Billy Franks Beef Jerky - Teriyaki

Billy Franks beef jerky is a small-batch maker of eclectic beef jerky, based in London, England. The creation of computer programmer, Will Francis Yates, it's all hand made from rare breeds of indigenous cattle such as Red Devons, Angus, Dexters, Herefords, and Galloways from Cornwall and Scotland.

Yates gets his taste and love for smoked meats after having lived in Texas for a number of years. Billy Franks beef jerky collaborates with London's street-food sensation, "The Rib Man" to create a special line of "Holy Fuck" beef jerky, some of the hottest jerky around, which I'll be reviewing later.

Go ahead and check out his website, and find some unique jerky flavors like "Cheeseburger", "Roast Beef & Mustard", and "Holy Mother of God".

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Duke's Small Batch Smoked Meats - Original Beef Jerky

Duke's Small Batch Smoked Meats is the newest line of jerky and meat sticks from Thanasi Foods, LLC. Based in Boulder, CO, Thanasi is known for other successful jerky brands such as Jim Beam Beef Jerky, Stubbs BBQ Beef Jerky, and Frank's Redhot Beef Jerky.

"Duke's" is the nickname of Justin Havlick, the President and CEO of Thanasi Foods. As the story goes, back in 2004 Justin would smoke small batches of jerky using real smoke wood, using fresh ingredients from his kitchen, and slathered with a variety of popular sauces.

As a result, the Duke's line of smoked meats comes in a variety flavors, including those marinated in Jim Beam, Stubbs BBQ, and Frank's Redhot, which Thanasi already has brand licenses with. Duke's Small Batch Smoked Meats has been distributing to convenience stores since December 2012.

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Jimmy's Sticky Jerky - Turkey Heat

Continuing in the new line of turkey meat snacks from Jimmy's Sticky Jerky is this Sticky Heat. See my review of their Sticky Sweet Turkey published last April.

It's also worth noting that they increased their package sizes from 2.2oz to 2.5oz, but kept the prices the same.

The company says this jerky similar to their Sticky Heat beef jerky, but modified to be a little lighter and milder to compliment the flavors of turkey.

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Morels the Vegan Butcher - Ned's Spicy Chipotle Jerky

Ned's Spicy Chipotle Jerky is a brand of Morels The Vegan Butcher, based out of Louisville, KY. It a company that specializes in vegan food products.

Morels was created by Stanley Chase, originally as a food truck in the Louisville area, and then transitioned to vegan food brand making sandwiches and jerky. Morels' jerky is made from soy curls. Chase had initially tried to make something called "char-sue", but left it in the oven a bit too long and it came out something like jerky.

This soy jerky is gluten-free and still has 12 grams of protein per 2.5oz bag.

Currently Morels has two flavors, this "Ned's Spicy Chipotle" and a "Judas' Original". They're working on a Sriracha Maple.

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Pap's Beef Jerky - Asian Style

Note: Pap's Foods is a sponsor of this website, but has no effect on our ratings and reviews.

The newest flavor from Pap's Beef Jerky is this Asian Style. See our other reviews of Pap's Beef Jerky.

Pap's Beef Jerky is a new product from Pap's Genuine Beef Sticks, which we reviewed previously. Pap's is a creation of Rick Waldon, based out of Junction City, KY.

This Asian Style is described as "A sweet and savory marinade infused with garlic, pepper and red chili’s meld together to deliver a beef jerky that compliments the natural beef flavor of the meat with the sweet spicy barbecue style created centuries ago in Asia."

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Mike's Jerky - Mesquite

Next in the series on Mike's Jerky is this Mesquite variety. See my reviews of other flavors from Mike's Jerky.

Mike's Jerky is based out of Albuquerque, NM, owned and operated by Mike Grier. It's a New Mexico Style of jerky where its sliced thin, dried crisp, and crunches when you bite into it, yet still chewing like real meat.

This Mesquite beef jerky is described by the company as, "A nice smokey BBQ flavor - Yum!"

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Morels the Vegan Butcher - Judas' Original Jerky

Judas' Original Jerky is a brand of Morels The Vegan Butcher, based out of Louisville, KY. It a company that specializes in vegan food products.

