Crunchy Cow Beef Jerky - Sweet Southern BBQ

Crunchy Cow Beef Jerky is a brand owned by Elemental Edibles, LC based out of St. Louis, MO. It was started by Brian Gilbert in 2015, who describes himself as a life-long cook and aspiring entrepreneur.

Brian had worked for several talented chefs and business owners, honing his skills in culinary arts and business. It was during his stint as a B2B salesman, that he started making jerky as a hobby, and finally, the idea for this new company clicked. Crunchy Cow Beef Jerky focuses on using high quality ingredients, natural grass-fed, pasture-raised beef, with no artificial ingredients, preservatives, nitrates, additives, steroids, antibiotics, or added hormones. Brian makes all the jerky himself from a USDA inspected kitchen at Saint Louis University's Fresh Gatherings Cafe.

This "Sweet Southern BBQ" is described by Brian as having a hint of hickory smoke that screams "BBQ", while the all-natural honey, brown sugar, and turbinado sugar reaches "down south" to "slap you right in the tastebuds".


Ingredients

Grass-fed beef, soy sauce, dark brown sugar, honey, spiced rum, onion powder, garlic powder, turbinado sugar.

Review

The first flavor that hits the palate is a light sweet along with a smoky, soy sauce. There's a bit of garlic seasoning noticeable. The chewing brings on a lot of natural meat flavors, much like a grilled steak, along with some additional sweet.

For being dubbed, "Sweet Southern BBQ", it seems to hold up. For one, there is definitely a sweetness to this, one that is noticeable right away, with the overtones of honey. Then, a lingering sweet runs throughout the chewing to add more body to the taste. This jerky also has a BBQ aspect, namely from the smokiness that seems like real wood smoke. But this doesn't have the thick BBQ sauce that one might expect from something called, "Sweet Southern BBQ", no tomato, no bold spices, no heat of any kind.

The addition of spiced rum, as listed in the ingredients, is not immediately noticeable, though a more refined palate could pick up its subtle notes. Otherwise, the primary taste profile of this jerky rests on the natural meat flavor, the sweet, and the smoke. The soy sauce remains as a light flavor, along with the touches of garlic.

The meat consistency is excellent. Thick, meaty strips and chunks leave me with the sense of anticipation, much like pulling a 16oz rib eye off the grill. I found very little fat, if any. It's overall, chewy, like you'd expect jerky to be, and generally chews dry, though not too tough. However, this jerky still manages to feel like chewing real pieces of grilled beef, just a little more chewy.

Verdict

This Sweet Southern BBQ from Crunchy Cow Beef Jerky combines a complex sweetness of honey, brown sugar, and turbinado sugar, with the mouth-watering goodness of real wood smoked beef, to create a chewing pleasure that could keep a Southern Rebel fat and happy on his plantation porch. The light flavors of soy sauce, garlic, onion, and spiced rum, add just enough taste to make this interesting, but doesn't overshadow the real star, the natural meat flavors. This jerky clearly emphasizes what Mankind has loved since discovery of fire, smoked meat. It gives off a rich, steak-like flavor with a salivating smokiness that kept me reaching for piece-after-piece. The thick strips of meat add to the overall enjoyment, heightening one's sense of carnivoric contemplation.

As far as the "BBQ" is concerned, this doesn't really have the thick, bold, tomatoey sauce that one might expect with barbecue, so the name could throw you off. On the other hand, you won't complain much after you take a bite of this jerky.

Rating: Best (5/5)