Jedidiah's Beef Jerky - Cowboy

Billed as one of the company's top selling varieties, this Cowboy style from Jedidiah's Beef Jerky is meant to be a throwback to the old days of campfire cooking, saddle sores, and pesky indians. Jedidiah's Jerky was started by David Coffey, a veteran of the beef jerky business, having taken his first bite of the industry in 1984, when he went to work for Polley's Beef Jerky. In 2005, he went to work for himself by starting Jedidiah's Jerky. Based out of Beatty, NV, Coffey also runs a chain of beef jerky outlets called, "Jed's Jerky", with locations throughout Nevada and California.

This "Cowboy Style" is more of a man's jerky, made with no added sugar, just simple seasonings and strong dose of cracked black pepper corns.

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Jedidiah's Jerky - Beef Brisket Spicy Memphis Style BBQ

This "Spicy Memphis Style BBQ" is a new flavor from Jedidiah's Jerky. It's part of their revamped line up of beef brisket jerky.

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand that we reviewed before (read the reviews here). Some time ago, they reintroduced their line of jerky with new recipes and new branding, and moved their headquarters from Laughlin, NV to Beatty, NV. Jedidiah's Jerky also has since opened up a chain of beef jerky stores called, "Jed's Jerky" throughout Nevada and California.

This "Spicy Memphis Style BBQ" is pretty new, and should start showing up on the company's website soon.

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Jedidiah's Beef Brisket Jerky - Sweet Teriyaki

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand that we reviewed before (read the reviews here). Some time ago, they revamped their line of jerky with new recipes and new branding, and moved their headquarters to Laughlin, NV to Beatty, NV. Jedidiah's Jerky also has since opened up a chain of beef jerky stores called, "Jed's Jerky" throughout Nevada and California.

This new "Beef Brisket" line replaced the company's old "Private Reserve" line, which was also beef brisket. This new recipe has much less sodium than the previous recipe. You can read the previous review of that Private Reserve Teriyaki here.

This "Sweet Teriyaki" jerky is described by the company as being slowly marinated in their special Teriyaki sauce, and claims it to be a, "flavor explosion in your mouth!"

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Jedidiah's Jerky - Hot Cowboy

Based on the company's top selling variety, this Hot Cowboy from Jedidiah's Jerky takes the same recipe and throws on some red chile pepper to sharpen the spurs on this here buckaroo.

Jedidiah's Jerky was started by David Coffey, a veteran of the beef jerky business, having taken his first bite of the industry in 1984, when he went to work for Polley's Beef Jerky. In 2005, he went to work for himself by starting Jedidiah's Jerky. Based out of Beatty, NV, Coffey also runs a chain of beef jerky outlets called, "Jed's Jerky", with locations throughout Nevada and California.

The "Cowboy style" from Jedidiah's Jerky is meant to be a throwback to the old days of campfire cooking, saddle sores, and pesky indians. It's like a "man's jerky", with no sugar added, just simple seasonings and lots of peppery flavor.

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Jedidiah's Beef Brisket Jerky - Jed's Famous BBQ

This "Jed's Famous BBQ" is a new flavor from Jedidiah's Jerky. It's part of their revamped line up of beef brisket jerky.

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand that we reviewed before (read the reviews here). Some time ago, they reintroduced their line of jerky with new recipes and new branding, and moved their headquarters from Laughlin, NV to Beatty, NV. Jedidiah's Jerky also has since opened up a chain of beef jerky stores called, "Jed's Jerky" throughout Nevada and California.

This "Jed's Famous BBQ", we believe, replaces the company's previous, "Jed's BBQ". It seems that since then, his BBQ has gone famous.

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Jedidiah's Beef Brisket Jerky - Sweet & Spicy

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand that we reviewed before (read the reviews here). Some time ago, they revamped their line of jerky with new recipes and new branding, and moved their headquarters to Laughlin, NV to Beatty, NV. Jedidiah's Jerky also has since opened up a chain of beef jerky stores called, "Jed's Jerky" throughout Nevada and California.

This new "Beef Brisket" line replaced the company's old "Private Reserve" line, which was also beef brisket. This new recipe has much less sodium than the previous recipe. You can read the previous review of that Sweet & Spicy here.

This "Sweet & Spicy" beef brisket jerky was also named the favorite jerky in an August 2010 issue of Maxim Magazine.

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Jedidiah's Jerky - Hot Chili Pepper Beef Brisket

This "Hot Chili Pepper" is a new flavor from Jedidiah's Jerky. It's part of their revamped line up of beef brisket jerky.

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand that we reviewed before (read the reviews here). Some time ago, they reintroduced their line of jerky with new recipes and new branding, and moved their headquarters to Laughlin, NV to Beatty, NV. Jedidiah's Jerky also has since opened up a chain of beef jerky stores called, "Jed's Jerky" throughout Nevada and California.

This "Hot Chili Pepper" jerky doesn't come with any additional description or claims.

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Jedidiah's Jerky - Lemon Peppered Beef Brisket

This "Lemon Peppered" is a new flavor from Jedidiah's Jerky. It's part of their revamped line up of beef brisket jerky.

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand that we reviewed before (read the reviews here). Some time ago, they reintroduced their line of jerky with new recipes and new branding, and moved their headquarters to Laughlin, NV to Beatty, NV. Jedidiah's Jerky also has since opened up a chain of beef jerky stores called, "Jed's Jerky" throughout Nevada and California.

This "Lemon Peppered" jerky doesn't come with any additional description or claims.

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Jedidiah's Jerky - Old Fashion Style Original

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand of Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks, of Laughlin, NV. I've reviewed several of their jerky varieties over the past, read them all.

This "Old Fashion Style" is a new line of jerky to their portfolio of varieties, which also includes a Premium line, and a Private Reserve line.

