Geronimo Jerky - Original

Geronimo Jerky is a brand found only in Australia. The company, based in Brisbane, was founded by Mark Hoyle, an American who settled in Australia.

Hoyle's jerky is based on a recipe handed down to him from his mother. His "American style" jerky is made from local ingredients, and do not contain preservatives, additives, artificial colorings, and is gluten free.

This Original variety is just one of eight varieties in all, and is used as the base for all of the company's jerky.

Ingredients

Beef, water, soy beans, garlic, wheat, salt, herbs, spices.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a light saltiness, and a faint bit of soy sauce and meat flavor.

The chewing flavor starts with an increased natural meat flavor with some fatty flavor mixed in. The soy sauce is also increased, along with a bit more saltiness.

The soy sauce is largely the dominant flavor in this jerky, most noticeable in the first several chews. As I got towards the end of chewing, just before swallowing, the soy sauce flavor largely wore off.

It's similar with the natural meat flavor also. That too is largely present in the first several chews, and then slowly wears off. It has a flavor comparable to a well-done cooked porterhouse steak. There's a fatty flavor mixed into it, which adds a nice beefy taste to this jerky.

The saltiness is otherwise the only other noticeable seasoning. I found it to be at a moderate level, not too high, not too low.

The garlic, herbs, and spices mentioned in the ingredients are not noticeable individually.

Overall, it's a very mild tasting jerky, allowing you to experience the natural meat flavors that are present in Geronimo's jerky products, along with the satisfaction of a simple soy sauce marinade.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced thin into small pieces.

It's a dry jerky with a dry surface feel. The pieces are stiff, with almost a brittle feel. There is a slight bit of flexibility, enough that it offers a chewiness. Biting into a piece does reveal a tiny bit of crunch, however.

The texture starts out with a fair amount of chewing resistance, and if you were to eat several pieces, your jaw muscles will tire. It takes quite a bit of chewing to get down to a soft mass, but by that point it does have a steak-like feel, one cooked well-done.

There is however, a fair amount of stringiness in the chew which will reduce down to small unchewable wads. Otherwise, I encountered no rubbery, crunchy gristle. The pieces do have a light bit of marbleized fat, which I found offers a nice touch of flavor.

In terms of clean eating, it's mostly clean, with just trace amount of seasoning remaining on my fingertips, and scant fragments of meat falling on to my lap.




Snack Value

Geronimo Jerky is sold in stores throughout Australia, as well as from it website. A 200g package (roughly 7oz), sells for about $24.00 AUD. That works out to a price of $0.12 AUD per gram.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $0.12 per gram price, it seems to provide a fair value. I'm getting an average amount of snackability for a mostly simple, mild flavored jerky, with a chewy, dry meat consistency.

Rating

I'm giving this jerky an average rating.

This Original variety from Geronimo Jerky offers a simple, mild flavor consisting of the natural taste of beef with some soy sauce. It's still snackable considering I was able to get some natural meat flavors along with a bit of fatty flavor mixed in, and the soy sauce added enough flavor and saltiness to keep me reaching for more.

While it's somewhat easy to chew and eat, I can see how someone's jaw muscles could tire if they're not accustomed to eating jerky. But for those of who are, this is perhaps not an issue. The meat consistency is good except for a fair amount of stringiness in each bite.

But in comparing this to all the other jerky brands I've had in the Original flavor category, I don't see it as above average.

My recommended beer pairing for this, go with a brown ale. The Newcastle Brown Ale is a good choice.

Rating: Average

Buy this online:

• http://geronimojerky.com.au/