Crooked Creek Farm - Pork Jerky

Crooked Creek Farm is a small family run farm located in the rolling hills of Pylesville, MD, operated by Mike and Tiffany Schleupner. There they raise pasture-raised pigs for ribs, sausage, and pork chops. In 2017, they added pork jerky to their product line up.

All of their pork jerky is made from pigs with no added hormones, no antibiotics, and no growth promotants. It's currently selling at farmers markets around the Harford County, MD area, as well from their website.

This Original Pork Jerky variety is described by Crooked Creek Farm as being, "sweet and soft", and made from 100% American hogs.

Ingredients
Pork, water, brown sugar, sea salt, vinegar powder, celery juice powder, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder

Review

The first flavors I pick up are a light sweet, touches of black pepper, and a bit of vinegar. The chewing brings on light salt while the sweet ramps up a bit. Some natural meat flavors start to come in while a garlic seasoning becomes noticeable.

For being marketed as an all natural product, and with Crook Creek Farm positioning itself with pasture-raised pigs, this jerky tastes more clean and fresh than competing brands of pork jerky. I don't pick up any aftertaste or other processed characteristics. It also has a natural feel and chewing, not gummy, mushy, or crumbly.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is a light natural pork flavor seasoned lightly with salt, sweet, black pepper and garlic. There's even a hint of smoke initially. If any of the seasonings show up better than the others, it's the black pepper. But overall, this jerky remains mild in spice. The salt remains low initially, but seems to increase to a moderate level after eating several pieces.

The meat consistency looks excellent in that I found very little fat or other unchewable tissues. Most of these pieces, however, are small bits that don't snack as elegantly as a larger, mouth-sized piece. But, they do in fact chew easily and feel very meaty, just like a pork chop.

Verdict

This Original Pork Jerky from Crooked Creek Farm does a great job of delivering a more natural, fresh character than competing brands through a simple seasoning blend and a clean, natural meat flavor. It's tender for a pork jerky, yet retains a chewy profile, and serves up a meaty, pork chop-like chewing experience. I like the hint of smoke in the initial bite, and I like the unadulterated meat flavors. If words like clean, fresh, and natural are important in your meat snacking choices, this pork jerky from Crooked Creek Farm should be on your list.

Rating: Good (4/5)