North to Alaska by Motorcycle

Just wanted to update everyone. I'm on my 10th day of a 30 day motorcycle ride from my home in Southern California to Alaska. I'm currently in Anchorage.

Today I'm heading up towards Denali National Park, and then later this week to Fairbanks. I should be back home in the middle of July and ready to hit the jerky again.

Surprisingly, most bars and taverns along the road now have Internet access, and even the campgrounds have it too. I brought a little netbook with me to get online. I've only found a couple of remote places out in the Yukon where I couldn't get Internet nor cell phone.

If you want, follow my travels on my motorcycle blog...

http://www.motorcyclephilosophy.org/

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Montana Jerky Co. - Hot Beef Jerky

Next in the series on Montana Jerky Co. is this Hot variety. See my review of their Original beef jerky.

Montana Jerky Co. is a brand of Vandevanter Meats, Inc. based out of Columbia Falls, MT. Vandevanter Meats also does game and livestock meat processing. The company says they use beef from young steer (not cows or bulls), explaining that it provides a more tender and pleasing jerky. They also make heavy reference to their jerky as "Grand Champion" jerky, explaining that it wins awards every year.

They make five different flavors of beef jerky, including a sixth buffalo jerky.

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Old Trapper Beef Jerky - Chipotle Carne Seca

Next in the series on Old Trapper Beef Jerky is this Chipotle Carne Seca variety. See my review of their Old Fashioned beef jerky.

Old Trapper is a brand of Old Trapper Smoked Products, Inc., based out of Forest Grove, OR. The company has been making beef jerky since 1969 in their own USDA inspected facility. They claim to smoke their jerky over real hardwood.

I found this particular brand at the The Beef Jerky Store in Las Vegas, NV, otherwise I haven't run across it here in Southern California.

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Mountain Ranch Jerky - Original Peppered

Continuing the series on Mountain Ranch Jerky is this Original Peppered Beef variety. Read my reviews of their other flavors.

Mountain Ranch Jerky is a brand of Mountain Ranch Smokehouse located in Fruitland, UT. The company is mostly known for its jerky products, but also smokes hams and turkeys, and makes meat sticks too. They also have a restaurant where you can get yourself a burger or steak.

Mountain Ranch claims that all their jerky is cut by hand, and smoked over real mesquite wood. They make jerky in their own USDA inspected facility.

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Pecos Bill Beef Steak Nuggets - Original

Pecos Bill is a brand owned by Marfood USA. Marfood USA is the new name of Mirab USA, which is the largest private labeler of beef jerky. Marfood USA is owned by Marfrig Group, a Brazilian-based food manufacturer.

Marfood USA also owns the Pemmican brand of beef jerky. From my observations, both brands of jerky offer the same exact recipe and cuts of meat.

These "Beef Steak Nuggets" from the Pecos Bill brand appears to be an answer to the nuggets that Jack Link's produced with much success. I found them at The Beef Jerky Store in Las Vegas, NV.

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Jeff's Famous Jerky - Original

Jeff's Famous Jerky is one of the newest brands of jerky having just launched last week. It's owned by the company of the same name, based out of Big Bear City, CA.

Jeff Richards has been making beef jerky since the 1970s perfecting his recipe year after year. His love for cooking took him into the restaurant business for over 20 years. He currently runs a consulting company called Creative Business Adventures where he helps entrepreneurs achieve success.

Jerky has been one of Jeff's favorite snack foods and in 2006 he started working on creating his own beef jerky brand.

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Longview Beef Jerky - Honey Garlic

Continuing with the series on Longview Beef Jerky is this Honey Garlic beef jerky. Read my reviews of their other flavors.

Longview Beef Jerky is a brand of Longview Meat & Merchandise Ltd., based out of Longview, Alberta, Canada. The company has been making their jerky for the past 30 years. They claim their beef jerky is made from Canadian grown cattle. You can't buy Longview Beef Jerky in the USA, but you can find it at gas stations and stores throughout Canada.

The company sent me samples because rodeo is a really big deal in Alberta, and every July the Calgary Stampede attracts cowboy fans from the USA up into that area.

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Hickory's Best Beef Jerky - Old Fashioned

Hickory's Best is a brand of Enjoy Foods International, based out of Fontana, CA. Enjoy Foods also makes the Enjoy brand of beef jerky which I reviewed previously.

I want to say that I've seen Hickory's Best beef jerky over the past several years, but I can't place where. Enjoy Foods has been making jerky since 1971, but I don't believe they owned the Hickory's Best brand for very long. Enjoy Foods is actually owned by a company called Saab Enterprises.

I think the Hickory's Best brand is meant to be the cheaper, low quality alternative to the company's Enjoy brand of beef jerky. The company makes both brands of jerky in their own USDA inspected facility.

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Fatman's Beef Jerky - Habanero

The next of the newest flavors from Fatman's Beef Jerky is this Habanero variety. See my reviews of their other flavors.

Fatman's Beef Jerky is a brand of Red Meat Foods, LLC, based out of Roswell, NM, and run by a guy named Rick Robey. Prior to launching Fatman's, Rick owned and operated a holstein calf raising business for 30 years as well as a USDA inspected packing plant.

All of Fatman's jerky is made from inside rounds of American-raised beef, marinated for 24 hours in Robey's own homemade recipes. He makes all his jerky in his own USDA inspected facility.

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Tony's Killer Beef Jerky - Sweet 'N' Hot

Next in the series on Tony's Killer Beef Jerky is this Sweet 'N' Hot variety. See my review of their Smokehouse Original beef jerky.

Tony's Killer Beef Jerky is a brand of Beaver Mountain Distributors of Beaver, UT. Their jerky is actually made by Springville Meat & Cold Storage in Springville, UT.

I'm not sure what stores you can find this jerky in, and it doesn't appear they have a website where you can order it online. I found this brand at a roadside jerky stand on Highway 76 just outside of Pala, CA.

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