This marks jerky review #100 for Jerky Ingredients. On review #50, for fun, I did a review on my own extreme garlic flavored jerky. For now, I will continue that tradition with a review on a 2.1 ounce/60 gram bag of my extreme peppered flavor.
I started making homemade jerky in 2008. For each batch of jerky I use 16-17 pounds of beef in my food dehydrator. Keep in mind that close to 2/3 of the jerky weight will evaporate during the drying process. For this extreme peppered flavor I use black pepper powder and cracked black pepper. There is a liberal amount of garlic on this jerky also.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Bragg Liquid Soy (Soybean Vegetable Protein, Purified Water), Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (Malt Vinegar (Barley), Spirit Vinegar, Water, Refiner’s Molasses, Sugar, Salt, Anchovies (Fish), Tamarind Extract, Onions, Garlic, Spice, Flavors), Organic Garlic, Organic Sugar, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Cracked Black Pepper Allergen Warnings: Anchovies and Soy
The cut of beef is inside round. Nothing special, just purchased from a local grocery store. Normally, I would use ethically raised beef that had free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.
The liquid marinade is comprised of just Bragg Liquid Soy and a good Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. For soy sauce, I prefer to use Bragg Liquid Soy. It is a healthier choice compared to your standard soy sauce, although that claim is somewhat controversial. The soybeans are not traditionally fermented, hydrochloric acid is added instead. Something not currently expanded upon in this web site, Bragg Liquid Soy is advertised as GMO Free (Genetically Modified Organism). GMO labeling is not currently legally required, so the topic is ignored for now.
Organic garlic is used, where it does not get any better than that. The peppered taste comes from a combination of black pepper and cracked black pepper, where some people call black pepper the King of Spices.
As for preservatives, there is no sodium nitrite added, or any other similar type of unhealthy preservatives. Instead, minimally processed sea salt is the main preservative, which is also high on minerals and trace minerals. There is no MSG added to this jerky.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
Most of the strips are medium sized. This is the thickest batch of jerky that I have made to date, being borderline thick. The texture is dry, where you would not want it any drier. There is a little bit of fat visible, which enhances the natural beef flavor. Handling this jerky leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
The first taste detected is the black pepper, followed by a moderate soy flavor. In the background there is a noticeably pleasant garlic taste. As more strips are consumed, the black pepper taste intensifies. There is only a light salty and sweet taste. After consuming the whole bag, your mouth feels like it is on fire from all the ground and cracked black pepper.
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, making it a borderline expensive price, where $2.35 is the cut off point for an average price. This jerky is absolutely worth the money, homemade jerky is awesome.
Excellent (10/10) – 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.
Leave a Comment