Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Carnivore Candy - Barbecue Mesquite

carnivore candy beef jerky
The next flavor from Carnivore Candy is this Barbecue Mesquite beef jerky. See my previous reviews of their Original Peppered, and Volcanic Jalapeno.

Carnivore Candy is a brand of Boyd Specialties, LLC based out of Colton, CA. It was started by Robert Boyd along with his brother Jae last year using a recipe that's been in the Boyd family for a half-century.

They make their own jerky in their own USDA inspected facility enlisting the help of three-generations of family members, making the same jerky their grandfather made. Much of their jerky is sold at stores, fairs, and local events in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, as well as through their website.


Ingredients

Beef, tomato juice, soy sauce, natural smoke flavor, water, brown sugar, vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, spices, natural flavor enhancer, onion, garlic.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a sweet barbecue sauce flavor followed by a light bit of saltiness. A faint dash of smokiness is noticeable, while a wee touch of spice is noticed in the back of my mouth.

The chewing brings in some of the natural meat flavors, with perhaps a little bit of the garlic and onion.

For being marketed as "Barbecue Mesquite", it seems to hold up fine. There's clearly a barbecue sauce flavor to this, more of the sweeter, mild variety. With respect to the mesquite, there is a just a hint of smokiness noticeable.

Otherwise, the flavors that seem to define this jerky overall is the sweet, barbecue sauce flavor along with a light natural meat flavor. In addition to the hint of smokiness, I can detect light amounts of the garlic and onion, along with a light spiciness that continues to heat up the back of my mouth.

With respect to that light spiciness, I'd have to rate the heat of this jerky as "mild-medium" (level 2 out of 5) on my personal heat scale. After eating a few pieces, this jerky does seem to generate a light bit of heat.

The natural meat flavors are not well pronounced, but noticeable and do add to the overall flavor. It almost resembles the taste of ground-beef, making this jerky taste similar to a grilled hamburger patty slathered with mild, sweet barbecue sauce.

The level of saltiness in this feels light.

Overall, it's a sweet tasting jerky with mostly the flavor of barbecue sauce, and light amounts of natural meat flavor, garlic, and onion.

Meat Consistency

These are strips of whole meat, but having the appearance of being pounded tender. They're of medium thickness and in lengths of three to four inches.

This is a dry jerky with a slightly moist, slightly sticky, surface feel. It's very flexible, and very easy to bite off and chew.

The chewing texture starts out feeling dry with little chewing resistance. It breaks down quite easily, and renders into a soft mass quickly. By that time it feels meaty, but more like ground beef, similar to a meat loaf still pink in the center.

I don't see any bits of fat on these pieces, but I do see some stringiness and can feel it in the chewing. Aside from that, it's mostly meaty with no other unchewable tissues.

As for clean eating, my fingertips tend to pick a faint stickiness, but still dry enough to type.

barbecue beef jerky
barbecue mesquite beef jerky
Snack Value

Carnivore Candy sells this Barbecue Mesquite through their website at a price of $5.99 for a 3oz package. If you spend more than $45.00 shipping is free. So for 8 packages, the total comes to $47.92. That works out to a price of $2.00 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.00 per ounce price, this seems to provide a good value. I'm getting a a lot of snackability for a great flavor, good meat consistency, and good chewing texture. That price is similar to what you'd pay for major brands of jerky at the grocery store, and yet it offers much better snackability.

As a barbecue-sauce, mesquite beef jerky, at the same $2.00 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting a lot of barbecue sauce flavor, though a light touch of the mesquite smokiness. Still, compared to major brands of barbecue flavored jerky, this seems to provide better flavor for the price.

Rating

carnivore candy nutrition facts
I'm giving this a best rating.

This Barbecue Mesquite variety from Carnivore Candy delivers plenty of sweet, tomatoey, barbecue sauce flavor with a touch of mesquite smokiness and a light bit of spicy heat. It still retains a little bit of the natural meat flavors along with some light bits of garlic and onion seasoning, for an overall well-rounded tastebud experience.

Compared to the company's Volcanic Jalapeno variety that I reviewed earlier, this doesn't quite have the tanginess that I like to get in the chewing, but does offer a lighter level of spiciness, and an increased sweetness for those who like a little more.

Accompanied by the soft, tender, and mostly meaty chewing texture, it creates a lot of snackability and managed to keep me tearing into one package after another.

My recommended beer pairing, go with a lighter, crisper lager, such as the Trumer Pils, or the Sam Adams Noble Pils.

Rating: Best

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