Note: For a more current taste review open up Big Chief Meat Snacks – Original Beef Jerky (Review #2).
The first review on Big Chief will focus on a 4.2 ounce/120 gram bag of their original flavored chopped and formed beef jerky. This flavor is described as using Big Chief’s signature blend of spices to create a traditional “Old West” North American jerky taste, using European sausage-making techniques. The bag was purchased at a Walmart store in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
This Big Chief jerky brand name is distributed under the name of Big Chief Meat Snacks Inc., and they are located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally a sausage producer and delicatessen, Alberta Fancy Sausage Ltd. was founded in 1971. When the switch was made from delicatessen to beef jerky manufacturer, the new jerky brand Big Chief evolved. Family owned, Big Chief Meat Snacks Inc. promotes active lifestyles and a balanced diet. People referred to the founder William Klein as “Big Chief”, and how the Big Chief jerky brand name was adopted.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Salt, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Spice, Dextrose, Sodium Erythorbate, Garlic Powder, Yeast Extract, Sodium Nitrite, Maltodextrin, Natural Smoke Flavour. Allergen Warnings: Soy
The locally sourced beef used from Alberta 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 texture of this jerky is chopped and formed. As a result, without having a natural whole sliced strip of jerky, two ingredient ratings are deducted.
The only healthy ingredients added are spice and garlic powder.
The sugar level is great at only 1 gram of sugar per 30 grams of jerky. The salt level is quite high at 760mg of salt per 30 grams of jerky to lose two ratings. Our preference is 350mg of salt or less per 28 grams of jerky.
This jerky does not qualify to have no sodium nitrite as both sodium erythorbate and sodium nitrite are used as preservatives to lose a rating.
This jerky does not qualify to be MSG free, as the unhealthy flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used outright to lose a rating. Worse, the highly processed cheap flavor enhancer hydrolyzed soy protein is used to lose another rating.
Terrible (1/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
Note: For a more current taste review open up Big Chief Meat Snacks – Original Beef Jerky (Review #2).
These bite sized strips are sliced small, and they are uniform in size. While not all that dry, this jerky texture does not qualify to be tender as advertised. The jerky is somewhat easy to chew. Handling these strips of jerky leaves a little bit of oily residue on your fingers. As expected with a chopped and formed texture, there is no natural tear in the beef to this jerky.
The aroma is rather generic and not really descriptive of any ingredients.
Immediately there is an unnatural processed type of beef flavour noticed more similar to a “pepperette”, which is expected for a chopped and formed texture. The saltiness builds to a point of being arguably too salty tasting, which tends to dominate this flavour.
A light level of garlic fits in nicely. A mild level of soy persists, and just a light level of sweetness is appreciated.
A decent level of smoke adds some character and complexity to this flavour.
While this original flavour has a sort of pleasant taste, it tastes like it has been mass produced, and not even remotely artisan. Apart from a noticeable smoked flavour, there is nothing that really jumps out at us with this jerky.
As remarked by Stéphane, “I do not find anything particularly interesting nor that really stands out.”
Similarly with Paul, “This jerky does nothing to make me crave more, it is basically just sustenance.”
This 4.2 ounce/120 gram bag of jerky cost $8.77. That works out to $2.09 an ounce, which rates as a cheap price.
Bag Review
The resealable plastic bag has everything imprinted directly on the bag, both on the front and back. There are no labels affixed to this bag. The Big Chief logo is a profile of an Indian chief.
A slogan on this bag is “Bite Me!”. Some facts printed on this bag are “Chopped and Formed”, “High in Protein”, “Rich in Flavour”, “Go Anywhere Snack”, and “Gluten Free”.
The only bag category missing is a transparent window to view the actual jerky. As per Canadian law, there are French translations provided.
Order their jerky online: www.bigchiefmeatsnacks.com
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