My idea of Old Fashion Style beef jerky is something thick, dry, and chewy, with a simple recipe free of preservatives and automated machinery. Jedidiah's website says this is tenderized however, and goes on to say that this is how jerky was made, "back in the day".

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Jedidiah's Jerky - Habanero Chipotle

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand of Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks of Laughlin, NV. It's a family run business headed by David Coffey, who's been in the jerky sales business since 1984 with various other brands, and who's father was also in the jerky biz.

This particular habanero chipotle variety was just recently released last month, and is part of Jedidiah's "Premium" line, which includes six other varieties, all of which I've reviewed here. However, as of this writing the habanero chipotle is not yet listed on Jedidiah's website. I guessing you can still call them on their toll-free number and get it.

I'm noticing more jerky brands coming out with varieties that include the word "habanero" or "chipotle", or in this case both. The quest for firey hot jerky seems to have a unique following among the hot sauce community. Several hot sauce fan sites include reviews for spicy hot jerky. And since the habanero pepper is one of the hottest peppers around, I'm bracing myself for a serious tongue-scorching.

Ingredients

Beef, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, paprika, spices, garlic, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The tastes I pick up from the surface include a moderate sweet flavor, some chipotle flavor, a good spicy tingle, a garlic flavor, and a moderate salt flavor. In the chewing, I taste some heavier salt flavor, the natural meat flavors, and a chile pepper taste.

My initial thoughts as I continue chewing is that this jerky has a lot of taste intensity, which I've found to be consistent with all of Jedidiah's Premium line of jerky. And like the rest of that Premium line, this jerky has something of a BBQ flavor to it. I'm not sure what ingredients create that flavor, but if you can imagine eating a steak basted with BBQ sauce, and then grilled, it's a similar taste.

As for that spicy hot, it's got a decent burn but is not all that hot. On my scale, I'd rank it as medium. Though I'm used to eating spicy foods, so that might be a medium-hot to some of you.

So does this taste anything like habanero chipotle? Well on the surface of these pieces I can get a well-defined smoky-chile flavor which does seem to resemble chipotle. I don't necessarily get much of that flavor in the chewing. As for tasting the habanero pepper itself, all I can say is that I do taste a chile pepper flavor in the chewing, aside from the chile burn. I can't say that it tastes specifically like habanero, it could be any kind of chile pepper. But it's clearly a chile pepper flavor.

The natural meat flavors are evident, but you're not going to get a strong one. It's just enough to rise up above the other flavors and be enjoyed. I can also taste some the fat in this meat. There is some visible pieces of fat on this jerky, but it tastes like there a good deal of marbilization that you may not be able to see.

I mentioned tasting a moderate sweet flavor in this. That perhaps contributes to the overall BBQ flavor, I can taste it about half-way through the chewing.

There's also a good deal of garlic flavor in this also, which perhaps also adds to the BBQ-like flavor. I can taste it on the surface, all the way through the chewing, and it leaves behind an aftertaste.

The level of salt intensity seems moderate to high. I think it's actually around moderate, but it might seem high only because the flavor gets exacerbated by the spicy hot burn from the habanero chipotle.

I think I can even detect some black pepper in this.

Overall, primary flavor of this jerky is that BBQ sauce-like flavor, with the natural meat flavors being second-most dominant, and the salt being third-most. While the chipotle, and chile pepper flavor is clearly identifiable, along with its burn, I feel that the BBQ, meat, and salt still comprise the dominant flavors overall, from the surface and all the way through the chewing.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, sliced to a medium thickness, and in small to medium sized pieces.

This is probably more similar to a "soft and tender" variety of jerky. I found most of the pieces to have a moist feel, while a few seemed more dry. But overall, it seems easy to tear apart, and easy to chew.

The chewing texture is mostly steak-like once you chew it long enough. The more moist pieces are a tad mushy. But overall, it's a good, meaty texture.

In terms of cleanliness, this jerky tends to leave a bit of chili powder on my finger tips. But other than that, I'm not getting much residue or meat fragments on my lap.

I do see a fair amount of fat on this jerky, and can even taste it. Where I can't see any fat, I can still taste it, perhaps meaning there's a good deal of marbilization. For the most part however, I don't really see this as spoiling the flavor. It actually enhances it, giving it a more beef-like flavor. But I didn't find any chewy connective tissues like tendon or gristle.




Snack Value

Jedidiah's sells all of their Premium varieties of jerky from their website at a price of $6.99 for a 3.5 ounce bag. That works out to a price of $2.00 per ounce, putting this on the border between average and expensive.

For general jerky snacking purposes, and at this price, it's a good value. I found this to be very snackable with its flavor intensity and flavor complexity, as well as being easy to eat and having a good chewing texture. I actually like the BBQ-like flavor, the light-but-identifiable meat flavors, and the well-noticed chipotle flavor.

As a habanero chipole variety, it's another good value. I do indeed taste something on the surface of these pieces that resembles chipotle, and in the chewing I can taste something that resembles chile peppers. I can't say that it has the unique flavor of habanero, all I can say is that it's some kind of chile pepper. For all I know, it may just be some kind of red chile, or jalapeno. But it definitely offers a medium-level burn.

Rating

I'm giving this a best rating.

Flavor intensity is the first thing that comes to mind with this jerky; it has a ton of flavor in each bite. And there's the flavor complexity too. I can identify several different flavors in each bite, from the sugar, the garlic, the meat, the fat marbilization, the salt, the chipotle, the chile pepper, and even some black pepper.

And then the fact that I can still taste the natural meat flavors, is particularly what strengthens the "best" rating. What you have here is a jerky that starts with a natural meat flavor, adds a BBQ-like flavor, packs in a lot of flavor intensity, and complexity, and on top of that stands up to its advertised flavor.

