The next review for People’s Choice Beef Jerky will focus on a 2.5 ounce/71 gram bag of their Maple Brown Sugar flavored beef jerky. This is a seasonal flavor, meaning it is only for sale during the Christmas holidays. The 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, Brown Sugar, Water, Seasoning (Sea Salt, Spices, Garlic), Molasses, Maple Flavoring.
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 only liquid used in this marinade is plain old water. As a result, you have a great amount of natural beef flavor to counteract the sweetness, which is accentuated by the fat even more.
Healthy unspecified spices are used. It is always great to see when garlic is used, which is often found in the top 10 healthiest food lists.
It is unfortunate that the maple flavor is achieved from using artificial maple flavor.
There is no nutrition facts table provided. As a result, the exact sugar and salt levels are unknown. The salt level would be irrelevant, because healthy sea salt is used, which 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.
Decent (7/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These strips of jerky are a mixture of small to medium in size. The thickness is not consistent, ranging from thin to almost thick. This texture is not overly dry, and reasonably easy to chew. There is a fair amount of fat visible, which does a great job of accentuating the natural beef flavor. Handling this jerky leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
Right away the brown sugar taste is noticeable without going overboard. A type of maple flavor is present, where this jerky comes as advertised with maple and brown sugar being the dominant flavors. A light level of garlic proves to be an excellent addition.
Despite a moderate amount of sweetness, there is still a great deal of natural beef flavor. The saltiness is at a mild level, and a light level of black pepper is always welcome. Overall, this is an interesting tasting flavor that delivers on the brown sugar and maple.
This 2 ounce/56 gram bag sells online during the Christmas holidays for $6.00. That translates to $2.40 an ounce, which rates as a slightly expensive price. This jerky is certainly recommended as worthwhile if the combination of maple and brown sugar sounds appealing.
Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This is a standard sized clear plastic bag that is not resealable. There is a label affixed to the front, and nothing on the back.
Some facts printed on this bag are “Locally Made”, “Family Owned”, “Premium Beef Handcrafted in Downtown Los Angeles”, “Small Batch Beef Jerky”, and “Happy Holidays!”.
Some bag categories missing are a nutrition facts table, and a blurb printed about the flavor/company. Normally, a bag containing over 2 ounces of jerky would be resealable.
Order their jerky online: www.peopleschoicebeefjerky.com
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