The next review on Wild Sky will be on a 1 ounce/28 gram bag of their barbecue flavored 100% grass-fed beef stick. This beef stick was kindly submitted for review by their Inside Sales representative, Ian Damon.
Wild Sky beef jerky is distributed by Montana Prairie Holdings, and it is located in Bozeman, Montana. Wild Sky is an innovate company launched in 2014, and it is created by American Prairie Reserve. Their mission is to support wildlife-friendly ranching through the sale of premium beef. This business model conserves wildlife, and contributes to economic activity in Montana’s rural Northern Great Plains. The overarching goal of American Prairie Reserve is to restore and conserve an abundance of extraordinary diverse wildlife to Montana’s Northern Great Plains, which the region once hosted.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Grass-Fed Beef, Water, Brown Sugar, Sea Salt, Encapsulated Citric Acid, Celery Juice Powder, Black Pepper, Granulated Garlic, Ground Mustard, Coriander, Onion Powder, in Beef Collagen Casing
The 100% grass-fed beef used is sourced from the U.S., with profits flowing back to Wild Sky Ranchers in Montana who practice wildlife-friendly ranching. These ranchers practice something known as a Freese Scale, which measures nine different ecological processes, each of which is given a 1-7 rating. Annually these Freese Scale ratings are studied, reviewed by a third-party entity and management identifies what areas of each ranch needs attention.
The jerky qualifies to be ethically raised, meaning no growth hormones or additional antibiotics are given. Also, the cattle used in this jerky qualifies to have free range access to roam about and graze on grass, the way nature intended.
The only liquid used is plain old water.
Some healthy ingredients are added such as black pepper, onion powder, coriander, ground mustard, and granulated garlic.
The sugar level is good at only 2 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. The salt level is acceptable at 350mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky.
This jerky qualifies to have no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservative. Instead, organic salt is the main preservative used, and citric acid to a lesser degree. With more kudos to Wild Sky, this jerky has no MSG added.
Excellent (10/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
Written by guest jerky reviewer Stéphane Leclerc
This Wild Sky Barbecue 100% Grass Fed Beef Stick looks pretty much like any beef stick should look. It is basically a “pepperette”, except it’s lighter in color than most beef sticks and it is much softer and tastier.
This meat stick has a lovely and really inviting aroma. There is no singular flavor jumping out at first apart from the sourness and the delicious flavor of coriander. A light level of salt, black pepper and garlic are noticeable along side with a good level of sourness from the lactic acid, as it brightens up the flavor profile. The sweetness level is at a minimum and a decent amount of natural beef flavor is present.
Overall, this meat stick incorporates a wonderful and delicious blend of spices without any dominating single taste. The flavor is not really reminiscent of a barbecue flavor per se, as there is no tomato flavoring. At best, it may require a certain level of creativity and understanding to fully appreciate this “Barbecue” flavor.
This meat stick texture is soft and tender and quite easy to chew. This is a fairly clean eating beef stick, as there are minimal signs of fat, greasiness or oiliness on the outside or within. There is no snap while taking a bite due to the beef collagen casing used in creating this beef stick.
Mark stated: “this barbecue 100% grass-fed beef stick to be very addictive and he could devour an entire beef stick in under a minute”. He’d even further let his gluttony run wild and ravage through “five beef sticks in one sitting with no problem whatsoever and still be craving for more”.
We’d highly recommend this Wild Sky Barbecue 100% Grass Fed Beef Stick to creative people craving a “Barbecue”/Original type of flavor or to understanding and caring people who sings “Kumbaya” while holding hands and dancing in circles or someone craving an easy to chew meat snack such as Red Necks and Hillbillies with no teeth.
In any case, due to this flavor technicality where this flavor is not barbecue tasting enough or its barbecue flavor is not quite apparent enough, we agreed on giving this meat stick a 9/10 taste rating.
A 12 pack of 1 ounce/28 gram beef sticks sells on Amazon for $21.99, which works out to $1.83 an ounce. That would rate as an average price.
Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This plastic bag has a label on the front, and nothing on the back. The bag is vacuum sealed, the best way to keep a beef stick fresh tasting. This Wild Sky logo has the word Wild in the backdrop of a cloud.
A slogan printed on this bag is “Supporting Wildlife-Friendly Ranching”. Some facts printed on this bag are “Beef Used is Grass-Fed”, and “Gluten-Free”.
The only bag category missing is a nutrition facts table. In fairness, there is no room on this label to fit a nutrition facts table.
Check out their web site: www.wildskybeef.org
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