Monday, April 24, 2023

Astro Fresh Jerky - Milky Way BBQ

astro fresh jerky
Astro Fresh Jerky is a brand owned by HJP Trading, LLC based out of Los Angeles, CA. It was started by Roy Park in early 2015 who found an old family recipe that dated back to the late 1980s.

Since then, Roy has been selling his jerky in local markets and retailers in California. Recently they started a website and are now taking online orders.

This Milky Way BBQ is different from the company's Whiskey BBQ in that it does not contain whiskey, but adds honey instead.

Ingredients

Beef, BBQ sauce, brown sugar, BBQ seasoning, vinegar, honey, liquid smoke, corn syrup solids, cayenne pepper, sodium nitrite.

Review

The first flavors that hit my palate is a heavy sweet, followed by a tomatoey BBQ sauce. The chewing brings on much of the same flavors.

For being marketed as a BBQ jerky, it seems to hold up well. It mostly presents a sweet BBQ sauce flavor, much more mild in spice compared to their "Whiskey BBQ". It has a faint bit of tanginess, and a touch of smoke. Despite the addition of honey in this variety, there doesn't seem to be any more sweetness, nor much of a honey flavor. But it perhaps doesn't matter, it's already plenty sweet and sticky.

I find some streaks of fat on some pieces, which adds a light fatty flavor. Otherwise, the heavy sweet and thick sauce makes this jerky rather gummy, and very sticky to handle. Somes pieces are very soft and moist, while others can be dry on the inside, but sticky on the outside. The chewing texture starts out gummy, but takes on a somewhat meaty character as the sweetness wears off. There's a light bit of stringiness, but nothing unchewable.

Verdict

This Milky Way BBQ from Astro Fresh Jerky offers a heavily sweet, BBQ sauce flavor. It's better suited for folks who want the taste of BBQ without the stronger spice of the company's "Whiskey BBQ" variety. But for me, that seems to make this jerky less interesting. The cayenne pepper component seems lost in this jerky, and thereby makes the sweet more prominent. In any case, I find this being too sweet, with not enough spice and variety. The meat consistency is rather gummy and sticky, due to the heavy sweet. It's somewhat easy to chew, and has a meaty feel, but still seems gummy.

Rating: Fair (2/5)

bbq jerky

jerky bbq

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