Monday, November 18, 2013

Three Jerks Jerky - Filet Mignon Original

three jerks jerky
Three Jerks is a new brand of filet mignon beef jerky, based out of Venice, CA. It was launched by three friends who were inspired to do something new and unheard of before.

I had actually introduced them before on Best Beef Jerky this past Summer while they were running a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter. The sent me some samples back then and I published my initial thoughts but didn't want to assign ratings until I could taste the actual production jerky.

This Original flavor is described as being "salty, sweet and tangy with just the right amount of pepper", and is made from beef filet mignon.

Ingredients

Beef filet mignon, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, natural smoke flavor, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a light sweetness followed by a light saltiness. I can pick up a bit of the smoke flavoring.

The chewing brings in a saucy blend of the soy sauce and worcestershire with a light garlic. I can also detect a subtle amount of the tangy character the company described above. The black pepper is faintly noticeable at first, but picks up strength as I eat more pieces.

For being marketed as a filet mignon beef jerky, it seems to hold up well. It has the tender, soft chewing that you expect from filet mignon, and I can taste a little bit of the natural meat flavor in this too.

The flavors that seem to define this jerky the most, is primarily a sweet, saucy flavor boosted with garlic, black pepper and cayenne. It has a lot of savory character from the blend of soy sauce and worcestershire, but it gives a good kick with the garlic and pepper. The sweetness is what tempers the two and bridges them together. There's a light smoke flavoring that comes through, and just bits of the natural meat flavor.

There's enough of a black pepper bite that comes out after eating several pieces that those with mild-mannered palates might see this as spicy. I'd rate this on my personal heat scale as "mild-medium" (level 2 out of 5).

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, run through some kind of tenderization process, sliced into slabs of medium thickness.

It's dry jerky having a semi-moist surface feel. There's a lot of flexibility in these slabs. Biting off chunks is easy and chewing is very easy.

The chewing texture starts out feeling meaty with little chewing resistance. It quickly and easily chews down and immediately takes on a more steak-like feel. By the time it's chewed to a soft mass, it feels like soft, tender pieces of filet mignon.

I can see some streaks of fat on these pieces, and they do contribute a little to the overall flavor. I don't really find any stringiness in the chewing, nor any other unchewable tissues. It feels very meaty.

As for clean eating, it seems to be mostly clean with little to no residue on my fingers. I do get some bits of black pepper falling off, though.

filet mignon jerky


filet mignon beef jerky

Snack Value

Three Jerks sells this Original filet mignon beef jerky from its website at a price of $14.99 for a 2.5oz package. That works out to $6.00 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $6.00 per ounce price, it's a weak value. Compared to other brands of beef jerky, this filet mignon jerky maybe more tender than most, but the price of $6.00 per ounce is extremely high compared to other standard beef jerky, yet it doesn't seem to provide enough exceptional quality to justify the extra cost.

As a filet mignon beef jerky, at the same $6.00 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm not able to find any other filet mignon jerky brands based in the United States, so it's tough to compare. But it does offer a good overall flavor, good chewing texture, and meat consistency.

Rating

filet mignon jerky nutrition
I'm giving this a good rating.

This Original variety of filet mignon jerky from Three Jerks has a delicious flavor that combines a savory sauce blend boosted with garlic, black pepper and cayenne, and held together by the sweetness of brown sugar. There's a light smoky signature and light bits of natural meat flavor.

Considering it's made from beef filet mignon, it has the soft, tender chewing that filet mignon is known for, and still chews and feels like real filet mignon steak, once you get it chewed down.

The cost of $14.99 per 2.5oz package seems extremely high, but considering it's made from filet mignon it's understandable. You do get some of that value back in the form of soft, tender chewing that still feels like real steak, but there still are other top and bottom round beef jerky brands that are equally as soft and tender with a steak-like chew. I also wasn't able to get a lot of the natural meat flavors, which I would have hoped to get from filet mignon.

Rating: Good

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1 comment:

  1. Three jerks is way overpriced and to sweet, and I am not even sure it is filet mignon.

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