And if that's not enough, it's easy to eat, and has a good chewing texture.

If there's any negative in this, the salt intensity is somewhat on the high side. But I'm not totally certain of that. The saltiness is definitely a major flavor in this jerky, but it may feel more salty due to the burn from the chiles.

My beer recommendation is to try a hefeweizen or wheat beer.

Rating: Best

Buy this online:

• http://www.jedsjerky.com

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Jedidiah's Jerky - Turkey - Original

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand owned by Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks based out of Laughlin, NV. They've been around since 2005. The company was started by David Coffey, a veteran of the jerky marketing business going back to 1984 with Polley's Jerky.

This is actually the brand's first turkey jerky, something they just came out with this month. I had acutally met Coffey in person last October and he told me about a turkey jerky that he was getting ready to launch. I had already reviewed several of his beef jerky varieties, some of which I've awarded best ratings to, and so I've been eagerly awaiting this new turkey.

Looking at the packaging, the meat consistency, and they way the pieces are sliced, it appears this turkey is an extension of Jedidiah's "Private Reserve" line, though it doesn't include those words on the labeling. But unlike their Private Reserve jerky which is sold in 3.65 ounce bags, this turkey weighs in at 3.2 ounces but costs you a couple bucks more. I'm assuming therefore, this stuff is really killer jerky.

Ingredients

Turkey breast meat, soy sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, garlic powder, pepper, worcestershire sauce.

Taste

The tastes I pick up from the surface of these pieces is a good deal of sweet, a salty taste, the soy sauce flavor, and a slightly fishy flavor probably from the worcestershire. In the chewing, the saltiness increases, and I can taste the black pepper, and I also get a garlic flavor in the back of my mouth, and finally a bit of the natural meat flavors.

My initial impression is that there's a lot of flavor intensity with this jerky. Each piece I put into my mouth explodes with flavor, right from the surface taste to the final swallow. And I can't help noticing the flavor complexity. The salty and sweet flavors are easily apparent, but I can also taste the soy sauce, the garlic, the black pepper, some natural meat flavors, and the faint bit of anchovies from the worcestershire sauce.

The sweet and salty flavors however are still dominant in this jerky. It's a toss up between which one dominates this jerky overall, so I'll just combine the two and say it's both. The salt intensity is perhaps on the strong side, and after eating through the bag I find myself needing a drink to relieve a mild salt scorching. This might actually taste saltier if not countered by the heavy sweet flavor.

The second most dominant taste is probably the soy sauce. There's enough of it there to taste off the surface, and in the chewing it makes itself known more clearly.

The third strongest flavor is another combination, this time of the natural turkey meat flavors and the black pepper. They both seem to sit behind the sweet, salty, and soy sauce flavors at equal strength. Some pieces tend to provide a stronger turkey meat flavor, while a few others have a weaker flavor. The same with the black pepper, with some pieces having more visible bits than the others.

Overall, I find the flavor of this jerky to be quite delicious.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slices of whole meat, sliced thin, and in small to medium sized pieces.

It's a moist jerky, being very easy to tear apart, and easy to chew.

Considering the package is labeled, "Made with turkey breast", the chewing texture doesn't feel anything like turkey breast. While there is a fibrous feeling in the chew, it seems to chew more similarly to a "Fruit Roll-up", being rather sticky and somewhat gummy. Once I chew it up well, and get a lot of the sticky sugar out of there, it starts to feel more like meat, but maybe more like turkey leg meat than breast meat.

In terms of clean eating, I don't get any fragments falling on my lap, but these pieces have some stickiness on the surface that remains on my fingertips, and requires some licking. Also, reaching into the bag for each piece will leave some stickiness across my hand.

I didn't find any sizeable amounts of fat, and no chewy connective tissue in sight.




Snack Value

Jedidiah's Jerky sells this turkey variety from its website at a price of $9.99 for a 3.2 ounce bag. That works out to a price of $3.12 per ounce making this a very expensive jerky.

For general jerky snacking purposes, it's a decent value. If it was priced lower, it becomes a better value. Otherwise I found it very snackable with a lot of flavor intensity, and flavor complexity. And then considering how easy it is to tear apart and chew, I can go through this bag very quickly. The chewing texture may not be all that meat-like, but I found the flavor of this jerky to be very enjoyable.

As a turkey jerky, it's a poor value. While I did get some natural meat flavors, it's just not enough to justify this high of a price. The fact that the chewing texture doesn't really feel like turkey kinda adds to that as well. If you want to enjoy turkey jerky for its unique flavor and texture, you'll get very little bang for your buck here. You might argue that turkey jerky is more healthy than beef, and that you could tolerate the higher price because of that. But if what you want is a healthy jerky, you won't find it here with the 820mg of sodium and 12g of carbs per 1oz serving.

Rating

I'm giving this a best rating.

And I'm awarding that rating based on the seasonings and marinade of this jerky. It's got a lot of flavor intensity, even on the surface as well, which lends itself to being enjoyed more slowly. And there's also a good flavor complexity with a lot of components to dissect and enjoy. Each piece I put into my mouth I tried to focus on one particular flavor only to find another flavor creep up to grab my attention. I personally found the overall flavor to be quite delicious. The fact that it's easy to tear and chew adds to the snackability.

The negatives I found with this would include the saltiness being a tad too heavy for my preference, and the chewing texture not resembling much like turkey breast meat. But these things can be overlooked for a great taste and snackability.

This jerky from Jedidiah's is probably only the second turkey jerky brand that has won a best rating on the basis of its seasonings. The other best rated turkey jerkies all won with a strong natural meat flavor.

I think a good beer variety is a light tasting honey blonde ale.

