The first review for People’s Choice Beef Jerky will focus on a 2.5 ounce/71 gram bag of their old fashioned style hot & spicy flavored beef jerky. This bag was kindly submitted for review by Brian Bianchetti.
This People’s Choice Beef Jerky brand is distributed by Peoples Sausage Company, Inc., based out of Los Angeles, California. The company was founded in 1929 by John Bianchetti, who had a vision to sell high quality products with honesty and hard work. In 1955, John’s son Paul Bianchetti took over the company. Today, Mark Bianchetti owns the company, where even a fourth generation of family is involved now. The company philosophy has never wavered, and they have reinvented their products and services based on changing market trends, while still retaining their identity.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Sea Salt, Natural Spices, Cane Sugar, Garlic Powder, Cracked Red Pepper
The beef is sourced from Nebraska Beef, where the marbling allows the beef to not be too fatty tasting. The cattle used is not guaranteed to be growth hormone free. Also, the cattle used is not guaranteed to have partial free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating achievable is a Good (8/10) rating.
We have a pretty simple ingredient list here. The liquid marinade is only water, which is fitting for an old fashioned style of jerky. Healthy spices such as garlic powder and other unspecified spices are used.
The heat in this flavor is achieved from cracked red peppers. As a general rule, hot peppers are considered to be healthy if eaten in moderation.
The sugar level is excellent, being at only 1 gram of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. The salt level is quite high at 510mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. However, that is negated due to the fact that healthy and minimally processed sea salt is used, as opposed to regular table salt that is highly processed. Sea salt is high on minerals and trace minerals.
As advertised, this jerky does qualify to have no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservatives. Instead, the main preservative used is sea salt. Admirably, there is also no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These strips of beef are mostly medium in size, and are sliced to a medium thickness. There is a great, classic, old fashioned dry texture that is relatively easy to chew. Barely any signs of fat are visible, and handling this jerky leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
The first taste detected is the natural beef flavor, which is the way old fashioned jerky should be. There is a mild garlic flavor, and the saltiness is surprisingly strong from the sea salt. There is also a light peppered taste, which is always a good pairing with salt.
With the absence of any sweetness, the natural beef flavor really stands out as the dominant flavor. As for the spiciness, it is only at a mild level. At most, it would rate 2/5 on a heat scale depending on your tolerance of heat.
On the People’s Choice Beef Jerky web site, you must order a minimum of four bags online at a price of $18.00, which works out to $4.50 a bag. That translates to $1.80 an ounce, which rates as an average price. The price is very cheap at $1.25 an ounce if you order a 1 pound bag instead. This jerky is a great buy for people who appreciate the natural taste of beef, along with some spiciness, and a pleasant blend of spices.
Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This is a standard sized plastic bag. Everything is imprinted directly on the bag, both on the front and back. There are no labels affixed to this bag. Being a hot based flavor, there is an appropriate drawing of some hot peppers on the front.
There are no clearly defined slogans printed. A number of facts are printed on the bag such as “Old Fashioned”, “Handmade”, “Downtown LA”, “All Natural”, “Gluten Free”, “High in Protein”, “No artificial ingredients and minimally processed”, “No Preservatives”, “No Additives”, “Made in downtown Los Angeles”, “Take a Bite of Real Jerky”, and “Handcrafted + Quality Ingredients = Genuine Beef Jerky”.
The only bag category missing is that the bag is not resealable. Normally, a bag containing over 2 ounces of jerky would be resealable. There is a great blurb printed on the back about the brand and this old fashioned style of jerky.
Order their jerky online: www.peopleschoicebeefjerky.com
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