The next review on Tillamook Country Smoker will be on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of their all natural smokey teriyaki beef jerky flavor. The Tillamook Country Smoker team graciously submitted this jerky for review.
The Tillamook Country Smoker jerky brand name is manufactured and distributed by Tillamook Country Smoker Inc., located in Bay City, Tillamook County, Oregon. They have been in business for over 50 years, and rank well within the top 10 jerky makers in annual sales for North America. It all started with providing jerky to brave pioneers who often walked every step of the 2000 mile long grueling Oregon Trail. According to Tillamook Country Smoker, the original Oregonians, the Native Americans indigenous to the area, taught settlers how to make jerky.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Contains Beef, Water, Brown Sugar, Sugar, Sea Salt, Soy Sauce Powder [Soy Sauce (Soybeans, Rice, Salt), Maltodextrin, Salt], Beef Stock, Natural Flavors. Allergen Warnings: Soy
Due to the volume of beef utilized daily at Tillamook Country Smoker, there is no guarantee that the beef used is not fed growth hormones and/or additional antibiotics. The same would be true for partially grass fed cattle. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.
The liquid marinade is comprised of just water, and beef stock. That is an interesting choice to use beef stock, which is high on minerals.
The sugar level is high at 7 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. For a sweet based flavor such as teriyaki, the preference is 5 grams of sugar or less. The salt level is high at 450mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. Our preference is 350mg of salt or less.
This jerky does qualify to have no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservative. Sea salt is high in minerals, and is the main preservative used, which is far less refined than table salt. Also, this jerky has no MSG added.
Decent (7/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
Most of the strips are fairly small in size, with a medium thickness. This texture is borderline from being soft and tender, which results in jerky that is easy to chew. There are no visible signs of fat on this jerky. Handling this jerky does leave a little bit of oily residue on your fingers.
First detected is a light smoky flavor. The sweetness is apparent also, but thankfully only moderately. There is a light soy taste, and a moderate saltiness level. There is also a light taste combination of the onion powder and garlic powder, but more so the onion powder.
The natural beef flavor is masked fairly well, where this jerky has a slightly processed taste. Overall, this flavor does have pleasant taste, but misses to a certain extent on a classic tasting teriyaki flavor with an Asian flare.
This 3 ounce/85 gram bag of Tillamook Country Smoker teriyaki flavor sells online for $4.00. That works out to $1.33 an ounce, which is a cheap price. There is free shipping for any order over $45. At only $1.33 an ounce, you are getting good value for your money.
Bag Review
No labels are on this bag, and everything is imprinted directly on the bag itself, on both sides. Tillamook Country Smoker shows some originality using their logo as the partial transparent window to actually view the jerky. As a first, while this bag is resealable, it uses glue, or some sort of adhesive to close the bag.
The Tillamook Country Smoker company registered trademark logo is a circle with a ‘T’ in the middle. On the back of the bag, there is an informative blurb describing Tillamook Country Smoker and their jerky.
There are many slogans printed on this bag such as “Natural Wood Smoked”, “All Natural”, “Minimally Processed”, “No Preservatives Added”, “No Artificial Ingredients”, “97% Fat Free”, “Gluten Free”, “No Nitrites”, “No MSG Added”, “Made With Sea Salt”, “Made in the USA”, “0g Trans Fat”, and “10g of Protein”.
All bag categories are covered, with some worthy notes. To the credit of Tillamook Country Smoker, they provide a toll free phone number for customer inquiries. Also admirable is that this bag has an Export Gift Pack, meaning you can legally send this jerky to your friends and family who live overseas.
Excellent (10/10) – Bag Rating
Order their jerky online: www.tcsjerky.com
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