The first review on Little Bit Jerky will be on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of their Spicy Asian Bit beef jerky flavor. This jerky was kindly submitted for review by one of the co-owners, Teresa Helmcamp.
The Little Bit Jerky brand name is distributed under the same name of Little Bit Jerky. They are located in Wichita Falls, Texas, and was launched in February 2016 by husband and wife Teresa and Robert Helmcamp. Robert has over 20 years of experience in the meat industry, where he started off as a butcher at age 19. Their jerky brand is proudly GO TEXAN certified, which is a program run by the Texas Department of Agriculture to promote products that are produced in Texas by family owned businesses. Today, they currently offer eight different beef jerky flavors, and one turkey jerky flavor.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Natural Hickory Wood Smoke, Vinegar, Chili Pepper, Salt, Onion, Garlic, Black Pepper, Crushed Dark Red Chili, Hydrolyzed Soy & Corn Protein, Sugar, Molasses, Papain, Citric Acid, Artificial Flavor, Wheat, Soybean, Cinnamon, Fennel, Cloves, Star Anise, White Pepper, Horseradish, Mustard. Allergen Warnings: Soy, Wheat
This beef is sourced from Fort Worth, Texas. The cattle are guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to graze on grass, and roam about, just the way nature intended.
The liquid marinade is comprised of water and healthy vinegar. Their marinade is sourced from a 3rd party company, where Robert is currently working on developing his own marinade.
There are a number of healthy spices and herbs used. While not currently advertised, many of the ingredients are organic. Super healthy garlic and onion are always appreciated. Horseradish is extremely healthy, and mustard offers multiple health benefits also.
Using papain is an interesting choice, which is an enzyme from the fruit papaya. It is widely used in the food industry as a natural meat tenderizer.
The heat in this flavor is achieved from chili peppers and crushed dark red chili peppers. Hot peppers are healthy if eaten in moderation, which flush toxins out of the body.
This jerky does qualify to have no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservatives. Instead, the main preservative used is salt. To a lesser degree, citric acid and vinegar also act as preservatives.
This jerky does not qualify to be MSG free, because the highly processed flavor enhancers corn and soy protein are used. Worse, being hydrolyzed, they are an unhealthy form of trans fats. It is also disappointing to see that artificial color is used, where artificial ingredients are notoriously unhealthy.
Decent (7/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These strips of jerky are mainly medium in size, and sliced to a medium thickness. There is a relatively dry texture, and it is reasonably easy to chew. There are no signs of fat, and handling this jerky leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
The first taste detected is an interesting, complex blend of spices, which really manages to capture the ‘Asian stir fry’ taste that it is advertised to have. No one single spice really stands out. Many of the flavors are at a light level such as mustard, cinnamon, garlic, onion, black pepper, and horseradish. Even the sweetness is at a light level, which allows some of the natural beef flavor to be present.
As for the spiciness, it starts off slowly. As you consume more strips, the heat level increases, which sneaks up on you. This spicy based flavor is hotter than the average spicy flavor, where it could arguably pass as a hot based flavor. Overall, this flavor absolutely delivers on both the spicy and Asian flavors, and no doubt reminds you of eating a Chinese stir fry.
This 3 ounce/85 gram bag sells online for $7.49. That works out to $2.50 an ounce, which rates as a slightly expensive price. This jerky is wholeheartedly recommended from both taste and health perspective to people who enjoy an Asian based taste, with a punch of heat.
Excellent (10/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This clear, resealable plastic bag has a label affixed to the front, and nothing on the back. Easily the best aspect of this bag is that it’s vacuum sealed, which is the best method of keeping jerky fresh.
Their slogan is “Little Name, BIG Taste!” There are no facts printed on the bag. A GO TEXAN logo is displayed.
There are several bag categories missing such as a nutrition facts table, USDA inspected logo, allergen alerts, weight not specified in grams, bar code, a hole at the top to hang on hooks, best before date, and a blurb printed about Little Bit Jerky, or the flavor itself. To the credit of Little Bit Jerky, a phone number is provided for customer inquiries.
Order their jerky online: www.littlebitjerky.com
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