Saturday, August 9, 2014

Red Truck Beef Jerky - Teriyaki

red truck beef jerky
Red Truck Beef Jerky is a brand of Red Truck Beef Jerky, LLC, based out of St. Petersburg, FL. According to the company, they've been doing business for over 15 years.

Red Truck says their jerky is made from 100% Grade A sliced shoulder beef from USA cattle, naturally seasoned with, "a touch of nature's honey and dried slowly". The company currently ships their jerky to Cracker Barrel, MAPCO Express, Lowes Foods, Schnucks Markets, Western Convenience Stores, and Green Top Sporting Goods. They also claim their jerky to be gluten-free.

The company offers three flavors, Original, Teriyaki, and Peppered. We only have the first two for review.


Ingredients

100% American raised grade A shoulder whole muscle beef, brown sugar, teriyaki sauce, honey, vinegar, water, pineapple juice, salt, garlic, onion, black pepper, smoke flavoring, cure, sodium erythorbate

Review

The first flavors I pick up is the teriyaki sauce, with its very signature thick sweet, fermented character and ginger spice. A bit of the honey is detectable too. The chewing brings on a more defined teriyaki flavor, with a little of the garlic & onion, and bits of black pepper.

Like with the Original variety, there's also a bit of tanginess in the chew, this one perhaps from the vinegar and pineapple. The natural meat flavors are not quite noticeable in this, probably due to the heavier marinade and seasonings. It's also quite mild, suitable for most tolerances.

For being labeled, "Teriyaki", it does a pretty good job of representing. I get a flavor that's very uniquely teriyaki in the Japanese sense. It has a thick sweetness with a soy sauce flavor, but with the fermented character and the ginger spice.

Otherwise, the flavors that define this jerky largely starts with that Japanese-style teriyaki flavor, but seasoned with splashes of garlic, onion, black pepper, and the light tangy chewing.

The meat consistency reveals a little more streaks of fat than compared to the company's Original variety. I still didn't encounter any stringiness or unchewable tissues, hwoever. The chewing texture is much the same, a meaty resemblance, though not exactly like steak. It tends have a light rubber/plastic character from the heavy sweet. Overall, it's still a meatier chew than a Jack Links, but not quite like steak as with many finer gourmet varieties.

Verdict: This Teriyaki variety from Red Truck Beef Jerky does a good job of dishing out a Japanese-style teriyaki flavor and putting it front and center. But it goes on to give you some extra seasonings of garlic, onion, and black pepper, along with a nice tangy chew. I found it very flavorful, very snackable, and hard to resist. Like with the Original variety, I found the chewing texture lacking a little, slightly rubbery/plastic-like, though still better than most major brands. But I like the flavor enough to overlook that one area.

Rating: Best (5/5)


red truck beef jerky

red truck beef jerky

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