Back in 2012, I made an online purchase of Midwest Grills beef jerky. This review will focus on a 3 ounce/28 gram bag of their ghost fire flavor.
The Midwest Grills jerky brand is manufactured and distributed by Midwest Grills & BBQ Supplies located in Smithville, Missouri. To the best of my knowledge, Midwest Grills & BBQ Supplies have gone out of business, who started in 2010. Their phone number has since been discontinued, and their web site is broken. They sold at least 8 different flavors when I made the online purchase.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Contains Jalapeno, Habanero & Naga Jolokia (Ghost Peppers)
The beef used is not guaranteed to be free of growth hormones or additional antibiotics. Also, the beef is not guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.
This absolutely cannot be the entire ingredient list. It appears that Midwest Grills jerky only used a dry rub, meaning no sauces for a marinade, just dry spices were used. Hot peppers are known to be healthy if eaten in moderation.
Ghost peppers for a couple of years were the hottest peppers in the world. They are not the hottest pepper on record anymore, but they are still insanely hot. Ghost peppers made it to the Guinness Book of World Records after tests showed them to have more than 1 million Scoville units, a system used to measure the heat of chili peppers varieties. For comparison, habanero and scotch bonnet chili peppers rank 100,000–350,000 on the Scoville scale.
There is no nutrition facts table provided. As a result, the exact sugar and salt levels are unknown.
Midwest Grills & BBQ Supplies advertises their jerky to have no MSG added and no sodium nitrite. Those two claims cannot be verified.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
This jerky did have a dry texture. I can handle a fair amount of heat, but ghost peppers can push me over the limit. However, this ghost fire flavor was manageable from a heat perspective. Overall, it was an enjoyable hot flavor.
I paid $6.99 for this 3 ounce/85 gram bag. That would equate to $2.33 an ounce, which is a borderline average price to pay. This jerky would have been recommended as worth your money.
Bag Review
The bag itself is of average size, not resealable, and no hole to hang on hooks. Nor is there any slits for easy opening. There is just a label affixed to the front, and nothing on the back.
There is a picture of a burning fire, which is appropriate, where ghost peppers are insanely hot. There are no slogans printed on this bag. The only thing printed on this bag is “Refrigerate or eat within 3 days”.
There are multiple bag categories missing. Some standard bag categories missing here are a logo, nutrition facts table, expanded ingredient list, USDA inspected logo, bar code, slogans, blurb about Midwest Grills & BBQ Supplies, the jerky weight not stated, and a best before date.
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