The Meat Empire – Traditional 100% Grass-fed Beef Biltong

The next review for The Meat Empire will focus on an 8 ounce/226 gram bag of their traditional flavored 100% grass-fed beef biltong. This biltong is advertised as being perfected by South African meat masters for over 300 years. The bag was graciously submitted for review by the CEO, Quinn Chasan.

This The Meat Empire brand is distributed under the same name of The Meat Empire, and is based out of Austin, Texas. Quinn’s father’s side of the family is from Johannesburg, South Africa. Quinn teamed up with former co-worker Francisco Enriquez to combine their technical expertise. Following the true authentic traditions of South African biltong, it is air dried. As a result of being air dried, biltong is considered to be healthier than jerky. No enzymes are destroyed in the drying process, where the intact enzymes help break down the beef in our bodies. In addition to using 100% grass-fed beef, commendably, this product is also guaranteed to be Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) free. The Meat Empire brand officially launched in the summer of 2016.

Ingredient Review

Ingredients: Beef, Salt, Brown Sugar, and Spice Blend.

100% grass-fed beef is used here, just the way nature intended. These cattle are raised ethically, meaning they are not fed growth hormones, or additional antibiotics. There is also some free range access for the cattle to roam about.

This liquid marinade contains just a small amount of healthy vinegar. The healthy herb coriander is likely used, also known as cilantro. Other healthy ingredients used are black pepper, and possibly cloves.

The sugar level is excellent at under 1 gram of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. The salt level is high at 470mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. However, that is negated because organic salt is used.

This jerky does qualify to have no sodium nitrite used as a preservative. Instead, organic salt is the main preservative, and vinegar to a lesser extent. Admirably, there is no MSG added.

Excellent (10/10) – Ingredient Rating

Taste Review

These strips of biltong are small in size, and sliced thin. The texture is sort of dry and tender, generally making these strips easy to chew. There is a fair amount of fat visible that accentuates the natural beef flavor. Handling these biltong strips leaves a small amount of oily residue on your fingers.

No single taste really jumps out at first, where this is a complex blend of flavors. Some flavors that stand out are salt, black pepper, garlic, cloves, coriander, and vinegar. Other spice possibilities are oregano, cumin, and mustard seeds. With only minimal sweetness, there is a great deal of delicious natural beef flavor.

For a flavor advertised as Traditional, curiously, there is a minor amount of spiciness present. On a heat scale, it would rate a 1 out of 4. There are no hot peppers used for the record. This biltong does a good job of recreating an authentic tasting South African flavor. Overall, an addictive tasting biltong that is challenging to stop eating.

An 8 ounce/226 gram bag sells online for $18.00. That works out to $2.25 an ounce, which rates as an average price. Considering that 100% grass-fed beef is used, this is more of a cheap price. You cannot go wrong with this biltong, provided that you enjoy a slightly spicy traditional flavor with bold spices.

Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating

Bag Review

This clear, resealable bag has a label affixed to the front, and nothing on the back. Their logo is a Roman emperor of “The Meat Empire”.

There is no slogan displayed. Some facts printed on this bag are “Naturally Cured Grassfed Beef”, “Made in the USA”, “House Mix”, and “Peri Peri”.

The only other missing bag category is a blurb about The Meat Empire, and these droëwors. To the credit of The Meat Empire, both a phone number and email address are supplied for customer inquiries.

Decent (7/10) – Bag Rating

Order their jerky online: www.themeatempire.com