The first review on Joe’s Wicked Good Jerky will be on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of their sweet ‘n spicy beef jerky flavor. This jerky was kindly submitted for review by one of the co-owners, Traci Nixt.
This Joe’s Wicked Good Jerky brand name is based out of Redding, California, owned by Traci and her husband Joe Nixt. Joe started making jerky in the late 1980’s, sharing his jerky among friends and family. For many years Joe wanted to launch a jerky company. When Traci and Joe mutually committed to the idea, they launched their jerky business in March 2015. They pride themselves on offering the best quality service. Both the marinade and beef are purchased locally in Northern California. The beef is advertised to use an extra-lean cut of top round beef. There are currently four different flavors available, where the recipes are always evolving, with plans to offer more flavors in the future.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Marinade (Soy Sauce [Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt], High Fructose Corn Syrup, Mirin (Water, Dextrose, Mirin [Rice, Alcohol, Salt], Lactic and Succinic Acids), Water, Dehydrated Garlic, Spice, Modified Corn Starch, Sunflower Oil), Salt, Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Steak Seasoning (Coarse Salt, Spices, Garlic, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavor, and Extractives of Paprika. Allergen Warnings: Soy, Wheat
While not 100% guaranteed, the cattle imported from New Zealand and Australia are believed to be ethically raised, meaning the cattle are never administered growth hormones. The cattle are guaranteed to have some partial free range access to graze on grass, just the way nature intended.
The liquids in this marinade are comprised of a decent soy sauce twice, mirin, water, and sunflower oil twice. Mirin is a Japanese cooking wine, often rice based. Sunflower oil is a healthy choice, and are full of healthy fats, but should be consumed in moderation.
The only complaints here is that the marinade uses highly processed and unhealthy high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). To a lesser extent, modified corn starch is used, where corn based products have no business being in jerky.
There are some healthy ingredients used such as spices, garlic, dehydrated garlic, and paprika extractive.
There is no nutrition facts table provided. As a result, the exact sugar and salt levels are unknown. Based on the taste alone, a fair amount of sugar is used, but that would be expected for a sweet based flavor as we have here. The salt level seems to be normal.
This jerky does qualify to have no sodium nitrite, or use any other similar unhealthy preservatives. Instead, the main preservative used is salt. To the credit of Joe’s Wicked Good Jerky, there is no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These jerky strips are mainly small in size, and sliced to a medium thickness. They are near a soft and tender texture, but not quite, and are relatively easy to chew. There are very little visible signs of fat, and handling these strips does leave some oily residue on your fingers.
The first taste detected is a moderate level of soy, along with a surprisingly strong taste of mirin wine. It does not take long for the sweetness to be apparent, but thankfully it does not go overboard. There is a mild garlic level, and a mild salt level. This sweet ‘n spicy jerky is bursting with flavor, and is extremely tasty.
The only complaint about this flavor is that there is very little to no heat, where a sweet ‘n spicy based flavor should at least be a bit spicy tasting. As a result, this flavor more resembles a teriyaki flavor with the soy, wine, and sweetness.
This 3 ounce/85 gram bag sells online for $6.00. That works out to $2.00 an ounce, which rates as an average price. This sweet ‘n spicy flavor is recommended as well worth your money if you are not interested in a spicy based flavor, but one that tastes wickedly good.
Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This is a standard resealable plastic bag that has a label affixed to the front, and a small sticker on the back. Their company logo is a bull’s skull. There are no slogans or facts printed on this bag.
Many bag categories are covered here. Some missing categories are a nutrition facts table, allergen alerts, a blurb about the company or flavor, and the jerky weight not stated in grams. To the credit of Joe’s Wicked Good Jerky, a phone number is provided for customer inquiries.
Order their jerky online: www.joeswickedgoodjerky.com
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