Longview Beef Jerky - Canadian Maple

Next in the series on Longview Beef Jerky is this Canadian Maple variety. See my previous reviews of their Original and Sweet Chili beef jerky.

Longview Beef Jerky is a Canadian brand of jerky manufactured by Longview Meat & Merchandise Ltd., based out of Longview, Alberta. They've been making jerky for the past 30 years using Canada-raised cattle.

This Canadian Maple beef jerky is perhaps their signature variety, made using real Canadian Maple syrup.

Ingredients

Beef, spices (spices, mustard), brown sugar, water, maple concentrate, canadian maple syrup, prague powder (salt, sodium nitrite), sodium erythorbate.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a heavy sweet and a maple syrup flavor. A fair amount of saltiness comes in next, and then I can pick up an onion flavor.

The chewing flavor starts with more definition from the maple syrup, along with a little bit of tanginess. The onion flavor seems to increase as well, as does the saltiness.

For being labeled as a Canadian Maple variety of beef jerky, it does have a well-noticed maple syrup flavor. First there's a heavy sweet flavor noticeable on the surface, but the maple flavor becomes more defined in the chewing. I'm not sure if there's a big difference between Canadian maple syrup and other maple syrups, but it tastes like maple syrup to me.

But that Canadian Maple flavor is short-lived, wearing off quickly after the first few chews.

After that the onion flavor comes in strong and defines the overall flavor of this jerky. I know that onion is not specificially mentioned in the ingredients, and may be the product of another ingredient, or combination thereof, but it has a definite onion flavor.

The mustard listed in the ingredients is not really noticeable on its own.

The level of saltiness in this seems moderate, or a touch above moderate.

I don't taste any natural meat flavors.

Overall, what you're going to notice is a heavy sweet flavor upon putting a piece into your mouth, and a maple syrup flavor in the first few chews. After that it's a stronger onion flavor and moderate saltiness.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced to a medium thickness, and in small to medium sized pieces.

This is a semi-moist jerky with a wet, sticky surface feel. There's a good deal of flexibility in these pieces, bending almost all the way around without cracking. Tearing pieces apart with my fingers seems to easy to do. Chewing is also very easy.

The chewing texture starts out feeling soft and tender, with no chewing resistance. It seems to break down and chew down to a soft mass quite easily and quickly. At that point, it has a steak-like feel, but more soft, perhaps slightly mushy.

These pieces have some visible streaks of fat in them. I also found some gristle in these pieces that resulted in some unchewable wads of tissue. And even the pieces with no gristle, I still encountered some stringiness.

In terms of clean eating, my fingertips pick up a lot of stickiness that requires a licking and wiping before touching my keyboard. I didn't find any fragments of meat flying off as I tore pieces.




Snack Value

Longview Beef Jerky retails for $5.98 Canadian Dollars in most stores throughout Canada, in a 80g (2.82oz) package. Under current US exchange rates, that's pretty much the same in US Dollars. That works out to $2.12 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.12 per ounce price, it seems to provide a weak value. I'm getting a low amount of snackability for a satisfactory overall flavor with a sticky, mushy, stringy chewing texture. That price is slightly higher than what you'd pay for major brands of jerky in grocery stores, but yet offers a similar or slightly lesser snackability.

As a Canadian Maple variety of beef jerky, at the same $2.12 price per ounce, it's a decent value. I do get a maple syrup flavor in the initial chewing, but it wears off quickly and is too soon replaced by an onion and salt flavor.

Rating

I'm giving this a fair rating.

This Canadian Maple variety from Longview Beef Jerky offers a well-noticed and tasty maple syrup flavor with an expected heavy sweetness. But that maple is short-lived, lasting only through the first few chews. After that it's a stronger onion seasoning flavor with a moderate saltiness. And because the maple flavor is short-lived it's hard to enjoy this as a Canadian Maple beef jerky.

I don't taste any natural meat flavors, despite the reverse side of the package saying, "Great Steak Taste". And the chewing texture is lackluster, having a steak-like chewing, but on the mushy side. The pieces are also rather sticky.

And because the sweet maple flavor wears off quickly, this jerky's flavor becomes rather monotonous with largely just an onion seasoning flavor and little else. It's difficult to maintain snackability.

My recommended beer pairing, go with something refreshing to quench the saltiness, and light on body to cut through the heavy initial sweet. Try a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, or the Samuel Adams Nobel Pils.

Rating: Fair

Buy this online:

• http://www.longviewjerky.com/