Rating: Best

Buy this online:

• http://www.jedsjerky.com

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Jedidiah's Beef Jerky - Sweet Barbecue

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand produced by Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks based out of Laughlin, NV.

The business was started by David Coffey in 2005. Coffey is a veteran of the meat snack industry having started with Polley's Jerky in 1984, and launching another brand of his, River Run Jerky. His father worked in the jerky business before him.

The Jedidiah's brand was created to represent unique styles and recipes that appeal to the dedicated jerky snacker. This Premium Line of jerky is their standard jerky, while their Private Reserve line is a soft and tender beef brisket variety.

You can watch a video of Coffey talking about his jerky...
http://www.thetalkmarket.com/video/product/446/

Ingredients

Beef, barbecue sauce, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, paprika, spices, garlic, sodium nitrite.

Taste

The surface taste from these pieces gives off an immediate sweetness, with maybe a slight sense of the barbecue sauce. It's mainly in the chew that most of the flavor comes out, and in there I pick up more barbecue taste. Some of the natural meat flavors come out as well.

For being billed as "sweet barbecue", it's certainly sweet, but I think it's more sweet than it is barbecue. There's still a definite barbecue flavor to this, however. In fact, all of Jedidiah's Premium line has this barbecue flavor to it, either on purpose or by accident. This jerky variety actually claims to have barbecue sauce in its ingredients. Meanwhile the other varieties in this line do not, but yet still give off the same barbecue likeness.

Overall, I still enjoy the barbecue flavor very much, and I do enjoy the sweetness also. The garlic in this variety is not as defined as it is in the other Jedidiah's Premium line, I think mostly because the sweetness seems stronger in this. But during the chew, I can pick up garlic more.

The natural meat flavors are present but hard to pick up. First off, it's not a strong meat flavor, it's only slight. But second, the sweet and barbecue flavors do well to drown it out.

The medium-to-high dosage of sodium listed in the Nutrition Facts below might make one turn away, however, I don't really taste the salt that much. While my blood pressure might feel the effects, my taste buds do not. It tells me there's just a moderate amount of salt.

It's largely the sweet, the barbecue, and the salt, in that order, that dominates the taste of this jerky. You'll get a slight resemblance of natural meat flavors and garlic to add to it. Overall, the taste of this combination is plentiful, and you'll find it very lip-smacking.

Meat Consistency

These are cuts of whole meat, sliced into medium and thick slices, and in small to medium sized pieces.

For the most part, this review sample provides a dry jerky, but being familiar with this brand, as well as the private labeler that made this jerky, it can vary. I've seen this as soft and tender. It just varies from package to package.

It's moderately easy to tear apart, and somewhat more easy to chew. You're better off letting a piece soak in your mouth for several seconds just to enjoy all the surface flavor. Then give it some chews and enjoy the flavors that leach out.

As you can see in the photos below, several pieces have bits of fat on them. I didn't find this to ruin the taste at all. The fat was largely tasteless. I did find one larger piece with quite a bit of connective tissue, some tendon and some gristle. It was very tough to tear apart and chew. Otherwise, the rest of the meat looked pretty free of such chewy nonesense.




Product Value

Jedidiah's sells this Premium Honey Barbecue variety from their website at a price of $5.99 for a 3.5oz bag. That works out to $1.71 per ounce, putting this in the average price range.

For general jerky snacking purposes, it's worth buying. It's has a great taste, and decent-to-good meat consistency, that's not excessively salty. It's enough to create some great snackability, that kept me reaching for more.

For being a "sweet barbecue" variety, I found a very delicious barbecue taste that was heavier on the sweet side, with some slight garlic taste, and a bit of natural meat flavors. If you like everything and anything barbecue flavored, then you'll want to spend your money on this.

Rating

I'm giving this a best rating.

This Sweet Barbecue variety from Jedidiah's offers a great taste of sweet barbecue flavor that I found irresistible as a meat lover. While the meat consistency in this review sample is not excellent, it's still not bad. And as I said, that can vary from package to package. And it's not even overly salty by taste. While it was rather weak on natural meat flavors, I still enjoyed this jerky's flavorings quite a bit.

Moreover, this jerky is heavy on flavor, which lends itself to being savored longer in your mouth, and will extend your snacking time.

And if you're going to savor some jerky, then enhance it with a really good beer. Might I suggest a wheat beer (hefeweizen)?

Rating: Best

Buy this online:

• http://jedsjerky.com

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Jedidiah's Beef Jerky - Premium Mild

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand produced by Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks based out of Laughlin, NV.

The business was started by David Coffey in 2005. Coffey is a veteran of the meat snack industry having started with Polley's Jerky in 1984, and launching another brand of his, River Run Jerky. His father worked in the jerky business before him.

The Jedidiah's brand was created to represent unique styles and recipes that appeal to the dedicated jerky snacker. This Premium Line of jerky is their standard jerky, while their Private Reserve line is a soft and tender beef brisket variety.

You can watch a video of Coffey talking about his jerky...
http://www.thetalkmarket.com/video/product/446/

Ingredients

Beef, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, paprika, spices, garlic, sodium nitrite.

Taste

A smoky aroma hits my mouth immediately upon a tasting a piece. I don't know if this jerky is actually smoked or not, but I do sense a smokiness to it. Otherwise, I got a very slight, and brief, sweetness up front, which gave way quickly to a saltiness. Moving into the chew, the garlic comes out more, and I can maybe pick up a subtle natural meat flavor.

For being advertised as a "Mild" variety, there's little anything mild about the taste. It actually has a strong flavor, and a good complexity of flavors to enjoy. I'm guessing the "mild" is in contrast to something hot, and in that sense it is certainly mild.

