This marks jerky review #50 for this web site. Just for fun, I will do a review on my own jerky, which is not for sale. I suppose this will be called the Jerky Ingredients brand name. This review will be on a 2.1 ounce/60 gram bag of beef jerky of which I call my extreme garlic flavor.
I started experimenting making jerky in 2008. While I have dabbled with 8 flavors so far, extreme garlic has always been my favorite flavor. What gives the ‘extreme’ garlic flavor is the sheer amount of fresh garlic that I use. While the ingredient list has changed many times over the years, fresh garlic has always been a mainstay. I don’t even use garlic powder anymore, it’s not really needed with the fresh garlic taste being so dominant.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Bragg Liquid Soy (Soybean Vegetable Protein, Purified Water), Garlic, Lea & Perrins® Worcestershire Sauce (Malt Vinegar (Barley), Spirit Vinegar, Water, Refiner’s Molasses, Sugar, Salt, Anchovies (Fish), Tamarind Extract, Onions, Garlic, Spice, Flavors), Organic Sugar, Sea Salt, Black Pepper Allergen Warnings: Anchovies and Soy
When I made this particular batch of extreme garlic jerky, I had no idea that I would be doing a review on it. Ironically, this was the first time in about 4 years where I did not use ethically, grass fed raised beef. Just your standard inside round roast, which is my favorite cut of beef for making homemade jerky.
This jerky is inundated with super healthy fresh garlic. The type of garlic that you use makes a world of difference. Avoid using already peeled garlic, in particular from China, because there is very little garlic taste. Instead use fresh, loose garlic.
For soy sauce, I chose to use Bragg Liquid Soy. It is a healthier choice compared to your standard soy sauce, although that claim is somewhat controversial. The soy beans are not traditionally fermented, hydrochloric acid is added instead. Good or bad, and something I do not currently expand upon in this web site, Bragg Liquid Soy is advertised as GMO Free (Genetically Modified Organism). I am not a fan of GMO products, but because labeling is not currently legally required, I leave the topic alone in this web site for now.
A nutrition facts table is not available. As a result, the exact sugar and salt levels are unknown. I do know that very little organic sugar is used. The salt level is likely at an average level. Regardless, it is mostly sea salt, which is a much better alternative to highly processed table salt.
This jerky does qualify to have no sodium nitrite used, or any other similar unhealthy preservative. Instead, sea salt is the main preservative. This jerky also qualifies as having no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
This was my first jerky batch using my new commercial grade food slicer. The last three years or so, I had been using a knife after giving up on a cheap food slicer. The jerky strips are mostly medium thickness with a wide variety of sizes. This was the most soft and tender batch I have made to date.
I have two goals when making my extreme garlic flavor. One, I want the garlic flavor to be overpowering. Second, I want a noticeable black pepper kick for the aftertaste. This batch of jerky works on both levels.
It’s not the strongest garlic tasting batch that I have made, and not the best quality garlic used this time. I used a blender for the marinade. In this batch, I blended the garlic too much. As a result, I find this batch tastes more like garlic juice. It’s a fine line blending the garlic just small enough to not fall off the strips of beef.
The jerky is mildly sweet, and not that noticeable. The liquid soy and worcestershire sauce flavors permeated but overall the garlic taste stands out most. For my standards, this was a very soft and tender type of batch, pretty much borderline of not being too soft and tender.
If I am selling my jerky between friends to cover the costs, I ask $5.00 for a 2.1 ounce/60 gram bag, even though the price of beef has more than doubled since 2010. That works out to $2.38 an ounce. That is a just a few cents over the maximum threshold of an average price. Absolutely this jerky would be worth your money.
Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
A rather plain, boring looking bag. The plastic bag itself is decent. It’s transparent, resealable, and has a hole on the top to hang on hooks. After that, there is a green label affixed that states a garlic flavor.
For the bag, we paid about 5 cents, which would be cheaper if we ordered 10,000 or more at a time instead of 1,000. The label cost about 30 cents, where again, it would be cheaper if we ordered them in much larger quantities.
There are too many bag categories missing to list them all.
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