Dave's Meat & Nuts - Cinnamon Jerk Jerk

Dave's Meat & Nuts is a brand that launched in January 2015 after raising funds on Kickstarter last November. We published a review back then, but withheld ratings until the company went live.

The company is the brainchild of Dave Gadlin, who had spent a great deal of time working in New York City with some of the country's best chefs and restauranteurs. He took his expertise out to Napa, CA to focus on his two biggest snack food passions, jerky and peanuts. Dave claims his jerky to be smoked in a real smokehouse.

This "Dried Beef Jerky with Cinnamon" is described by Dave as "Jamaican Jerk spices with cinnamon", going to say that it offers, "Warm winter spice notes, smokiness and true beef flavor, all wrapped in to a dry but tender Jerky."

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Jeff's Famous Jerky - Jamaican Jerk

Jeff's Famous Jerky recently released this new flavor, Jamaican Jerk. Based out of Mission Viejo, CA, Jeff's Famous Jerky is a brand owned by Jeff's Famous Foods, Inc.

The company started up in 2010 when Jeff Richards decided to make a business from his favorite snack food, jerky. Since the 1970s, Richards has been making his own jerky, getting better year after year, similar to like a 40-year old bourbon. Professionally, Richards has spent his career in the restaurant business and also coaches entrepreneurs through a consulting business.

This Jamaican Jerk variety is described as being made from, "authentic Jamaican Jerk Sauce and their famous Scotch Bonnet Pepper", going on to say that it's a limited edition flavor because its so difficult to import the Jamaican Jerk sauce.

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Beefy Boys Beef Jerky - Jamaican Style

Beefy Boys Beef Jerky is a brand owned by John Bailey, based out of Salinas, CA. The brand has been around since 1999.

Manufactured in their very own USDA inspected facility, Beefy Boys is made from top round sourced from a supplier located 120 miles from their plant, then marinated and cooked using an old family recipe.

This Jamaican variety is new, being made with Jerk seasonings and Scotch Bonnet Peppers.

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Mike's Country Meats - Hot Jamaican Style

Last in the series on Mike's Country Meats is this "Hot Jamaican Style" beef jerky. See my previous reviews of their Regular and Peppered varieties.

Mike's Country Meats, LLC is a state-inspected beef jerky manufacturer based in Campbellsport, WI. The company has been making jerky since 2002.

It's actually been in operation since 1984 as Mike's Wild Game Processing serving local deer hunters. Slowly over the years business expanded and by 1998 they had constructed a larger facility. In 2002 they opened up their own store selling fresh cuts of meat and sausage, as well as beef jerky. The jerky business took off quickly and soon became the company's primary focus.

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Insane Jerky - Jamaican Style

Next in the series on Insane Jerky is this Jamaican Style beef jerky. See my previous review of their Original beef jerky.

Insane Jerky is specializes in selling "Halal Certified" beef jerky, which is the muslim equivalent of kosher. The animal must go through a specific slaughtering process, and go through an extensive blood-draining process that effects the flavor of the beef.

Recently Insane Jerky changed it's meat processor, and revised its recipe. Previously, I found their jerky to be very tough, and lacking flavor. In this revised product, I've found it to be more tender and flavorful.

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Ju Ju Jerky - Original

It was over a year ago that I reviewed Ju Ju Jerky's line of Turkey Jerky, giving both their Original and Spicy varieties "best" ratings for its bold, complex seasoning blends. I had found their turkey jerky in my local grocery store, but I was never able to find their beef jerky.

Recently, the company sent me samples of their beef jerky!

Ju Ju Jerky has been around for about five years, founded by Seline Beauvoir, a chef who decided to offer a great tasting jerky focusing on flavors of the Caribbean Islands, and doing it with very low sodium.

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Green Light Beef Jerky - Jamaican Jerk

Green Light Beef Jerky is a new brand of jerky that's been out for a couple of years now, produced by Green Light Jerky Company, of Redwood City, CA.

The company claims that it's products uses no nitrites, no MSG, no thickening agents, and no food colorings. Their website mentions the use of ingredients from such reputable suppliers such as The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley and George Chiala Farms in Morgan Hill.

Green Light Beef Jerky is available in stores and sports venues throughout northern California, and appears to be marketed towards the 20 and 30-something year olds.

Ingredients

Beef, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, honey, water, garlic, onion, spices, habanero pepper.

The package further mentions "w/ allspice, habanero pepper, and thyme".

Taste

There is an abundance of flavors that presents itself upon first tasting a piece. I'm getting a clear sense of the thyme and soy sauce right away, along with the garlic, onion, and a sweetness, perhaps from the honey. After some chewing, I can get the natural meat flavors.

Considering this contains habanero pepper, just how hot is this? Not very hot at all. I do feel a "hotness" to this, but I'd rate it as mild-medium.

The natural meat flavors come out very well in this.

As for being a "Jamaican Jerk" style of jerky, I don't have enough experience with Jamaican style cuisine so I can't evaluate it as such. But I can tell you that this is a spicy variety, not so much that it's hot, but just a lot of spice flavorings.