The taste that dominates this jerky is perhaps the saltiness, along with something comparable to a barbecue sauce taste. It doesn't taste exactly like barbecue sauce, but maybe something similar to the seasoning you'd find on barbecue flavored potato chips. Then, the garlic seems to have a significant taste in this also, but mostly while I'm chewing a piece.

The natural meat flavors are slight. I can identify it without having to search hard, but it doesn't really dominate the chew. The garlic taste is stronger than the natural meat flavors.

Overall, it's a good tasting jerky that relies on salt as its primary flavoring. It only works because it has enough of other flavorings, the garlic, the barbecue taste, to help break up the monotony. But across the entire bag, the saltiness wears on me. For being advertised as a "mild" variety, this might give you a salt scorching if you can't tolerate a lot of salt. So, I'm not really sure that "Mild" is a good way to describe this jerky.

Meat Consistency

These pieces appear to be cuts of whole meat, sliced medium, and in small to medium sized pieces.

For the most part, this is a dry jerky. But I tend to believe that this is mostly due to a variance from one package to another. I've had other varieties from Jedidiah's premium line that were softer or more moist.

It's fairly easy to tear apart and chew. I can bite down on a piece, and tear it apart with my hand without having to struggle. It's not soft or tender by any means, but still not tough.

I found several pieces with some bits or streaks of fat, but otherwise found no tendon or gristle.




Product Value

Jedidiah's sells this Premium Mild variety from their website at a price of $5.99 for a 3.5oz bag. That works out to $1.71 per ounce, putting this in the average price range.

For general jerky snacking purposes, it's a good value. This will give you plenty of flavor, with some flavor complexity, and a great meat consistency as well. It offers some good snackability, though I found the saltiness to wear on me after awhile.

For being advertised as a "Mild" variety, it's certainly mild if you're comparing that to something hot. In that case it's a good value as well, it won't burn your tongue. But it's not mild on flavor; it's loaded with flavor, mostly as salt. It can actually leave you with a salt scorching, depending on your tolerance for salt. You might not see this as being mild at all.

Rating

I'll give this a good rating.

It's a flavor-packed jerky, mostly between the salt, garlic, and barbecue-like seasonings, combined in a meat consistency that sits somewhere between soft and tough. That trio of flavors is enough to keep me interested in this jerky and reach for more and more.

But eventually the saltiness gains strength with each passing piece of jerky. It wears on me, and that causes this jerky to lose its snackability.

It's also rather weak on the natural meat flavors. There's enough there to detect, but not enough to enjoy.

But I still gave it a good rating because it still has a great taste, a complexity of flavors, and a great meat consistency. It still tells me there is something here that's above average.

Find yourself a light tasting beer, like a honey blonde ale, to counter the salt.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://jedsjerky.com

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Jedidiah's Beef Jerky - Private Reserve - Original

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand produced by Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks based out of Laughlin, NV.

The business was started by David Coffey in 2005. Coffey is a veteran of the meat snack industry having started with Polley's Jerky in 1984, and launching another brand of his, River Run Jerky. His father worked in the jerky business before him.

The Jedidiah's brand was created to represent unique styles and recipes that appeal to the dedicated jerky snacker. This Private Reserve line of jerky is a soft and tender beef brisket variety, while their Premium line is the standard jerky.

You can watch a video of Coffey talking about his jerky...
http://www.thetalkmarket.com/video/product/446/

Ingredients

Beef brisket, soy sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, garlic powder, pepper, worcestershire sauce.

Taste

The first taste that hits my tongue is a sweetness, which is very quickly met by a saltiness. With some sucking, I can pick up the soy sauce flavor. Continuing into the chew, I keep getting the salt and soy sauce. In trying to find some natural meat flavors, I don't taste much.

What dominates the taste of this jerky is the soy sauce flavor and accompanying saltiness. It's a very salty jerky, however much of that salty taste is offset by the sweetness of the brown sugar. That sweetness is also very heavy, almost "too sweet", like eating meat candy. It's probably necessary to balance out the heavy salt flavor. As I begin chewing however, it departs and I'm mostly left with the soy sauce and salt.

Every now and then I bite into a chunk of black pepper and get a burst of peppery flavor. Othewrise, the pepper listed in the ingredients is only really experienced as a background taste.

The natural meat flavors are largely missing in this, though some pieces gave me some light tastes. Of what pieces that did offer some meat flavors I got something of a stale or "rank" taste. It didn't taste bad however, for the most part it's still a very palatable jerky.

I can even pick up a little bit of that garlic powder.

Overall, one gets the idea that this is a jerky that had to be extra sweet just to balance the extra salty. Considering this has no added preservatives, and is a semi-moist jerky, it probably had to be extra salty. For the most, what you're enjoying in this is the taste of soy sauce.

Meat Consistency

These appears to be slices of whole meat, cut from beef brisket, sliced thin, and in medium to large pieces.

This is a semi-moist jerky, and is very easy to tear apart and chew.

With beef brisket, there's a lining of membrane covering the top and bottom of the meat. This membrane becomes pretty soft when cooking brisket, but with this jerky it becomes kinda chewy. After swallowing the meat, this membrane stays behind in my mouth. For the most part, I can swallow it without much thought.

Otherwise, this jerky has a good meat consistency that eats really well.




Product Value

Jedidiah's Jerky sells this Private Reserve Original variety from its website at a price of $7.99 for a 3.65oz package. That works out to a price of $2.19 per ounce, putting this into the expensive price range.

For general jerky snacking purposes, it has a decent value. This jerky is actually quite snackable I find. I think the combination of the sweet, salty, soy sauce, and garlic flavors provides enough interest for jerky snackers, while the easy-to-eat consistency helps you keep shoveling more of this stuff into your mouth.

