Jordinski's Jerky - Original

Jordinski's Jerky is a new brand of jerky just recently launched, based out of Orleans, IN.

It was started by Jordan Eickelberger, who had been buying jerky from a small Amish butcher shop in Indiana. He loved the jerky so much, he decided people everywhere needed to eat it too, and thus worked with the butcher shop to create Jordinski's Jerky.

The jerky is made from sustainably-raised Indiana beef, minimally processed with a few spices, and no artificial ingredients or preservatives. Thus far, Jordinski's Jerky offers only this one flavor, Original.

Ingredients

None provided.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a soy sauce and worcestershire sauce combination and a good deal of saltiness.

The chewing brings in much of the same flavors, with perhaps a touch of garlic and some light bits of sweet, probably coming from the worcestershire. I can pick up a light natural meat flavor, and faint smokiness.

Considering it's marketed as "Original" in flavor style, it has a basic, regular beef jerky flavor. It's not spicy in terms of heat or overwhelming in spice, it's actually a very classic jerky taste anchored by a soy sauce and worcestershire sauce marinade and then bolstered with a few seasonings, perhaps garlic, onion, black pepper, and I want to say celery seed?

Otherwise, the flavor that defines this jerky is the marinade of soy sauce and worcestershire. The worcestershire leaves behind a noticeable sweetness that's not too strong. The saltiness feels somewhat high. There's also a light natural meat flavor with a faint smokiness.

Overall, Jordinski's Jerky has an old fashioned style flavor with a somewhat strong saltiness and light sweet.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into slabs of medium size and medium thickness.

This is a dry jerky with a dry surface feel. The slabs are very flexible while chewing seems overall easy to do, though biting off chunks can require work due to the stringiness.

The chewing texture starts out with little resistance and a light bit of rubbery feel. It seems to chew down easy enough and takes on meaty feel right away. Once chewed down to a soft mass, it feels very steak-like, similar to something cooked medium-well.

I don't see any bits of fat on these slabs, nor any gristle or tendon. But I do encounter a lot of stringiness in the chewing, some of which mats down into unchewable wads.

As for clean eating, it's mostly clean, leaving no residue on my fingers, but tearing pieces off drops a lot of pepper bits.

Snack Value

Jordinski's Jerky sells this Original variety from its website at a price of $10.00 per 3oz package. If you buy two bags, shipping comes out to $5.05. That works out to a price of $4.18 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $4.18 per ounce price, it's a weak value. Compared to other brands of jerky sold in stores, it offers a better flavor, with a better chewing texture, though stringy. But it's not awesome enough to overcome that really high price.

Rating

I'm giving this an average rating.

This Original beef jerky from Jordinski's Jerky offers a tasty meat snacking flavor that reminds me of the old fashioned style, relying on a simple marinade of soy sauce and worcestershire and a handful of basic seasonings, perhaps something you might expect from an Amish butcher shop. You get a steak-like chewing texture that feels just like real meat, and the peace of mind knowing you're eating real beef jerky and not something overly processed and doctored up.

In comparison to the other hundreds of other brands and varieties of jerky I've reviewed, it doesn't really rise above the pack as something out of the ordinary. The marinade has that common soy sauce/worcestershire flavor, while the seasonings are very tried and true. It's nothing unusual beyond the goodness and godliness of country store jerky.

But all that aside, it's still an enjoyable chew, though stringy, with a satisfying flavor that takes me back to my childhood days of stopping at a country store on the outskirts of town and grabbing a big hunk of jerky out of the jar. And in this case, Jordinski's Jerky brings that old fashioned, genuine country style jerky to the far reaches of the Intertubes.

Rating: Average