Saturday, June 2, 2012

Settlers Jerky - Hickory Beef

settlers jerky
Settlers Jerky is a brand of BeefJerky.com, an online retailer of beef jerky. BeefJerky.com has been selling jerky online since 1995.

It was started by Gregory Nemitz, who had been making jerky for family and friends several years before he launched BeefJerky.com. In addition to beef jerky, Nemitz sells salmon jerky and trout jerky.

The Settlers brand includes this Hickory Beef, along with Honey Teriyaki and Ring of Fire varieties. He also has a "Final Frontier" brand, which is a black peppered jerky that actually went into orbit on the International Space Station.

Ingredients

Beef, soy sauce, spices, liquid smoke, vinegar, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a salty flavor with a light smoky flavor. I can pick up a bit of soy sauce soon thereafter, and touches of garlic.

The chewing flavor starts with a more defined soy sauce flavor and an increased saltiness. The hickory smoke flavor increases too, and I can pick up a light natural meat flavor.

For being marketed as "Hickory Beef", this certainly seems to fit the bill, having a well-noticed smoky flavor that seems to resemble the goodness of hickory wood. It even has a the aroma of hickory smoked beef when you open the package.

The flavors that seem to define this jerky is largely the soy sauce with its associated saltiness. The hickory smoke flavor is something that hits you quickly, but gives way to the stronger soy sauce. I can also pick up light touches of garlic and black pepper.

I'm identifying a light natural meat flavor that becomes more noticeable in the latter part of chewing, particularly after having eating a few pieces of this. There's also a light fatty flavor too that recreates a more beefy, natural steak flavor.

The level of saltiness in this feels high.

Overall, it's a salty, soy sauce flavor jerky with a noticeable hickory smoke flavor.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into slabs of medium to large sizes, and sliced thin.

This is a dry jerky with a lightly oily surface feel. They have a little bit of flexibility, but will crack open when bent far enough. Tearing pieces off requires a little bit of effort, while chewing similar, somewhat chewy.

The chewing texture starts out with a fair amount of chewing resistance, and feels dry and slightly woody. It still has just enough of a softness and moistness to create a nice, meaty, steak-like chewing, one that resembles a steak cooked well-done.

Some slabs have fair amounts of fat that can be seen, while others appear to be very lean. I don't see any gristle, but I do find a fair amount of stringiness in the chewing. Otherwise, I found no other unchewable tissues.

In terms of clean eating, my fingers pick up a light amount of oily residue, sometimes enough to require a licking and wiping, other times still dry enough to go without.

hickory beef jerky

Snack Value

BeefJerky.com sells this Settlers Brand of Hickory Beef at a price of $19.18 for an 8oz package. Shipping is free. They'll also discount that price if you buy two or more packages. Two packages works out to a price of $That works out to a price of $1.91 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $1.91 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting a good overall flavor, good meat consistency and good chewing texture. That price is comparable to what the major brands of jerky are selling in stores, yet this particular jerky has a better overall snackability.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Hickory Beef variety from Settlers Jerky provides a savory and tasty combination of soy sauce, hickory smoke flavors with a blend of garlic and black pepper seasonings. And similar to its namesake, it has the rustic, old west flavor reminiscent of American settlers traveling west and chewing on strips of dried, salted beef along dusty trails, the kind that's just difficult to find in stores today.

It seems to deliver enough hickory smoke flavor to support its flavor name, and it provides a good, steak-like chewing texture, that it feels clearly above the average lot of jerky varieties. I even enjoyed the little bit of fatty flavor to round out the steak-like chewing experience.

The level of saltiness seems rather strong in this, and can wear me out if not for the swigs of iced-tea I took in between chews. And while this is great jerky for its old fashioned, western-style appeal, there's still a feeling of plain and ordinary for a guy like me who craves the unusual and innovative. But I still can't deny that it's a worthy contender against the hundreds of other jerky brands I've reviewed.

Rating: Good

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2 comments:

  1. Fabulous review! This jerky sounds delicious & it LOOKS so good.

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  2. It is very good, I buy it all the time. I'm a fan of this type of jerky, with big, flat slabs of beef. The flavor is really good and (most of) the meat is tender. However, some of the slabs in their packs are lesser quality than others. That's a problem, but it still is great jerky. I've tried a lot and this is one of the best. I don't like all the crazy flavors that Steve does. I don't want fish or alligator or vegan or any of that stuff. I like hickory-flavored beef (or maybe peppered)... keep it simple.

    Another company that makes great jerky (of the kind I prefer) is Hard Times. You can find it once in a while at certain gas stations in North Texas and they sell it on the internet. I love the kind that has a good blend of texture; bendable, but not too soft. I don't like the kind that has a lot of small breaks in the meat, and I certainly don't like the kind that has been softened with meat tenderizer so it feels like it's disintegrating in your mouth. I like it to be long, tear-able strands of good-quality beef. I like it dry on the outside, but a bit soft inside and Hard Times is perfect in this respect. No, I do not work for them, I just like their jerky.

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