As an original variety, it has a better value just because of those variety of flavors I talked about. Original varieties of jerky often tend to be plain, and this is far from being a plain jerky. You might even argue that this is a teriyaki variety due to its combination of soy sauce and sugar, but a rather incomplete teriyaki variety since it's missing the ginger.

Rating

I'm giving this an average rating.

This original variety from Jedidiah's Private Reserve offers plenty of flavors in the sweet, salty, soy sauce, garlic, and the black pepper in the background, combined with a soft and tender meat consistency.

But it's a very salty jerky that's also very sweet. While I don't mind a heavy sweet taste, I can't handle a heavy salty one. Considering this has a very high 820mg of sodium per ounce, you might want to consult a physician before eating the whole bag, or drink a gallon of water to flush yourself out.

It also has very little natural meat flavors. And what meat flavors it did offer, had something of a stale, but palatable, taste.

I'd advise a beer that's light on flavor and goes down easy, like a honey blonde ale, to counter the heavy salt.

Rating: Average

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• http://jedsjerky.com

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Jedidiah's Beef Jerky - Premium Peppered

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand produced by Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks based out of Laughlin, NV.

The business was started by David Coffey in 2005. Coffey is a veteran of the meat snack industry having started with Polley's Jerky in 1984, and launching another brand of his, River Run Jerky. His father worked in the jerky business before him.

The Jedidiah's brand was created to represent unique styles and recipes that appeal to the dedicated jerky snacker. This Premium line of jerky represents standard beef jerky, while their Private Reserve is a soft and tender beef brisket variety.

You can watch a video of Coffey talking about his jerky...
http://www.thetalkmarket.com/video/product/446/

Ingredients

Beef, water, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, paprika, spices, garlic, sodium nitrite.

Taste

I get a garlic and salt taste immediately upon putting a piece into my mouth. There is also a barbecue-like taste to this, perhaps created by the paprika and garlic. With some chewing, I can pick up some of the natural meat flavors. The black pepper comes through after the swallow.

The predominant taste in this jerky is the salt. After two pieces, I'm getting a salt scorching. Of course, I've been tasting this carefully writing this review, sucking on the pieces for several seconds, and then chewing. You may be able to withstand the saltiness if you chew and swallow more quickly, but then again, I prefer to savor the flavors in all the jerky I eat.

For being a black peppered jerky, there is a decent amount of peppery flavor to enjoy, but it becomes lost in the other flavors. I mostly experience the pepper as an aftertaste.

There is also a good amount of garlic detectable in this. And that barbecue-like taste I mentioned is there also, but not a strong taste. I wouldn't call this a barbecue variety, though some brands might. There's also a sweetness back in there that perhaps adds to the barbecue quality.

As for the natural meat flavors, I can pick it up somewhat, but I think it's largely lost in the other flavorings. I mostly taste it during the chew after much of the seasonings have worn off.

Overall, this is a very flavorful jerky, an intensely flavored jerky, with lots of different flavors taking place, giving the more developed jerky brain something to dissect and identify. The saltiness is something you can't escape from talking about, however. There's too much of it and wears on me.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be pieces of whole meat, sliced medium to thick thickness, and in small to medium sized pieces.

This is a soft and tender jerky, being easy to tear apart, and easier yet to chew. Some pieces were very soft and moist, almost to the point of being room-temperature pot roast. I think this is largely a variance from package to package. Other Premium varieties of Jedidiah's that I've reviewed had been drier and tougher.

I did find some pieces with strands of tendon, but not many. Other pieces appear to have spots of fat. But I found none with gristle. For the most part, this is a good meat consistency, with not much in the way of being chewy.




Product Value

Jedidiah's sells this Premium Peppered variety from their website at a price of $5.99 for a 3.5oz bag. That works out to $1.71 per ounce, putting this in the average price range.

For general jerky snacking purposes, this offers a great value. It's just explodes in your mouth with flavor, and a complexity of flavors that makes you think about what all is in there. Add to it the soft and tender meat consistency, and it creates a great snackability.

As a peppered jerky, it's a good value. There is certainly enough black pepper on these pieces to be seen, and there is a good deal of taste, but it's hard to find with all the flavors competing for attention. If you're really after the black pepper taste, you might see this as a weak buy.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Premium Peppered variety from Jedidiah's Jerky is brimming with a complexity of flavors that covers every part of your tongue, from the spicy pepper, the slight sweetness in the background, and the salty. You might even find this to have a barbecue-like taste to it. And the soft and tender texture helps you down this stuff quickly.

But that saltiness, it's just too much for me to handle on an on-going basis. This is a jerky that I'd love to eat, but not as part of my regular staple of jerky. The flavors are great, but my mouth gets scorched from the salt.

But I really love a jerky that packs in a lot of flavors, and this one does it. It'd be great to get more of the natural meat flavors, but then again, it could have been lost in the other flavors, or lost from the tenderization process, who knows.

I'd recommend a beer that's light on flavor, like a honey blonde ale, to counter the saltiness.

Rating: Good

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• http://www.jedsjerky.com

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Jedidiah's Beef Jerky - Private Reserve - New Sweet & Spicy

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand belonging to Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks based out of Laughlin, NV.

The business was started by David Coffey in 2005. Coffey is a veteran of the meat snack industry having started with Polley's Jerky in 1984, and launching another brand of his, River Run Jerky. His father worked in the jerky business before him.

The Jedidiah's brand was created to represent unique styles and recipes that appeal to the dedicated jerky snacker. This Private Reserve line of jerky is a soft and tender beef brisket variety, while their Premium line is the standard jerky.

You can watch a video of Coffey talking about his jerky...
http://www.thetalkmarket.com/video/product/446/

Noticing the ingredients list below, this variety contains "tapatia", which I assume is Tapatia sauce, a popular brand of hot sauce.

