Luther's Smokehouse - Pemmican Style Beef Jerky - Jalapeno

Next up in the series on Luther's Smokehouse is this Jalapeno flavored Pemmican Style Beef Jerky. Read my reviews of their other jerky varieties.

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.

This Pemmican Style is meant to mimic what Native Americans made centuries ago by grinding up meat and mixing it with spices and fruit. In this case, Luther's Smokehouse uses raisins.

Ingredients

Beef, raisins, jalapenos, salt, spices, garlic powder.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a light jalapeno chile flavor, followed soon by light a sweetness.

The chewing flavor starts with a bit more definition from the jalapeno, a noticeable saltiness, and those raisin-like characteristics that I found in the company's Original flavored Pemmican Style.

For being labeled "Jalapeno" it does seem to have a jalapeno chile flavor, but not quite strong enough to belt that flavor out of the ballpark. It just gives you that bit of flavor to make this jerky more interesting.

It also has a touch of heat to it, but far from being hot in my point of view. On my personal hot scale, I'd rank this at mild-medium (level 2 out of 5).

I'd say the flavor that seems to define this jerky is actually a combination of the jalapeno and raisins. Just like with the Original variety, the raisins don't offer a strong raisin flavor, they only give you a bit of tanginess, a touch of sweet, and faint fruitiness. But it still enough to recognize as being raisins.

I'm not getting any natural meat flavors at all.

The level of saltiness in this feels light.

And I don't really pick up much of the spices in this.

Meat Consistency

This is a chopped & formed jerky shaped into thick strips of about 5 inches long.

It's a dry jerky with a dry surface feel. The strips have a little flexibility but will break apart with some bending. Compared to Luther's Original Pemmican Style, this feels more soft, perhaps because the addition of jalapenos. But it still retains some chewiness.

The chewing texture starts out feeling semi-soft and a little chewy, but quickly breaks apart with practically no chewing resistance. It breaks down into a soft mass quite quickly, and at that point it feels more mushy instead of crumbly, and maybe a little bit of meatiness.

I didn't encounter any hard bits or crunchy bits of material that I often find in cheaper grades of chopped & formed jerky. It seems very meaty.

It's also very clean eating. My fingers are totally dry and not sticky or oily in any amount.




Snack Value

Luther's Smokehouse sells this Jalapeno flavored Pemmican Style Beef Jerky from their website at a price of $6.50 for an 8oz package. If you bought two packages shipped to Southern California, the shipping cost is $8.95, which creates a total of $21.95. That works out to a price of $1.37 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $1.37 per ounce price, this jerky presents a good value. I'm getting a fair amount of snackability from an overall satisfying flavor, and easy to eat consistency. That price is considerably lower than whole muscle jerky brands you get at the grocery store, and yet I think you're getting a comparable snackability.

As a Jalapeno flavored pemmican style beef jerky, at the same $1.37 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting a fair amount of jalapeno flavor and a light bit of heat, enough that it's enjoyable. And that's actually a considerably lower price than most other jalapeno beef jerky brands.

Rating

I'm giving this an average rating.

This Jalapeno flavored Pemmican Style Beef Jerky from Luther's Smokehouse provides a decent amount of snackability through a combination of jalapeno flavor and a touch of heat, along with light fruity, tangy, sweet touches from the raisins. What you get is comparable to a sweet & hot jerky, but at a lower degree.

In comparing this to the company's Original Pemmican Style, the addition of jalapenos gives it a second flavor dimension that I think makes all the difference between a 2-star rated jerky to a 3-star.

I even find this softer and easier to eat than the Original Pemmican Style, perhaps because the jalapenos helps prevent the meat from packing together too tightly. Thought it tends to have a mushy chewing texture.

I'm still not getting any natural meat flavors in this. Overall it's still not a flavorful jerky, but definitely a better flavor than the company's Original Pemmican Style.

My recommend beer pairing for this, go with an IPA, the stronger hops will help bring out the fruity flavors in this. Try the Stone IPA or the Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA.

Rating: Average

Buy this online:

• http://www.jerkyusa.com/