Steak 'N A Bag - Black Pepper

Next in the series on Steak 'N A Bag beef jerky is this Black Pepper variety. See our previous reviews of Steak 'N A Bag.

Owned and operated by Runnin Wild Foods based out of Norcross, GA, the Steak 'N A Bag brand was conceived by a couple of brothers originally producing steak seasoning blends. Since then, they've gone on to add beef sticks to their product line-up.

According to the company, this Sweet Barbeque beef jerky is described as, "Rich. Bold. Authentic smokehouse seasoning with a serious kick. Rip off a piece of this incredibly tasty, tender and moist Steak 'N A Bag and see if it doesn’t bring a tiny little tear to your eye."

Ingredients

Beef, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, paprika, spices, garlic, sodium nitrate

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a light sweetness and saltiness. Some black pepper flavor comes in, and touches of garlic.

The chewing brings in a stronger saltiness while the black pepper seasoning picks up. There's a light natural meat flavor noticeable.

For being marketed as "Black Pepper" it holds up well. I can taste a good deal of black pepper seasoning, and it seems to have a fresh cracked flavor. There's also plenty of cracked pepper bits on the surface of these pieces. I'm not really getting the "serious kick" that the company describes, nor the "tiny little tear to your eye". But it's still a peppery flavored jerky.

Otherwise, the flavors that define this jerky starts largely with the saltiness, which tends to be strong in this jerky. The black pepper does offer a strong contribution, creating a spicy aftertaste in the back of my mouth. There's also touches of a BBQ flavor, perhaps from the paprika and garlic, and then the natural meat flavor.

Collectively, the ingredients combine into an old fashioned style jerky flavor, much like what I would expect to find fresh from grandpa's dehydrator in the backyard and sold in a big glass jar on the country store counter top. But this also has a touch of a BBQ flavor, that seems to throw something different into the mix.

As far as heat is concerned, the black pepper generates enough to create a mild-medium burn on my personal heat scale (level 2 out of 5).

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, sliced to a medium thickness, and in small to medium sized pieces.

This is probably more similar to a "soft and tender" variety of jerky. I found most of the pieces to have a moist feel, while a few seemed more dry. But overall, it seems easy to tear apart, and easy to chew.

The chewing texture is mostly steak-like once you chew it long enough. The more moist pieces are a tad mushy. But overall, it's a good, meaty texture.

I do see a fair amount of fat on this jerky, and can even taste it. Where I can't see any fat, I can still taste it. For the most part however, I don't really see this as spoiling the flavor. It actually enhances it, giving it a more beef-like flavor. But I didn't find any chewy connective tissues like tendon or gristle.

In terms of cleanliness, this jerky tends to leave a bit of chili powder on my finger tips. But other than that, I'm not getting much residue or meat fragments on my lap.

Snack Value

Runnin Wild Foods sells this Black Peppered beef jerky from its website at a price of $5.99 for a 3.25oz package. They offer $10.00 flat rate shipping on all orders of $50.00 or more. If you bought 10 packages, it would work out to a price of $2.15 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.15 per ounce price, it's a good value. It has a good overall flavor, snackable, though salty, with a tender, easy chewing. Compared other other brands of jerky, it has better than average flavor, a good meat consistency and decent chewing.

As a black peppered beef jerky, at the same $2.15 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting plenty of black pepper flavor, with a freshly cracked character, and a fair amount of black pepper bits.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Black Pepper beef jerky from Steak 'N A Bag puts out a good deal of black pepper flavor with a fresh cracked character, offering up just what you expect to get in a jerky labeled as such. It's not too heavily peppered, but still peppered enough to give you a nice spicy chew and aftertaste.

It also has a good base flavor, much like the company's Original variety, with a touch of a BBQ flavor, but allowing the natural meat flavors come through.

The meat consistency is good, well marbleized enough to add extra flavor, with no unchewable tissues. It's easy eating, allowing me to get the chewing satisfaction without getting in the way of the flavor-enjoyment.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• https://www.runninwildfoods.com/