Clint & Sons Beef Jerky - Hot

Next in the series on Clint & Sons (revised flavor and packaging) is this Hot variety. See my original review of this variety from two years ago (click here).

Clint & Sons is a meat processing facility located in White Deer, TX. It's a family run business that goes back to 1944 when Clint Freeman opened it up. Today it's run by his sons and grandchildren.

The company recently upgraded from state inspection to federal inspection, allowing them to sell jerky across all 50 states.

Ingredients

Beef, water, teriyaki flavored marinade (salt, sugar, hydrolyzed soy protein, dextrose, monosodium glutamate, molasses powder (molasses, wheat starch, soy flour, spices, caramel color), brown sugar, cure (salt, sugar, brown sugar, sodium nitrite, maple syrup), black pepper, sodium nitrite, red pepper, cayenne pepper.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a very light saltiness and a very light sweet. There's a light bit of cayenne pepper flavor coming in.




The chewing flavors start with a slightly increased saltiness, a more defined cayenne pepper and red pepper flavor, along with a light natural meat flavor.

For being marketing as a "Hot" beef jerky, it seems to hold up somewhat. It's not exactly hot, though that's a relative term. For me, I feel a moderate bit of heat, just enough to notice and enjoy, but no where near scalding my tongue. On my personal heat scale, I'd rank this as medium (level 3 out of 5).

Otherwise, the flavors that seem to define this jerky is the saltiness, cayenne and red pepper, and the light natural meat flavor, in that order.

The natural meat flavor has that same flavor as the Original I reviewed last week, with the touches of marinade barely noticeable in the chewing.

Overall, it's another old fashioned style flavor, but with cayenne and red pepper instead of black pepper.

Meat Consistency

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

This is a dry jerky with a dry surface feel. The pieces have a fair amount of flexibility but will crack open with some bending. Chewing requires some effort but overall not too chewy.

The chewing texture starts out feeling like pliable plastic, bending easily in my mouth. There's some initial chewing resistance comparable to overcooked squid steak. Eventually it breaks down and with several chews and takes on a meaty feel, but not exactly like real steak. It still retains some of the chewy, rubbery feel.

I see only scant pieces of fat some pieces, no gristle or tendon. I don't encounter any stringiness or unchewable tissues. It's very meaty.

In terms of clean eating, it's very clean, leaving no residue on my fingers and dropping no fragments of meat or seasoning.

Snack Value

Clint & Sons sells this Original variety from its website at a price of $24.00 for four packages of 3oz each. They charge $10.00 flat rate on any size order. If you bought three of these four-packs, the total comes to $82.00, or a price of $2.28 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.28 per ounce price, it's a decent value. I'm getting an overall good flavor with a good meat consistency, and fair chewing texture. Compared to national brands of jerky sold in stores, it's priced a little higher but offers a little better snackability.

As a "Hot" beef jerky, at the same $2.28 per ounce price, it's a decent value. I'm getting a moderate level of heat, enough to notice and enjoy. Compared to national brands of Hot beef jerky, it's a little more hot, but with a little more price.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Hot beef jerky from Clint & Sons delivers a moderate level of heat, enough to enjoy but without scalding your tongue. It also offers a light amount of cayenne and red chile peppers against a light natural meat flavor.

While the meat consistency seems to be pretty good in terms of being nearly pure meat, the chewing seemed a little rubbery. It still felt like chewing meat, but seemed like it had gone through some kind of molecular transformation where the meat fibers took an plastic-like feel.

Regardless, this jerky still seems better than the average lot of jerky brands with a good flavor and slices of pure meat.

My recommended beer pairing, go with a more malty brown ale, such as the Rogue Hazelnut Brown or the Abita Pecan Brown.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://www.clintandsonsbeefjerky.com/