Strollo's Homemade Beef Jerky is a new beef jerky brand owned and operated by Michael Strollo of Eatontown, NJ.
Made fresh to order by Strollo himself, all of his jerky is made in small batches to increase freshness and quality. He uses no preservatives, additives or fillers. Only 100% USDA certified beef is used, and according to him, "...we make sure that there's 100% beef in every bite!"
Currently the company offers four flavors, including this Garlic variety, plus a Hot Garlic, a Hot, and a Mild. I also have the Hot Garlic to review in the next week.
Lean beef, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, liquid smoke
Taste
The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a moderate saltiness which soon graduates into a soy sauce flavor.
The chewing flavor brings in more definition from the soy sauce, with an increased saltiness, along with a natural meat flavor.
For being marketed as a Garlic beef jerky, I'm not tasting much of the garlic. I do see that garlic is an ingredient of the teriyaki sauce, but otherwise no garlic flavor that stands out from the other ingredients that I would expect from a jerky labeled as "Garlic".
Otherwise, the flavor that seems to define this jerky most of all is the soy sauce. After that, there's a light touch of sweet, and then the natural meat flavors.
The natural meat flavors are pretty well defined in this, having a flavor much like a porterhouse steak cooked well done.
The level of saltiness in this seems moderate to high, due to the dominant soy sauce flavor.
Overall, it's a mild flavored jerky in terms of spiciness, that has a simple flavor of soy sauce, a grace of sweetness, and the natural meat flavors.
Meat Consistency
These are slices of whole meat, sliced into strips of two to five inches, and sliced thin.
This is a dry jerky with a mostly dry surface feel, though with just a light bit of oil from the vacuum packaging. The strips are slightly brittle, and offer a light bit of crunch when bit into.
The chewing texture starts out feeling stiff and chewy. The first few chews encounter a fair amount of resistance. Further chewing makes it feel more like real meat, and by the time it chews down to a soft mass, it feel just like a well-done cooked steak.
I don't see much of any fat or gristle on these strips, and encountered no stringiness, and no unchewable tissues. It's very meaty.
In terms of clean eating, it's quite clean, leaving only a very fine film of oil on my fingers, not enough to require a licking and wiping before touching the keyboard.
Snack Value
Strollo's Homemade Beef Jerky sells this Garlic variety from its website at a price of $5.00 for a 1.5oz package. If you bought 10 packages, with shipping of $10.83 to Southern California, it works out to a price of $4.06 per ounce.
For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $4.06 per ounce price, it's a poor value. I'm getting a basic level of snackability for its overall satisfactory flavor, though good meat consistency and chewing texture. However, that price is extremely high compared to major brands of jerky sold in stores, and yet seems to offer similar or slightly better snackability.
As a Garlic flavored jerky, at the same $4.06 per ounce price, it's a poor value. I'm not really getting much garlic flavor from this, at least not anything front and center, and that price is double that what you'd pay for competing brands of garlic jerky.
Rating
I'm giving this an average rating.
This Garlic variety from Strollo's Homemade Beef Jerky doesn't really offer any garlic flavor that I can identify easily from the other ingredients. It's largely a soy sauce flavored jerky with a light touch of sweet.
It has a good natural meat flavor, which is perhaps it's strongest point. But, it's still quite a simple tasting jerky, unlike much of the other gourmet brands that are able to infuse a variety of flavors into the marinade and seasonings.
It also has a good meat consistency and a steak-like chewing texture, being very meaty in every bite, just as the company claims. I just need more flavor variety to rate this above average. Perhaps if it could deliver more garlic flavor, I could entertain a higher rating.
My recommended beer pairing, go with a dark belgian ale, such as the Stone Cali-Belgique, or the Gouden Carolus.
Rating: Average
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