Ingredients

Beef brisket, soy sauce, brown sugar, Tapatia sauce, jalapeno peppers, lemon juice, garlic powder, black pepper, worcestershire sauce.

Taste

I get a strong sweetness upon putting a piece into my mouth. There's also a chile pepper flavor that comes through immediately as well. Salty is another significant taste that comes on strong. I can taste the soy sauce in there also.

For being advertised as a sweet & spicy variety, I'd say it certainly fits the bill. It's more sweet than it is spicy, however. If you want to differentiate "spicy" as opposed to "hot", it does have a lot of spicy flavorings that I can detect. The chile pepper taste, which perhaps comes from the Tapatia and jalapeno peppers, give it that spicy bite. But it's not very hot, at least not as hot as the company's Hot & Spicy Teriyaki, that I reviewed earlier. This is probably medium by my standards.

The saltiness is well defined in here, it's what I would classify as "too salty". The saltiness is actually the predominant taste in this. There's enough of the other flavors and seasonings that I can taste to offset the saltiness, but it's actually reverse. The other flavors and seasonings would come out a lot more if it weren't so salty.

The natural meat flavors do show up, but are hard to find mainly because the other flavorings drown it out. If anything there is a slight stale taste to this meat, but it's not really that bad. The flavorings and seasonings do a pretty good job to mask it.

This jerky is sprinkled with tiny jalapeno seeds. Every now and I then I bite into one and get a burst of jalapeno flavor.

Overall, this is jerky has a great taste, offering a complexity of flavors between the soy sauce, sweet, jalapeno pepper, Tapatia sauce, and salt. I could get addicted to this if it weren't so salty.

Meat Consistency

These are whole slices of beef brisket, and sliced thin. The strips are thin enough, and sticky enough, that they clump up into small bite sized peices.

This is a soft and tender jerky, being semi-moist. It's very easy to tear apart and chew. You don't even need teeth to eat this.

The stickiness I described remains in very small amounts on my fingers, but not enough so that I have lick them off before typing.

Being made from brisket, there is indeed quite a bit of membrane to be seen on the edges of these slices, but I haven't found it chewy at all. Everything chews very easily. Otherwise, no tendon or gristle to be found.

Overall, this has a great meat consistency.




Product Value

Jedidiah's Jerky sells this New Sweet & Spicy variety from its website at a price of $7.99 for a 3.65oz package. That works out to a price of $2.19 per ounce, putting this into the expensive price range.

For general jerky snacking, this has a decent value. It's very tasty, and has a taste that lasts all throughout the chew, and is very easy to eat. It's very snackable. I'd call it an excellent value if it were priced about 50 cents less per ounce.

For being advertised as a sweet & spicy variety, it's also a decent value. It certainly is sweet & spicy, but for a price of $2.19 per ounce, you can find much cheaper sweet & spicy brands.

But you might be intrigued with the unique taste this offers, with the jalapeno and Tapatia sauce, and its unusually soft consistency. It's worth buying to just experience it.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This New Sweet & Spicy variety from Jedidiah's Private Reserve offers a very pleasing taste for folks who love spicy jerky that's not necessarily hot, and provides a very soft and tender texture.

I just found it too salty for my liking. I could give it a best rating if it only toned down the saltiness.

Otherwise, I really enjoy the flavor of this. For me personally, anytime you add jalapeno peppers and hot sauce, you get something that finds favor from me.

To make a beer recommendation, the heavy sweetness in this warrants something light on taste, in fact a hefeweizen or wheat beer sounds good.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://www.jedsjerky.com

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Jedidiah's Beef Jerky - Premium Honey

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand of Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks, based out of Laughlin, NV.

The brand was created by David Coffey, who previously produced the River Run Jerky brand. Before that he was involved with Polley's Jerky, and has been in the jerky industry since 1984. He actually follows in his father's footsteps in the meat snacks biz.

The Jedidiah's brand is meant to represent various styles of jerky that appeal to a more discriminating jerky snacker. This Premium line represents the brand's standard jerky, while their Private Reserve line represents a soft and tender beef brisket jerky.

Ingredients

Beef, honey, salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, paprika, spices, garlic, sodium nitrite.

Taste

I get a sweet taste upon first putting a piece into my mouth. That's followed by the saltiness, and a black peppery taste as well. I can also get some garlic taste too. With some chewing, I can pick up some of the natural meat flavors.

Being advertised as a Honey variety, there is indeed a fair amount of sweetness in this, but it's not the dominant flavor. The saltiness and black pepper seems to get greater attention. Most of the sweetness comes off the surface of these pieces, when a piece first enters my mouth.

And while the saltiness is more defined than the sweet, I wouldn't call this "too salty". Even with 580mg of sodium per 1oz serving, a high amount, there's enough sweetness in it to offset any salt scorching.

The black pepper has a moderate flavor in this jerky. It's enough to be noticed, but doesn't leave a strong aftertaste in the back of my mouth. The garlic, likewise, is also just enough to be noticed, but won't leave you smelling like an Olive Garden restaurant.

The natural meat flavors are there, but not well distinguished. I can get more of the taste after letting a piece soften up in my mouth for several seconds, and then chewing.

There's also a very slight barbecue taste to this, perhaps a culmination of the honey, garlic, and paprika.

Overall, this jerky is packed with flavor, and a complex flavor with plenty of components to identify. It would be better to get more of the natural meat flavors, but I still enjoy the seasonings and marinade quite a bit.

Meat Consistency

This jerky appears to be slices of whole meat, cut into medium and thick slices, and in small to medium sized pieces.

It's a dry jerky, with some pieces ranging from flexible to rigid. Some pieces can bend without breaking, while others break.

