I do pick up a well-rounded teriyaki flavor, though a very sugary one. But I think it's a better teriyaki flavor than what you'd get from the major brands of jerky, though not necessarily an outstanding flavor.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Teriyaki variety from Desert Star Texas Style Brisket offers a good teriyaki flavor that combines the soy sauce with a sweet, tangy, and pungent characteristics, though it seems to be heavily weighted towards the sweet. It's almost like eating meat candy.

But while it's a good teriyaki it's still not anything extraordinary, just better than what you'd get from Jack Link's, Oberto, or other grocery store favorites. The meat consistency is lacking, finding a good deal of unchewable tissues and stringiness. And then it doesn't even chew like real meat, it's mushy and gummy.

However I still got the sense that it's better than the average lot of jerky brands out there. You'll get a lot of flavor in every chew, and it's easy to eat, but you'll have to love heavily sweet jerky.

My recommended beer pairing, go with something light in body but heavier on flavor, try some standard IPAs, like the Stone IPA, or the Sierra Nevada Torpedo.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://www.primesnax.com/