In terms of saltiness, the saltiness is noticeable from the soy sauce, but I don't see each particular piece as being too salty. However, through several pieces that saltiness does build up, and I can feel a salt-burn on the tip of my tongue.

Overall, this has a great taste, and plenty of it. I really like the thyme in this. I'd say, however, that it's the soy sauce that dominates the flavor from start to finish, followed by the natural meat flavors, and the thyme. The rest of the taste is a complex variety of spices and a tinge of burn on the back of the tongue.

Meat Consistency

This appears to be slices of real meat, sliced thin, and in strips of about 5-6 inches in length.

This is a dry jerky, and very dry at that. For the most part it retains its flexibility if bent against the grain without breaking, though some pieces will break a little.

I found some pieces to be rather tough to tear apart, even with the grain. And then I found other pieces that tore apart with the grain very easily. Against the grain is similar, with some being very tough, and others being brittle enough that I could bite and tear off easily.

Chewing is similar, with some being rather tough to eat, and others being easy. But you'll want to suck on a piece for a while to enjoy the flavors anyways.

These strips are very lean, I don't really see any fat, found no gristle, but I did notice some pieces having some chewy bits of tendon or membrane.





Product Value

Green Light Jerky sells this Jamaican Jerk variety from its website at a price of $5.00 for a 2oz bag. That works out to a price of $2.50 per ounce, making this an expensive jerky.

For that price, I'd say that this offers a "so-so" value. It's still has enough value to it because it offers a unique taste, with its combination of thyme, Jamaican Jerk spices, and that slight tinge of burn. If you're a beef jerky lover, you'll definitely want to try this at least once, and in that sense it has some value to it.

Otherwise, for the high price, I'd expect a jerky that's easier to eat.

Rating

I'm giving this a "good" rating.

It's the unique taste combination of thyme, Jamaican Jerk spices, and habanero pepper, that really makes this beef jerky wake up my senses. Then the soy sauce, garlic, and natural meat flavors seem to take over and lasts throughout the chew. This complex abundance of flavors gives it a wonderful snackability that makes it hard for me to resist.

I just found the meat consistency to be too tough to give it the top-of-the-line five-star rating. Even while some of the pieces were easy to tear apart and chew, I found just as many that were tough. The easier-to-eat pieces was like beef jerky heaven, but the tough pieces detracts from my overall enjoyment.

Still, this is a jerky that all jerky afficionados ought to try, just to experience something different.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://www.greenlightjerky.com

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Ju Ju Jerky - Spicy Turkey

Ju Ju Jerky is a relatively new brand of jerky, having broken into the market in 2004. Their focus is on infusing jerky with Caribbean style flavorings.

I had only discovered this brand just a week ago at a local grocery store, while trying to look for beef jerky free of preservatives, and sure enough that's also what Ju Ju Jerky specializes in.

The company is also based in Southern California, so I'm not sure if folks across the states are able to find this in their stores. Ju Ju Jerky does offer sales online.

Last Friday, I reviewed their Turkey Jerky, and gave it a "best" rating. So going into this Spicy Turkey Jerky, I have very high expectations.

Ingredients

Turkey, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, brown cane sugar, lemon pepper, hickory smoke flavor, spices, onion powder.

These ingredients are exactly the same as their plain Turkey Jerky. I'm guessing there's extra stuff in their "spices".

Taste

The taste is pretty much what I recall in Ju Ju's plain Turkey Jerky, with the difference that it is indeed a bit more spicy. It's not hot at all, I'd consider this mild. Lesser-experienced tongues might see this as medium-hot.

The primary taste that comes out of this is the worcestershire sauce, and sweet. After that, I notice the unique Caribbean style flavorings, some garlic, the lemon pepper.

Just like with the plain Turkey Jerky, there isn't much saltiness with this, which is backed up by the fact that the nutrition label shows only 170mg of sodium, probably the lowest level of sodium I've seen with jerky. To me, that's great. I don't like salty jerky.

As for the Caribbean style flavor blend, honestly I can't tell you if this actually mimics what you might find in the Caribbean islands, since I'm not familiar with that cuisine. But I can tell you that I'm definitely tasting a spice blend that is very unique, and something that I can't put to words.

While the flavoring is very good, I don't taste much in the natural turkey meat flavors. The flavoring is so thick and varied, that you don't really notice the meat taste. In fact, I'd have trouble noticing this as turkey. In softening up a piece in my mouth, and sucking out the juices, mostly what I get is the taste of flavorings, not so much meat.

Between the plain Turkey Jerky and this Spicy Turkey Jerky, I like the spicy better. I'm just partial to spicy foods, that's all. If anything, I was kinda expecting something more spicy than this. I mean, I expecting "hot". This is actually just slightly more spicy than the plain. But then again, the packaging doesn't say that it's "hot", just "spicy".

Meat Consistency

These appear to be real slices of meat, sliced in average to thin thickness, and are very easy to tear apart and chew.

