Jimmy's Sticky Jerky - Sticky Heat

Moving along in the series on Jimmy's Sticky Jerky is this Sticky Heat variety. See my original review of their Sticky Sweet beef jerky.

Jimmy's Sticky Jerky is a new jerky brand launched in September 2012. It's the creation of Jim Nielsen, based out of Hermosa Beach, CA. Nielsen claims his love for jerky goes back to when he was just a fetus, and his mother had been snacking on the stuff while she was pregnant. Just 10 ten years ago, he started making his own jerky, and was encouraged to go into business by his closest friends.

This Sticky Heat variety says it adds fresh red, Jalapeno, and Habanero peppers into the marinade, claiming to give it a clean, but hot flavor that doesn't burn the mouth, but adds a bit of heat and spice.

Ingredients

Beef (top round), soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, ginger, garlic, liquid smoke, jalapeno and habanero peppers, seasonings and spices.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a light sweetness. A little bit of a burn starts up, and then a little of a chile pepper flavor comes in.

The chewing brings in a light natural meat flavor and a little bit of the ginger. Following that, the soy sauce is lightly noticeable. The tanginess of the vinegar is very faint. Meanwhile, the burn picks up.

For being labeled, "Sticky Heat", it seems to hold up. I do get a fair amount of heat, what I would rate on my personal heat scale as medium (level 3 out of 5). It's also somewhat sticky to the touch, not quite as much as I would expect considering how this company bills up the "stickiness" of its jerky, but still a little sticky.

Otherwise, the flavors that seem to define this jerky starts with the sweetness. The light flavors of the chile peppers perhaps has the second strongest influence, while the ginger has the next. Finally, the natural meat flavors are subtle.

Overall, this tastes much like the company's Sticky Sweet variety I reviewed last week, but with a light chile pepper flavor and a moderate level of heat, and a little less of the vinegar tanginess.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into chunks and strips, some of which are bite-sized, and others enough for two bites. These are all sliced thick.

This is a semi-moist jerky with a semi-moist, lightly sticky, oily surface feel. These pieces are quite tender and flexible. Chewing is largely easy.

The chewing texture starts out feeling quite tender, offering little resistance. They break apart with the first chew and take on a soft, meaty feel. It takes little time to chew down to a soft mass, and by that time it feels meaty, some of which is steak-like, but others more mushy.

I do see some small pieces of fat on a few pieces, but no visible signs of tendon or gristle. I felt some significant stringiness in most bites I took, resulting in a lot of unchewable tissues.

As for clean eating, my fingertips pick up a little bit of sticky, oily film, some of which requires a licking and wiping before touching the keyboard, others do not.

Snack Value

Jimmy's Sticky Jerky sells this Sticky Heat variety from its website at a price of $17.99 for 3-pack of 2.2oz packages. If you bought 3 of those of 3-packs, shipping comes out to just $5.00. That works out to a price of $2.98 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.98 per ounce price, it's a fair value. I'm getting a good overall flavor, a good meat consistency, and good chewing texture. Compared to other gourmet brands, it's considerably more costly, but still a little better overall than most.

As a hot beef jerky, spiced with red, jalapeno, and habanero peppers, it's a fair value. I do get a fair amount of heat, enough to produce a light moisture on the scalp, and I do get a light bit of chile pepper flavor. Compared to other brands of hot beef jerky, this is priced considerably more, but produces similar to slightly more heat.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Sticky Heat variety from Jimmy's Sticky Jerky generates a nice level of burn, hot enough for spicy food lovers to enjoy, but not so hot that you have to guzzle down a gallon of water. It's really more of a Sweet & Hot jerky, matching the burn with a decadent sweet.

There's also light amounts of chile pepper flavor and ginger to keep things a little tantalizing.

The result is a jerky much like the company's flagship variety, Sticky Sweet. Except where the Sticky Sweet had a little bit more of the vinegar tanginess, this has the chile pepper flavors.

The meat consistency seems good, with its thick chunks and strips of beef, feeling soft, moist and tender, but each bite I took seemed to include a wad of unchewable tissues, primarily heavy stringiness, that I felt subtracted from the snackability. Otherwise, the chewing texture feels meaty, sometimes steak-like, but other times a little mushy.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://www.jimmysstickyjerky.com/