Smoke Shack Jerky - Smokin Maple

Smoke Shack Jerky describes itself as a "small Upstate NY kitchen" that launched in 2017 by Jonathan Brown of Rochester, NY. Their unique angle is smoking jerky over real wood, and using thicker cuts of meat for a beefier chew. They don't use any smoke flavoring, and no preservatives. The company also has a line of smoked nuts.

Brown also chose to develop jerky recipes based on cultures found around the world as opposed to the more common profiles found with mass-produced brands.

This Smokin Maple is described by the company as, "Maple meets meat, smoky meets sweet", going on to say that it's mild in spice.

Ingredients

Beef, soy sauce, maple syrup, brown sugar

Review

The first thing I taste is the smoke, but followed soon by a light soy sauce. There's a touch of sweet noticeable. The chewing brings on a more defined soy sauce, while the smoke continues. The sweet picks up a tad.

For being marketed as a smoky maple syrup beef jerky, the smokiness yes, but the maple syrup... I don't know. I do pick up a light sweet, but I'm not really getting a clearly defined maple flavor. Rather, I'm having to search for that famous Vermont, breakfast, character, and I'm not sure if I'm tasting it, or if I'm tasting the brown sugar. The smoke, however, is well pronounced, and does indeed taste like it was smoked over real wood.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is a smoky soy sauce with a light bit of sweet, and the natural meat flavors coming on towards the end.

The meat consistency looks great in terms of little to no signs of fat or stringiness. It is a thicker sliced meat, yet remains easy to bite off and chew. It's even slightly moist. The chewing texture feels very meaty, but tenderized, and almost a steak-like feel. Most of the pieces, however, are cut into small chunks and bits, which may necessitate having to grab 2 or 3 at a time to get a decent mouthful.

Verdict

This Smokin Maple variety from Smoke Shack Jerky delivers a real wood smoked flavor that brings out a decadent yet manly taste of thick sliced beef. While the Maple flavor remains very light, this jerky creates a lot of savory snacking through a simple marinade of sweetened soy sauce. The chewing is easy, but very meaty, through bite-sized chunks of pure beef. It's not a jerky over-saturated with sugar, in fact the sweet is quite light, even to the point of the maple flavor being barely there. Otherwise, this is simple, smoked beef jerky, made easy to chew.

Rating: Good (4/5)

Buy this online:

• https://smokeshackjerky.tumblr.com/