The package claims this to be "Moist and Tender", and I would have to agree. The pieces are not dry by my standards. They are very tender, and offer a moist and sticky touch.

I don't find much in the way of tendon or gristle in this review sample. I don't see much fat either; these appear to be very lean pieces.

Overall, the meat consistency provides a very enjoyable jerky experience.





Product Value

I paid $5.99 for this 3.25 ounce bag at an Albertson's grocery store in Menifee, CA. That works out to $1.84 per ounce, putting this in the average price range, but at the upper end.

This definitely provides a great value as a turkey jerky. You often think of turkey jerky as tasting "foul", because that's what it is, a bird. But Ju Ju's brand of turkey jerky is so loaded with flavor that you'd never know it was turkey.

It has great snackability with its complex taste, moist and tender chewing, and overall excellent jerky experience. I can't stop reaching for more.

Not to forget, that this contains no sodium nitrite. Considering that this comes without preservatives, and is able to taste this great, makes it icing on the cake.

Rating

I'm giving this a "best" rating.

This is basically the same as the company's plain Turkey Jerky, which I also rated as "best", but just a little bit spicier. To me, that makes it little bit better.

Being easy to eat, packed full of unique flavoring, free of preservatives, and very low in sodium, I can't see how you'd go wrong buying a bag.

Rating: Best

Buy this online:

• http://www.jujujerkystore.com

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Ju Ju Jerky - Turkey

Ju Ju Jerky is a brand that I only discovered today while replenishing my supplies of jerky for review. I found it at my local Albertson's grocery store here in Southern California.

The company appears to have gotten its start in 2004, offering four varieties of jerky, two of them beef, and two of them turkey. In this article, I'm doing a review of their "original" turkey jerky.

The Ju Ju Jerky brand is focused on marrying jerky with caribbean style flavors, and doing it with no preservatives. Leaving out the preservative is something that I took notice of since I'm now trying to escape from sodium nitrite jerky.

Ingredients

Turkey, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, brown cane sugar, lemon pepper, hickory smoke flavor, spices, onion powder.

Sure enough, no sodium nitrite listed.

Taste

All I can is "Wow!", this turkey jerky has a fabulous taste, and tons of it. There is a clearly evident sweetness to it, and I can detect the worcestershire sauce too. As I let the pieces soften up in my mouth, and I can continue to extract more flavor.

Probably the first taste that hits me is a combination of the sweet, pepper, and worcestershire sauce. I can also detect some garlic too. The pepper adds a slight spiciness to it, something I'd consider mild, but maybe medium hot to some others.

A couple of pieces contained an extra shot of lemon peel, perhaps from the lemon pepper. I found it to be a welcome surprise, adding only more to the flavor complexity.

It's not overly salty either. The nutrition label backs that up, with only 170mg per serving, compared to 400-700mg for most other big brands.

As for tasting the natural turkey meat flavors, I can't really taste much of it. In fact, if I didn't know this was turkey, I'd think it was beef. There is so much flavoring in there, that I don't really taste any natural meat flavors. The consistency does resemble something like turkey however, that is it doesn't tear apart the same way that beef does.

This turkey offers excellent taste, plenty of variety in flavorings, and a mild bit of spiciness.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be real cuts of meat, sliced in average to thin thickness, and in medium to small pieces.

Just as the packaging says, these are indeed "moist and tender". They're very easy to tear apart, and very easy to chew. I find myself breaking apart a piece with my fingers, and then sucking on a piece to extract all the flavors, and it almost melts in my mouth.

I don't see much at all in the way of fat or tendon, but I did find one piece with a streak of gristle. However it was still easy to eat. Otherwise, these are very lean pieces.

Ju Ju Jerky says they use only free range turkey.





Product Value

I paid $5.99 for a 3.25 ounce bag at an Albertson's grocery store in Menifee, CA. That works out to a price of $1.84 per ounce, which is in the average price range, but towards the upper end.

As a general turkey jerky, this offers excellent value, with tons of flavor, plenty of flavor complexity, and is very easy to tear apart and chew. I can't stop reaching for more of this stuff.

Better yet, it contains no preservatives, and no sodium nitrite. Combine that with its great taste, and you've got something worth your money.

I can't tell you if this jerky lives up to its billing as a "caribbean flavored" jerky, since I'm not familiar with that style of cuisine. But it does indeed offer a flavor combination that I haven't encountered in any kind of jerky.

Rating

I'm giving this a "best" rating.

I always put extra weight on the "snackability" of a jerky, and this definitely has me savoring each piece and wanting more. It provides an excellent jerky experience, being tender and moist, and providing an abundance of complex flavors.

In trying to find something negative to say about this, I can't find anything aside from that I don't taste much any of the natural turkey flavors. I always like to taste some resemblance of the meat itself. But then I never really was a big fan of turkey jerky anyways. But I love the seasoning blend so much that I'm going to overlook it.

I'm going to have get me the two other beef jerky varieties of theirs.

Rating: Best

Buy this online:

• http://www.jujujerkystore.com/

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