Carleton’s Grand Jerky – Sweet Brine Beef Sticks

The first review for Carleton’s Grand Jerky will be on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of their sweet brine flavored beef sticks. While this product is advertised as beef sticks, it could just as easily be classified as jerky. This bag was kindly submitted for review by the sales manager, Howard Anderson III.

This Carleton’s Grand Jerky brand is distributed by Carleton Enterprises, based out of Rapid City, South Dakota. There is a long history of making jerky in the Carleton family. The recipe used today started with trout and salmon. In 2013, Randy Carleton decided to launch the Carleton’s Grand Jerky brand name. Tragically, Randy was killed in a car accident in 2015. While devastated, the Carleton family decided to carry on the Carleton’s Grand Jerky brand name. Today, their product is sold in seven different states.

Ingredient Review

Ingredients: Beef, Brown Sugar, Water, Sugar, Salt, Seasoning Mix (Sugar, Soy Sauce Powder [Soy Sauce {Wheat, Soybean, Salt}, Maltodextrin, Salt], Spices and Chili Peppers, Salt, Onion Powder, Modified Corn Starch, Garlic Powder, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Sesame Oil, Caramel Color, Natural Flavors, Pineapple Juice Powder [Corn Syrup Solids and Pineapple Solids], Natural Smoke Flavor, with not more than 2% Silicon Dioxide added as a processing aid, Pepper, Modern Cure [Salt, Sugar, Sodium Nitrite]).    Allergen Warnings: Soy, Wheat, Sesame, Milk

The beef used is not guaranteed to be free of growth hormones or additional antibiotics. Also, the beef is not guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.

The liquid marinade is comprised of mostly water, and some sesame oil. Sesame seeds offer many nutritional health benefits.

Some healthy ingredients used are spices, chili peppers, onion powder, and garlic powder.

The sugar level is very high at 9 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. For a sweet based flavor, the preference is 5 grams of sugar or less. The salt level is also very high at 700mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. Our preference is 350mg of salt or less.

This jerky does use unhealthy sodium nitrite as the main preservative, apart from salt. This jerky does not qualify to have no MSG added. Highly processed hydrolyzed soy protein is used, which is a type of flavor enhancer.

Bad (3/10) – Ingredient Rating

Taste Review

These strips of beef are all uniform in size, and sliced to a medium thickness. The texture does qualify to be soft and tender, where it’s easy to chew these sticks. There are no visible signs of fat, and handling these beef sticks leaves a fair amount of oily residue on your fingers.

A moderately strong level of salt is noticed first. That is followed by a light level of black pepper, and a mild garlic level. A mild level of soy is consistent, and there is a light onion flavor. As advertised, there is a moderate level of sweetness, but not overbearing.

The beef flavor itself is somewhat processed tasting, but that would be expected for beef sticks. Overall, a pleasant tasting product that is addictive.

This 3 ounce/85 gram bag retails for $7.49. That works out to $2.66 an ounce, which rates as a somewhat expensive price. These beef sticks are not recommended from a health perspective, but are recommended to those who enjoy a salty and sugary based flavor that does not go overboard. If this product were advertised as jerky, the taste rating would be one point lower.

Good (8/10) – Taste Rating

Bag Review

This is a standard sized, clear, resealable plastic bag. There is a label affixed to the front, and nothing on the back. This bag is vacuum sealed, the best way to keep jerky fresh tasting.

The slogan is “Old Family Recipe”. One fact printed on this bag is “Made in the U.S.A.”. There is a good blurb printed on the bag describing Carleton’s Grand Jerky.

Most bag categories are covered here. Missing is the jerky weight in grams, a sesame allergen alert, and a best before date. There is a batch number printed, which could translate to a best before date.

Good (8/10) – Bag Rating

Check out their web site: www.grandjerky.com (may not be currently operational)