The first review on Mad Cow Jerky will be on a 1.76 ounce/50 gram bag of their Winchester Blend flavor. This flavor is described as using Whistershire Sauce, red wine vinegar, and spices. No need for alarm, there is zero connection to any sort of mad cow disease. This jerky was kindly submitted by the owner, Mary-Anne Delost (M.A.D.).
This proudly marks our first review for an international jerky maker outside of Canada or the USA. The Mad Cow Jerky brand name is based out of Morwell, Victoria, Australia. This jerky is distributed under the name of Maryanne Collyer Delost. It all started with Maryanne making jerky for her family. Then by word of mouth, the orders started piling up. By 2014, Maryanne launched this Mad Cow Jerky brand name, and has not looked back.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Chilli, Red Wine Vinegar, Whistershire Sauce.
It has been confirmed that the cattle used have some free range access to forage on grass, and roam about. Just the way nature intended. It is also confirmed that the cattle are not given growth hormones or additional antibiotics. That qualifies this jerky to use ethically raised beef.
The liquid marinade is comprised of red wine vinegar, and Whistershire sauce. As a general rule, vinegar is healthy. Red wine vinegar appears to be no different, where the quality can vary.
Whistershire sauce is another name for Worcestershire sauce. While not required to do so, Maryanne was kind enough to provide this somewhat healthy Whistershire sauce ingredient list. For those interested: vinegar, molasses, golden syrup, tamarind, salt, vegetable powder, garlic, and onion.
Super healthy garlic is used. There are also some healthy spices used such as chili peppers and black pepper.
This sugar level is very commendable, only having 0.7g of sugar per 20 grams of jerky. The salt level on the other hand is high at 412mg of salt per 20 grams of jerky. However, that is negated due to Himalayan pink salt being used. Himalayan pink salt is considered to be the purest salt in the world, and contains many essential/trace minerals.
The main preservatives used here are salt, and to a lesser extent the red wine vinegar. That qualifies this jerky to have no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservative. Also admirably, there is no MSG added.
Very Good (9/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These strips of beef are medium in size. They are sliced to a medium, almost thin texture. The texture is quite dry, but still reasonably easy to chew. There are no visible signs of fat, and handling this jerky leaves no residue on your fingers. You can see the occasional chili pepper.
The first taste detected is a medium tanginess from the red wine vinegar. There is also a surprisingly strong taste of the red wine. Another prominent taste is the Worcestershire sauce, which turns out to be an excellent combination with the red wine vinegar. Mixed with that is a mild level of garlic, and various spices. There is a borderline strong saltiness, and next to no sweetness. The natural beef flavor is at a great level.
The overall combination of tastes mixes very well together. This jerky is quite addictive, where the tangy flavor leaves you wanting more.
This 1.76 ounce/50 gram bag retails for $7.50. That works out to $4.26 an ounce, which rates as an expensive price. From a health perspective, this jerky is great. From a taste perspective, this jerky is great. From a price perspective, this jerky is on the expensive side, but still worth a try.
Excellent (10/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This is a rather small, brown paper bag. There is a layer of plastic in the bag to help keep the jerky fresh. It is unusual to see jerky sold in paper bags, where this jerky has a two month shelf life.
The Mad Cow Jerky logo is of a cow’s head. Stated on the bag is “Proudly Australia Owned”.
For a small sized bag, impressively, many of the bag categories are covered. Missing categories are no best before date, no bar code, the jerky weight is not stated in grams, and no oxygen absorber. Admirably, a phone number is provided for customer inquiries.
Check out their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/MAD-Cow-Jerky
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