Snatch Jerky - Original Peppered

Snatch Jerky is a new brand of jerky based out of Show Low, AZ. It was started in February 2013 by a guy named Ron Pro.

Snatch markets itself with the tagline "The Healthy Beef Jerky" because it uses only natural ingredients, no MSG, no nitrates, and no preservatives. They also claim their jerky to be low sodium with varieties ranging from 50mg per serving up to 270mg per serving.

This "Original Peppered" seems to be the company's flagship flavor. They describe it as, "A moist, tender cut, superb ingredients in the marinade. Top of the line black pepper make this flavor one of the best peppered jerky's on the market."

Ingredients

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

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces a salty, saucy flavor with a noticeable black pepper. There's also touches of sweet, along with a garlic and onion seasoning.

The chewing flavor is largely the same as the surface flavors, with the black pepper increasing a bit. There's some natural meat flavor coming towards the latter part of chewing.

For being named "Original Peppered", this definitely does have a dominant black pepper flavor that increases in strength as I continue to eat more pieces, creating a strong aftertaste in the back of my mouth. There's plenty of cracked pepper sprinkled all over these pieces.

Otherwise, the flavor that seems to define this jerky is a salty, saucy flavor combination of soy sauce and worcestershire, but further boosted with garlic and onion seasoning. The black pepper provides a noticeable flavor along with a light sweetness. The natural meat flavors tend to come in well into the chewing.

The level of saltiness in this feels to be at a moderate, perhaps slightly high, level, even though the nutrition facts label shows a light sodium content.

Overall, the ingredients combine to create the classic tried and true flavoring of soy sauce and worcestershire, with classic seasonings of black pepper, garlic, and onion. The touch of brown sugar sweetness is nice, but otherwise this jerky has a very classic jerky flavor.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, looking similar to beef brisket, sliced into strips of medium thickness, and in lengths ranging from one to three inches.

This is a dry jerky with a dry surface feel. There's a lot of flexibility in these strips, Biting off chunks seems easy to do, while chewing seems overall easy with a little extra effort required here and there.

The chewing texture starts out feeling chewy, with some initial chewing resistance, but seems to break down without any laborious effort. It takes on a meaty feel, and once chewed down to a soft mass, it feels very steak-like, comparable to one cooked medium-well.

I do see bits and streaks of fat on these strips, which do contribute some additional flavor. I also encountered a fair amount of unchewable tissues, mostly as stringiness that matted down into unchewable wads.

In terms of clean eating, my fingers pick up some bits of black pepper, and I also get some black pepper falling off on to my lap as I bit chunks off.

Snack Value

Snatch Jerky sells this Original Peppered jerky from its website at a price of $5.95 for a 3oz package. They also sell a 5-pack variety bundle for $29.75 with shipping of $5.95 to Southern California. That works out to a price of $2.38 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.38 per ounce price, it's a fair value. I'm getting a decent amount of snackability for an overall satisfying flavor, good chewing texture, and decent meat consistency. Compared to major brands of jerky found in stores, it has a similar to slightly better snackability, though at a similar to slightly higher price.

As a peppered beef jerky, at the same $2.38 per ounce price, it's a good value. I'm getting a lot of black pepper flavor, with a fairly fresh, sharp taste, and generous amounts of cracked pepper corns visible on these pieces.

Rating

I'm giving this an average rating.

This Original Peppered variety from Snatch Jerky relies on a classic jerky recipe that combines soy sauce, worcestershire, black pepper, garlic, and onion to create what seems to be a very classic jerky flavor. It has a good, snackable flavor as far as jerky goes, but when compared to hundreds of other jerky brands we've reviewed over the years, it doesn't really stand out from the crowd.

Even though the Snatch Jerky claims this to be a very low sodium jerky, which it is according to its Nutrition Facts label, it still seems to taste somewhat high in saltiness. There's a little bit of sweetness there to help temper that saltiness, but not enough to even it out. Otherwise, it does a great job as a peppered beef jerky, providing lots of black pepper flavor, lots of visible cracked pepper corns, and puts out a good chewing texture. We just couldn't find anything unique that would bump this jerky out of the bell curve.

Rating: Average

Buy this online:

• http://www.snatchjerky.com/