Crooked Creek Farm - Spicy 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 Spicy Pork Jerky variety is described by Crooked Creek Farm as being similar to their Original Pork Jerky, but, "...made it spicy with a touch of red pepper", going on to include that it's made from 100% American hogs.

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

Review

The first flavors I pick up are a faint sweet, touches of vinegar, and sparing amounts of black pepper. The chewing brings in a light salt and along with a bit more sweet. The natural meat flavors finally come on, and towards the end light spicy heat is noticeable.

For being marketed as a "Spicy Pork Jerky" it delivers well. It's not hot by any means, but it certainly is spicy. That is, there's a light bit of heat in the background, just enough to make this jerky more interesting, without creating any kind of burn. Spicy food fanatics might see this mild, while most audiences will still find this tolerable. On our heat scale, this ranks as "mild medium" (level 2 out of 5).

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 Spicy Pork Jerky from Crooked Creek Farm brings out the natural goodness of fresh pork jerky with a clean flavor and chewing texture that's unmistakably "the other white meat". The spiciness in this remains light, just enough to feel a light heat without going into a burn. Otherwise, it's largely similar as the company's Original Pork Jerky we reviewed previously. I love the clean and fresh character that this pork jerky delivers, and I love the meaty chewing texture that feels just like a pork chop. It's a natural style pork jerky that tastes and chews like its natural.

Rating: Good (4/5)