The next review on Butterball turkey jerky will be on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of their oven roasted teriyaki flavor. This bag of jerky was purchased at a ShopRite store in Greenwich, New Jersey, in December 2013.
Butterball is the famous brand name for turkey, located in Garner, North Carolina. The Butterball jerky brand name was launched in May 2013. Using an excerpt from the Butterball web site: “Butterball Turkey Are All Natural, Gluten-Free and Raised Without Hormones on American Farms”. This jerky is manufactured and distributed by the very successful private label company Monogram Foods, LLC based out of Memphis, Tennessee. Technically, that qualifies this jerky as using a stock recipe.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Turkey, Water, Sugar, Soy Sauce (Water, Soybeans, Rice, Salt), Fructose, Brown Sugar. Contains 2% or Less of Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Maltodextrin, Salt, Disodium Inosinate & Guanylate, Citric Acid, Sodium Erythorbate, Flavorings, Paprika Oleoresin, Sodium Nitrite. Allergen Warnings: Soy
This turkey is American Humane certified, which means the turkey had some sort of free range access. The turkey are hormone free, which qualifies the turkey used to be ethically raised.
The liquid marinade consists of just water and a decent soy sauce.
The sugar level is a bit high at 6 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. For a sweet based flavor such as teriyaki, the preference is 5 grams of sugar or under. The salt level is respectable at 220mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky.
As for preservatives, both the unhealthy sodium nitrite and sodium erythorbate are used. To a lesser extent, citric acid is a preservative also, and somewhat healthy if manufactured properly.
While this bag is advertised as “No MSG Added”, we respectfully disagree. The highly processed flavor enhancer hydrolyzed corn protein is a form of MSG, and also a type of trans fat. Both disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate work in conjunction with flavor enhancers, to enhance the flavor even stronger.
Average (5/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
The majority of these strips are small in size, with a medium thickness. It’s a good, dry texture, where the strips are easy to chew. There is no fat to be seen anywhere, and handling this jerky leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
The natural turkey flavor is the most dominant taste, but it tastes a bit processed. There is a light soy taste, but nothing stands out that would make you think this is a teriyaki flavor. This seems more like an original flavor. For a teriyaki flavor, thankfully, it is not overly sweet. The saltiness level is mild. This jerky has a bland taste.
I paid $7.99 for this 3 ounce/85 gram. That works out to $2.67 an ounce, which rates as an expensive price. There are better choices out there.
Bag Review
On the front, there is a clear, high resolution picture showing slices of turkey. Everything is imprinted directly on this bag, both the front and back, with no labels affixed.
The Butterball logo is used, just the Butterball name in a yellow oval shape. There are no slogans, but some facts stated such as “Made with Lean Turkey”, and “Excellent Source of Protein!”.
The majority of bag categories are covered here. One minor thing missing is that the jerky weight is not displayed in grams. On the back, there is a good blurb describing Butterball turkey. To the credit of Monogram Foods, LLC, they do provide a toll free number for customer inquiries.
I love your product but cant always find where to purchase your productt… love the turkey jerky and the turkey nuggets at what store to you sell them from.
Your best option would be to try a ShopRite store.