Morels was created by Stanley Chase, originally as a food truck in the Louisville area, and then transitioned to vegan food brand making sandwiches and jerky. Morels' jerky is made from soy curls. Chase had initially tried to make something called "char-sue", but left it in the oven a bit too long and it came out something like jerky.

This soy jerky is gluten-free and still has 12 grams of protein per 2.5oz bag.

Currently Morels has two flavors, this "Judas' Original" and a "Ned's Chipotle". They're working on a Sriracha Maple.

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Appalachian Jerky Company - Thermonuclear

Being the most eccentric flavor in the line of meat snacks from Appalachian Jerky, this "Thermonuclear" is said to be wicked hot.

In fact, the company claims that it, "...will light you up through a combination of Ron's favorite burning ingredients. For chiliheads only!"

Based in Brighton, MA, Appalachian Jerky Company is the creation of two college buddies, Ron Myrick and Doug Labb. The boys had been making their own jerky for camping trips and parties. When they decided to take their seasoned meat delicacies to market, they tweaked their original recipe and developed a few more.

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House of Jerky - Sweet & Spicy Beef

House of Jerky is a brand that you find in little tourist towns, inside of a small beef jerky shop nestled in between antique dealers and candy stores. Here in Southern California, whereever you find a throw-back old-west village, there's always a beef jerky store that sells exclusively House of Jerky.

The company started in 1997 by a husband and wife team in Temecula, CA (about 15 miles from my home interestingly), but is now headquartered in Evansville, IN. The company is growing quickly, having saw a growth rate of 15% from 2006 to 2007, and did $600,000 in sales last year.

While the company enjoys plenty of success from online sales, they sell a lot of beef jerky through shops and roadside stands all across the USA.

House of Jerky is a brand that I have had on many occasions, but this Sweet & Spicy marks the first entry into Best Beef Jerky. The company makes several varieties, including venison, ostrich, buffalo, alligator, and salmon.

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House of Jerky - Natural Style

House of Jerky is one of those great American success stories of where the little guy (or in this case, gal), creates a product that out-does the big guys, markets the product without a giant budget, and manages to create a successful empire with outlets all over the country.

I first learned of this brand by visiting a local beef jerky shop in Temecula several years ago. While I always liked the taste, I never seemed to purchase much of it, mainly because you don't find this in the big chain grocery stores. And since I've always been a junk food pig at heart, convenience has always been my weakness.

If you've been reading this blog regularly, you might have figured out that I haven't been reviewing much of the "regular" and "original" varieties of jerky. I have this presumption that any regular beef jerky probably just tastes like salt or soy sauce. I like complex tastes, that merge several flavors, and keep me guessing what I'm tasting. But since House of Jerky sent me this review sample on their own dime, how could I not resist?

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House of Jerky - Teriyaki Beef

When it comes to gourmet beef jerky, the House of Jerky brand is one that comes to my mind. I've always enjoyed this brand for years, but haven't purchased much of it, probably due to the fact that you don't find this in the large grocery store chains.

But when I'm out touring around other towns, and happen to see a beef jerky shop, I'll walk in, and 9 times out of 10 its an outlet for House of Jerky. The brand is very well represented in those small touristy towns, and along roadside stands.

The company is a husband and wife venture that got started here in Southern California, and sadly enough, moved to Indiana to set up its national headquarters. Nothing against Indiana, it seems California can't keep a good company within its borders.

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Trails Best Bacon Jerky - Hickory Smoked

On a road trip to Seattle, I pulled into a gas station and found this package of Trails Best Hickory Smoked Bacon Jerky.

Trail's Best is a brand of Monogram Meat Snacks, LLC based out of Chandler, MN. The brand has been around since 1938, appearing first as a country store, and then evolving into a line of meat snacks. Monogram Meat Snacks is a large meat processor making jerky, meat sticks, and sausage for a wide variety of companies.

Trails Best Bacon Jerky was launched late in 2011 and distributed to Wal-Mart stores.  It's supposed to also be available in Bass Pro Shops under the "Uncle Buck" brand, and as "Wild Bill's" in certain convenience stores.

