Pony Express Jerky - Original Beef Steak

Pony Express Jerky is a brand owned by Pony Express Enterprises based out of New Holland, PA. The brand was started in 2009 by Ted Cundiff, a veteran of the meat snack industry. Cundiff originally launched Wild Bill's Beef Jerky in 1983, a brand that was bought up by Monogram Foods in 2009.

Pony Express is manufactured in its own USDA inspected facility in New Holland, right in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. The company offers a retail location in Blue Ball, PA.

This "Original Beef Steak" is further labeled, "Monster Sized 2oz", and described by the company as, "Our original beef jerky will transport you back in time. A tradition started in the Wild West..."


Ingredients

Beef, soy sauce, light brown sugar, water, garlic powder, italian black pepper, black pepper, potassium sorbate, modern cure, cayenne pepper

Review

The first flavor I pick up is the black pepper. Touches of soy sauce start filing in while a faint garlic comes into view. The chewing brings on a more defined soy sauce, while the black pepper increases its spice. There's a light natural meat flavor towards the end.

While the company has labeled this "Original", it doesn't taste quite like their Original beef jerky. This is more peppery and a bit more sweet. As for their claims of transporting you back in time, with the words, "Wild West"... not really. I pick up more of a heavily-processed flavor and chewing texture. While I can see the old-fashioned style recipe in this, it doesn't have a genuine character, but more factory and less old-school.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is focused on the black pepper, with a dominant spicy bite, laid over a mild soy sauce with a noticeable sweet and faint garlic.

The chewing texture is quite rubbery. It bites off feeling like chunks of super-soft rubber and even chews down into rubbery bits. It's not at the very last part of chewing that it takes on a meaty feel, more like dried hamburger. This is a chopped and formed product that seems mostly meat, with no discernible bits of fat, bone, or tendon.

Verdict


This Original Beef Steak strip from Pony Express tries to impress the hungry meat snacker with its thick, long strip of chopped and form beef, yet after finishing this thing off, I wasn't really satisfied. Perhaps it's the rubbery chew, or the plain, peppery flavor, or the contradicting words, "Monster Sized 2oz". It's probably all three. This is something better suited for kids or perhaps moms looking for something to stuff down a Christmas stocking. It's otherwise uninteresting for the jerky aficionado. It's still tolerable, it just doesn't inspire me to eat more.

Rating: Fair (2/5)