The Jerky Hut - Hot Golden Nuggets

The Jerky Hut is a brand of Whiskey Hill Smokehouse, LLC based out of Hubbard, OR. The brand which is often seen at boat shows, gun shows, car shows, and trade shows of every kind, was started over 30 years ago.

Much of its jerky is sold through independent "retail licensees", who are the folks running the booths at the shows. It's parent company, Whiskey Hill Smokehouse, runs its own USDA inspected facility. The Jerky Hut is also sold online through its own website.

This "Hot Golden Nuggets" is actually a spicier version of its already popular "Sweet Golden Nuggets" we reviewed previously. The company goes on to say that it's, "spicy but not real hot".

Ingredients

Beef, brown sugar, water, crushed red pepper, seasonings, liquid smoke flavoring, garlic powder, monosodium glutamate, black pepper, sodium nitrite

Review

The initial flavors that come in is a smoky, natural meat flavor, along with a good deal of sweet. The chewing brings on more of the smoky meat flavors, while something akin to barbecue sauce takes effect. There are faint touches of garlic and black pepper in the background.

For being labeled, "Hot Golden Nuggets", and "spicy but not real hot", it definitely fits the bill. There's just a light bit of heat, but barely there. It's certainly not hot, but then again, the company said it wasn't meant to be a tongue burner. On our heat scale, this rates as "mild medium" at the hottest (level 2 out of 5), but fiery food fanatics will no doubt see this as mild.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is pretty much the same as the company's, "Sweet Golden Nuggets", which is a natural meat flavor over a strong sweet and a light barbecue sauce. However, this Hot variety has more smoke flavor. Even though it's smoke flavoring, it actually tastes real wood smoked.

The meat consistency is excellent, resembling an old fashioned style with very little fat and stringiness to speak of. These are thick sliced strips of pure meat that start out chewy but eventually break down into something steak-like. The heavier sweet, however, makes these lightly sticky to handle.

Verdict

This Hot Golden Nuggets variety from The Jerky Hut is a spicer version of the company's already popular Sweet Golden Nuggets, but adds a low level of heat brought on by a light sprinkling of red chile pepper flakes. It has a richer smokiness however, and tends to elevate the natural meat flavors, which in turns seems to create more snackability. It's strong sweetness and mild barbecue sauce seasonings gives these thick strips of soft meat a Kansas City-style character. The light level of heat and the more pronounced smokiness, makes this Hot variety of Golden Nuggets more exciting than its Sweet cousin.

Rating: Good (4/5)

Where to buy:

• https://thejerkyhut.com/