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Mike's Jerky - Garlic Pepper

Next up in the series on Mike's Jerky is this Garlic Pepper variety. See my reviews of other flavors from Mike's Jerky.

Mike's Jerky is based out of Albuquerque, NM, owned and operated by Mike Grier. It's an example of New Mexico Style jerky, where its sliced thin and dried to a crisp so that it has a crunch, similar to potato chips, but chewing like meat.

The company describes this Garlic Pepper as simply, "Garlic lovers will enjoy this one. A perfect blend of garlic and pepper."

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House of Jerky - Peppered Beef

House of Jerky has gained a place among my short list of favorite jerky brands by focusing on jerky with tons of flavor, using all natural ingredients, and being easy to eat.

Since peppered beef jerky is one of my favorite varieties, I was very curious to see how well the "House" could do up this tried and true jerky style.

The company is operated by a husband and wife team, and sells its jerky online as well as through independent shop owners across the country.

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House of Jerky - Sweet & Spicy Brisket Jerky

House of Jerky, which we've reviewed extensively, has a new line of jerky made from beef brisket. Their other beef jerky products are made from top round.

Brisket comes from the lower chest of cattle and is famous in barbecues and roasts. In the past decade it has found its way into jerky after meat snackers expressed a demand for for moist, tender jerky.

House of Jerky offers two varieties of brisket jerky, this Sweet & Spicy, and a Teriyaki.

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Weekend Blowout! Order for Father's Day

Treat your Favorite Father to a CRAZY good gift for Father's Day!

Father's Day is June 16, so order by Monday, June 10 for this CRAZY  SPECIAL!

Buy 2 pounds of any flavor beef or chicken jerky from Crazy Horse Jerky and receive a Free Jerky Jar with your purchase. The CRAZY part? SHIPPING IS FREE!! But orders must be received by Monday,  June 10th to have your gift shipped in time for Father's Day.

Best Beef Jerky recommends Steak House flavor, rated BEST by our reviewer!

Don't wait until it's too late. Visit Crazy Horse Jerky for the BEST Father's Day Gifts!

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Pap's Genuine Beef Sticks - New Flavors

Note: Pap's Foods is a sponsor of this website, but has no effect on our ratings and reviews.

Pap's Genuine Beef Sticks recently released three new flavors to their lines of beef sticks: Smokin' Hot, Smokehouse Hickory, and Grippo's Bar-B-Q.

I reviewed Pap's a couple of months ago, giving them a four-star rating for their great consistency, meaty but tender chew, and their mild, clean flavor. Read the full review here.

Pap's Genuine Beef Sticks was started by Rick Waldon, based out of Junction City, KY. His philosophy with beef sticks was to make them out of beef, and not "mechanically separated chicken", without using any soy and wheat fillers. They are currently stocked in convenience stores throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana. You can also buy them from their website.

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Wild Bill's Jerky - Premium Bulk Beef Jerky

This "Premium Bulk Beef Jerky" is effectively the jerky that made Wild Bill's Jerky famous. The long thick strips of whole meat, marinated, seasoned, and then hickory smoked, are sold in 15oz packages.

And because it comes in such a large package, the company sells a glass mason jar, at a tall 10" height, with rubber seal and metal clasp, designed to showcase Wild Bill's Jerky in all of its pistol-packing glory, keeping it fresh for later use.

Up until now, I had only reviewed jerky from their "Tender Tips" line, as well as their new Bacon Jerky. So it would only do Wild Bill's justice that I review their marquee product.

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Mike's Jerky - Pineapple Habanero

A couple of weeks ago I was in Albuquerque, NM and I looked up Mike Grier, the owner of Mike's Jerky. We hung out and he supplied me with several samples of jerky, including some new flavors and some old flavors I hadn't yet reviewed.

Today, I have his Pineapple Habanero. A couple of years ago I reviewed his "Special Pineapple", and I wasn't all that inspired by it. But when I saw that he added habanero chiles into it, I thought, "Hmmmm..."

Mike describes it as, "Crused pineapples with sweet seasonings straight from the Hawaiian Islands. Oh, and a bunch of heat."

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