The next review for People’s Choice Beef Jerky will focus on a 2.5 ounce/71 gram bag of their sriracha 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, and in 1955 his son Paul took over the company. They consider their company to be “old-school”, in the sense that they never compromise their process and philosophy. They use high quality ingredients, done with a handmade process to produce an old-fashioned style jerky. Today, Mark Bianchetti owns the company, where even a fourth generation of family is involved now.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Sriracha (Chili, Sugar, Salt, Garlic, Distilled Vinegar, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Bisulfite and Xanthan Gum), Water, Seasoning (Sea Salt, Spices, Cane Sugar, Garlic Powder), Distilled White Vinegar.
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.
The liquid marinade is comprised of just sriracha sauce and water. It is disappointing to see that the sriracha sauce uses the unhealthy preservatives potassium sorbate and sodium bisulfite.
Healthy spices such as garlic powder and other unspecified spices are used. The heat in this flavor is achieved from chili peppers inside the sriracha sauce. 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 470mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. However, that is somewhat negated due to the fact that healthy and minimally processed sea salt is used. Some of the salt content is comprised of just highly refined table salt inside the sriracha sauce.
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.
Decent (7/10) – 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. No signs of fat are visible, and handling this jerky leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
The first taste detected is a delicious tasting sriracha sauce. It does not take long at all for the spiciness to settle in. On a heat scale, it would rate a 2 out of 4, perhaps even a little higher.
With a near absence of a sweetness, there is a decent level of natural beef flavor. The saltiness is at a moderate level. There is a light garlic taste, and the vinegar is at a mild level, which really adds to the flavor. Overall, a big treat for any sriracha fans out there.
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 absolutely recommended as worth your money.
Excellent (10/10) – 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.
A number of facts are printed on the bag such as “Locally Made”, “Family Owned”, “Estd. 1929”, “Small Batch Beef Jerky”, and “Handcrafted in downtown Los Angeles”.
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 Peoples Sausage Company, Inc..
Order their jerky online: www.peopleschoicebeefjerky.com
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