Wild Bill's Bacon Jerky - Sweet Maple Glazed

Off the success of Wild Bill's Bacon Jerky released a couple of years ago, the cantankerous cowboy himself has followed up with a new variety, "Sweet Maple Glazed Bacon Jerky".

Made from 100% real bacon, this stuff adds a layer of sweet maple-goodness to an already pistol-packing mouthful of mayhem. We had rated Wild Bill's Original Bacon Jerky with a 5-star rating based on its great bacon flavor, thick pieces of meat, and tender chewing. I can't imagine how this new Sweet Maple Glazed variety could go wrong.

Wild Bill's is a brand of Monogram Food Solutions, based out of Memphis, TN. The brand has been around since 1955, and continues to be one of the top sellers in the world of beef jerky.

Ingredients

Bacon, water, sugar, salt, smoke flavor, maple flavor, sodium phosphate, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a moderate sweetness with a light maple flavor. There's also the classic bacon flavor of smokiness and saltiness.

The chewing brings in a more defined bacon flavor, tasting exactly like 100% real honest-to-goodness American-style bacon. But there's more of the sweetness and maple flavor mixed in.

For being marketed as "Sweet Maple Glazed Bacon Jerky", this product fits the bill quite well. It's definitely sweet, and it definitely has a maple flavor, and it tastes exactly like... bacon.

Otherwise, the flavors that define this jerky is largely the bacony flavor of real bacon, but with a significant sweetness and maple flavor. There's also a nice smokiness, but that's of course, part of the bacon.

There's no spiciness in this, it's quite mild and suitable for all tolerance levels.

The level of saltiness in this feels the same level as plain old bacon, no more or no less.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be real slices of bacon, thicker than standard bacon, more similar to bacon ends.

It's mostly a dry jerky with slightly moist, slightly oily surface feel. This is more like bacon cooked half-way between soft and crispy. These are rather easy to eat, with some of the meatier pieces requiring a little bit of effort.

The chewing texture starts out feeling moist and tender, but having the same chewy, dry feel of jerky. The meat tends to be more dry and chewy, while the fat is soft and lends a fair amount of moisture to the meat. It chews down fairly easily and quickly, and by the time it renders into a soft mass, it feels just like real bacon, cooked halfway between crisp and soft.

While there's a good deal of fat on these pieces, it's to be expected when it's bacon. But having said that, there's a lot of meat too, more so than standard bacon. No stringiness, no gristle or tendon, just pure pork belly heaven.

In terms of clean eating, my fingertips pick up a fine layer of oil, but not enough to require a licking or wiping.

Snack Value

Wild Bill's distributes this Sweet Maple Glazed Bacon Jerky to stores all over the Eastern USA. They don't currently have it available from their website, but I imagine that will change soon. Assuming it will be priced the same as their Original Bacon Jerky, that would be a price of $4.25 for a 3oz package. That works out to a price of $1.42 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $1.42 per ounce price, it's an excellent value. I'm getting a lot of snackability for a great overall flavor, good meat consistency, and good chewing texture. Compared to major brands of jerky found in grocery stores, it's priced the same, but offers better snackability.

As a bacon jerky, at the same $1.42 per ounce price, it's an excellent value. It's priced much less than competing bacon jerky brands, but offers perhaps a similar or better flavor, and better meat consistency and chewing.

Rating

I'm giving this a best rating.

This Sweet Maple Glazed Bacon Jerky from Wild Bill's gives you a nice amount of sweet maple flavor over the classic great taste of 100% real American bacon. It's just like when the maple syrup runs off a stack of pancakes and drowns the strips of bacon on your breakfast plate, except without all the pancakes.

But what really makes this bacon jerky a winner is the meat consistency. It's not just thin strips of sliced bacon, it's more like thick chunks of bacon ends. That means you get a lot more meat out of it, giving it more of a meaty chewing texture. You still have a good deal of fat, but then again it wouldn't be bacon without the fat, and even the fat in this stuff tastes pretty good.

And the way this bacon jerky is cut, it's ready to get tossed into a pot of chili, baked beans, or split pea soup.

Rating: Best

Buy this online:

• http://www.wildbillsfoods.com/