Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Snatch Beef Jerky - Whiskey Row

snatch beef jerky
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 "Whiskey Row" is described by the company's as, "...actual premium whiskey in the marinade, not just a whiskey flavoring. We use only the best quality whiskey on the market. Mixed with a combination of spices and seasonings you will fall in love with this flavor of beef jerky if your a whiskey lover." With only 50 mg. of sodium per serving, it's one of the lowest sodium jerky varieties we've reviewed.


Ingredients

Beef, brown sugar, whiskey, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, liquid smoke, spices.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a strong sweetness. A touch of salt comes in later.

The chewing brings in a bit more saltiness, along with a light amount of seasonings, and a bit of tanginess. I can pick up a touch of spiciness. There's very subtle hints of whiskey malt flavor.

For being labeled, "Whiskey Row" and described as a whiskey-based marinade, it seems to hold up somewhat. It doesn't offer a dominant whiskey flavor, however. There's a spiciness much like the burn of whiskey going down the throat, a subtle hint of alcohol, and very subtle hints of malt.

Otherwise, the flavor that defines this jerky is largely the heavy sweetness. This is thus far the most sweet of the varieties offered by Snatch. Then there's that light spiciness I described above, and then touches of salt, seasonings and tanginess. The soy sauce and worcestershire are hardly identifiable.

As for that whiskey burn, this jerky registers on my heat scale as "mild medium" (level 2 out of 5).

Imagine a beef jerky with touches of whiskey flavor, with a lot of sweetness, and touches of seasonings, and that describes this jerky.

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, it's very clean handling leaving no residue on my fingers or seasonings falling off.


 
Snack Value

Snatch Jerky sells this Whiskey Row 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 satisfying flavor, good chewing texture, and decent meat consistency. Compared to major brands of jerky found in stores, it has a comparable snackability though at a similar to slightly higher price.

As a whiskey-marinade beef jerky, at the same $2.38 per ounce price, it's a good value. I do pick up a whiskey flavor mostly as a light to moderate whiskey burn, touches of alcohol, and a faint bits of malt.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Whiskey Row beef jerky from Snatch seems to do a better job of bringing out the whiskey flavor than competing brands of whiskey-marinated jerky. It's largely the whiskey burn I get, with touches of alcohol, and a subtle hints of malt that I pick up.

This jerky is otherwise heavily sweet with sparing amounts of seasonings. The stronger sweet perhaps is the best compliment to the whiskey flavor, and I think the light salt and seasonings are a good call to help that out. But this jerky still tastes like it needs another flavor dimension, perhaps orange or something fruity.

I found the chewing relatively easy, though it has some moments where the jaw muscles need to tap into a little more energy. But overall, the beef brisket style cut offers a good chewing texture.

Rating: Good


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