Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Luther's Smokehouse - Midnight Special

luther's smokehouse jerkyNext in the series on Luther's Smokehouse is this "Midnight Special". See my previous reviews of their other jerky varieties.

Midnight Special is a pork jerky, chopped and formed from smoked pork shoulder. Luther's Smokehouse offers another chopped and formed pork jerky called "Cowboy Pocket Food" which I'll review next week.

Luther's Smokehouse is a smokehouse located in LeRoy, KS, owned and operated by Martin Luther. Luther started out running a slaughterhouse, but in 1974 he added beef jerky to his list of products and today it's his primary business.

Ingredients

Pork, brown sugar, salt, spices, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a smoky flavor, followed by a light saltiness.

The chewing flavor starts with a bit more smokiness, and a bit more saltiness, but also a natural meat flavor, and then some kind of light spice that seems to resemble a mixture of light black pepper and a light bit of clove.

For being a pork jerky, this tastes more like a baked ham. It's a dominant flavor and easily noticeable. There's also a light oily flavor, and the light oiliness coats the inside of my mouth.

The smokiness is quite prevalent, perhaps being among the most noticeable flavor. But the spiciness is also dominant. After eating several pieces, it seems to be more of a black pepper flavor, but there's that light touch of clove, perhaps like how a ham is stuck with cloves baked in a sweet-sugary glaze.

There is a light sweetness in this too, but not dominant, and not something you'd notice right away.

The level of saltiness in this seems to be at a medium level.

Overall, what you're going to notice in this is a smoky, baked ham flavor, seasoned with black pepper and a light bit of clove. There's a light touch of sweet and a moderate saltiness.

Meat Consistency

This is a chopped and formed jerky, shaped into strips of medium thickness and in lengths rangning from 2 to 6 inches.

This is a semi-moist jerky with a light oily surface feel. These strips are very flexible, being able to bend a full 180 degrees back on itself without any cracking. Biting off chunks seems fairly easy, while chewing seems fairly easy as well.

The chewing texture starts out feeling soft but rubbery, and initially quite chewy. With some sucking and light chewing, it breaks down easily enough and softens up quickly. Once chewed down to a soft mass, it feels more like sausage.

For being chopped & formed, I don't feel any bits of hard, chewy, or crunchy material.

As for clean eating, there's a light film of oil on my fingertips, but not enough to require a licking or wiping to type on my keyboard.

chopped and formed pork jerky

pork jerky
Snack Value

Luther's Smokehouse sells this Midnight Special from its website at a price of $7.00 for an 8oz package. If you bought two packages, to be sent to Southern California, the shipping comes out to $8.95, for a total of $22.95. That works out to $1.43 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $1.43 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting a good snackability for an overall good flavor, fairly easy eating, and good meat consistency. That's considerably cheaper than the major brands of jerky you find in the grocery store, and yet it seems to offer better flavor, and a little better snackability.

Rating

luther's smokehouse nutritionI'm giving this a good rating.

This Midnight Special is a chopped & formed smoked pork jerky that provides a good deal of smoky, natural meat flavor that resembles a spicy baked ham. The spiciness is largely a black pepper flavor, but with a touch of clove. There's also a light sweetness. Overall, it reminds me of how my mom used to bake hams, by sticking it with cloves, and basting it with a sweet sugary glaze.

The chewing is quite different than Luther's chopped & formed beef jerky, being more moist and more chewy. Their chopped & formed beef was more dry and crumbly, comparable to a dry meat loaf. This ends up feeling more like sausage or a bratwurst.

Granted that chopped & formed jerky is not going to chew like a real steak, I think the chewing in this product still has meaty feel, just not a steak-like feel. In the end, the good flavor and good meat consistency created a lot of snackability for me, and quite unlike the other brands of pork and ham jerkies I've had.

My recommended beer pairing for this, a porter seems like it would compliment the light spiciness. Try the Stone Smoked Porter or the Alaskan Smoked Porter.

Rating: Good

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