Some of the pieces are easy to tear apart, but others require some effort to pull apart and bite off. Chewing is maybe the same, but perhaps a little more easier.

There's a few small bits of fat that I can see, but otherwise nothing chewy in the way of tendon, gristle, or membrane.

Overall, this is a good meat consistency, just a little too tough in some pieces.




Product Value

Jedidiah's sells this Premium Honey variety from their website at a price of $5.99 for a 3.5oz bag. That works out to $1.71 per ounce, putting this in the average price range.

For general jerky snacking purposes, this has a great value because of its great taste, its flavor complexity, and its good meat consistency. I find it very snackable for these reasons, and can't help but reach for more.

As a honey variety, it has an "good" value, because it's still sweet enough to warrant the Honey advertisement, however the other flavorings come on strong and competes against it for attention. Most of the honey taste comes in the first several seconds. It's the salt and black pepper that dominates through the chew.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Premium Honey variety from Jedidiah's Jerky offers a wonderful flavor complexity, allowing a jerky lover to enjoy several different taste components, in a good meat consistency.

I'm only dinging it for being somewhat tough in about half of the pieces. The toughness can be mitigated by letting a piece soften up in your mouth before chewing. More than likely, the toughness/softness varies from package to package.

Otherwise, this jerky has a flavor that will keep jerky afficionados busy dissecting the flavors they're tasting.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://www.jedsjerky.com

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Jedidiah's Beef Jerky - Private Reserve - Teriyaki

Jedidiah's Jerky is a brand belonging to Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks of Laughlin, NV. It's been around since 2005, owned and operated by David Coffey.

Coffey launched the brand to represent lines of specialty beef jerky that afficionados would enjoy. He's a veteran of the jerky snack business going back to 1984, when he started out with Polley's Jerky and later on launched a previous brand, River Run Jerky. His father was also a veteran of the jerky snack business.

This line of "Private Reserve" represents a a very soft and tender beef brisket jerky, while their "Premium" line is more of the standard beef jerky.

Ingredients

Beef brisket, teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, pineapple juice, garlic powder, worcestershire sauce, honey, pepper, ginger.

Taste

I get a strong sweet taste immediately upon putting a piece into my mouth, with a saltiness coming on just seconds later. The natural meat flavors start showing through after that, and in the chews I can detect some garlic.

The teriyaki sauce is there, but I can't really say that it's a strong teriyaki taste, mostly because the sweetness is so strong. Or perhaps it's better to say that the teriyaki sauce is more heavy on the sweet side, and less on the soy sauce.

The saltiness is well pronounced in this, however the heavy sweetness balances it out and doesn't really give me a salt-scorching.

The natural meat flavors show up in the chews, but I can't say it's a strong taste, mainly because it's masked by the heavy sweet and salty flavoring. There is also a very slight "rank" meat taste, or stale taste. Note that this jerky contains no sodium nitrite, no oxygen absorption packet, and is not vacuum sealed.

As for the other seasonings, I can detect the garlic, but mostly during the chewing. For the most part, I don't really taste the black pepper, though there were some cracks and crevices in this jerky that had concentrated amount of pepper, and gave off a good peppery taste. The ginger is something I can sense in the teriyaki sauce.

When I let a piece soften up in my mouth for several seconds, I mostly get the heavy sweet flavor, with some saltiness. But the salt really comes out once I start chewing.

Overall, this is a sweet & salty variety of jerky. You could rightfully call it a teriyaki variety, but only if you call it an extremely sweet teriyaki. This stuff is basically "meat candy", and is supported by the very high 13g of carbs per 1oz serving on the nutrition label.

Meat Consistency

This appears to be whole cuts of real meat, sliced thin, and in strips of ranging from 5-10 inches in length.

This is a soft and tender variety of jerky, though not necessarily moist. It's very easy to tear apart and chew. In fact, it's so easy to eat that I find myself having to slow down so that I don't run out before finishing writing this review.

As with beef brisket, there's a good deal of marbilization, and plenty of "membrane" covering the edges of these slices. That membrane does remain in my mouth in a little chewy ball, but can be easily swallowed. Otherwise, I don't find any tendon or gristle.

If I could recommend a beer with this jerky, it would be a watery beer, something very light on flavor, maybe a Bud Lime.

Overall, this jerky has a great meat consistency that doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of the flavors.




Product Value

Jedidiah's Jerky and Gourmet Snacks sells this Teriyaki variety from its website at a price of $7.99 for a 3.65oz package. That works out to a price of $2.19 per ounce, putting this into the expensive price range.

For general jerky snacking purposes, this has a decent value considering it's packed with a lot of flavoring (mostly sweet & salty), is very easy to eat, and provides a lot of snackability. If it were priced about 50 cents lower per oz, I'd say it would have an excellent value.

As a teriyaki variety, that value could swing either way depending on your tastes. If you like heavily sweet teriyaki, then it's a great value being that's exactly what this is. Otherwise you might see this as being a waste of money for something that tastes like meat candy.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This teriyaki variety from Jedidiah's Private Reserve offers a very soft and easy-to-eat jerky with a liberal dose of sweet teriyaki taste against a good natural meat flavor.

But that teriyaki flavor is extremely sweet, to the point where you might find yourself making a face and handing it off to your toddler to stop him from crying.

Nutritionwise, this is one of the worst, being very high in carbohydrates (for jerky anyways), high in sodium, and high in calories. However, it's lower in cholesterol than most jerky. This isn't a jerky you'd want to diet with.

But I still find it quite snackable, and it's easy-to-eat consistency has me eating it very quickly. Considering it's high price point, you'd have to train yourself to eat this slowly or else that $7.99 price might only provide you with 5 minutes of snacking fun.

Rating: Good

Buy this online:

• http://www.jedsjerky.com

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