Bovino – Original 100% Grass-Fed Beef Jerky

It all started with Trisha Paternite’s father-in-law, Frank’s beef jerky, which he has been making as a hobby for more than 20 years. Trisha and her husband Tony had been sharing this jerky with friends, when one of them offered to pay for a bag. That sparked the idea of exploring it as a business opportunity. Frank taught Trisha how to make the jerky, which she and Tony tweaked by slicing the strips thinner, and dehydrating for much longer. The end result was jerky that was crispy like chips, which got great feedback. After securing a copacker, the Bovino jerky brand was launched in 2017.

By drying their jerky for a long period of time, thereby removing the moisture, Bovino jerky contains a whopping 20 grams of protein per 28 grams of jerky, which is near double the industry standard. Bovino uses locally sourced 100% grass-fed beef, and organic ingredients. Their jerky is advertised to contain no sugar, and be gluten-free. There are plans to add new flavors in the future based on customer feedback. Bovino jerky is distributed under the name of Bovino, LLC, and they are based out of San Francisco, California.

The first review on Bovino will focus on a 1 ounce/28 gram bag of their original beef jerky. This flavor is described as using grass-fed beef jerky with a chip-like crisp, made with gluten-free soy sauce, fresh garlic, and Italian spices. The jerky was kindly submitted for review by founder, Trisha Paternite.

Ingredient Review

Grass-Fed Beef, Water, Tamari* (Water, Soybeans*, Salt, Alcohol*), Garlic*, Apple Cider Vinegar*, Basil*, Black Pepper*, Cayenne*, Oregano*, Thyme*, Marjoram*, Rosemary*.    *Organic    Allergen Warnings: Soy

Bovino is guaranteed to use 100% grass-fed beef from a trusted Bay Area farm. As a result, the cattle are guaranteed to have free range access, and be ethically raised. Therefore, the ingredient rating starts at an Excellent (10/10) rating.

The liquid marinade used here is comprised of water, a super healthy organic gluten-free tamari soy sauce, and super healthy organic apple cider vinegar.

There are multiple healthy ingredients used such as organic garlic, organic basil, organic black pepper, organic cayenne pepper, organic oregano, organic thyme, organic marjoram, and organic rosemary.

The sugar level is perfect containing no sugar per 28 grams of jerky. The salt level is also quite low at 150mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky.

This jerky qualifies to have no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservative. Instead, salt is the main preservative, and organic apple cider vinegar to a lesser degree. With more kudos to Bovino, this jerky has no MSG added.

Excellent (10/10) – Ingredient Rating

Taste Review

These strips of jerky are small in size, and are pretty much sliced as thin as possible. This gives the optical illusion of having more jerky than there actually would be if the strips were sliced thicker. The texture is extremely dry to the point where it is crunchy and crispy. The aroma of this jerky is an inviting, complex blend of seasoning.

The first tastes encountered are natural beef flavor, and light levels of salt, black pepper, and garlic. Shortly afterwards a unique flavor profile begins to take shape with the thyme, basil, oregano, marjoram, and rosemary, which in turn becomes very addictive. As advertised, this flavor is no doubt crispy, which requires a fair amount of saliva to extract all of the flavors.

With no sweetness present, the natural beef flavor comes across in spades as it should for an original flavor. The acidity from the apple cider vinegar and a slight kick from the cayenne pepper does a great job of rounding off this flavor profile.

Surprisingly, Paul had a different take on this original flavor: “The first flavors I encounter are salt, pepper, next to no sweet, possible light garlic, and I do detect the vinegar. There is a slight kick to this jerky as well, not entirely sure where the kick is coming from (cayenne?). While I am enjoying this jerky, I am not enjoying it quite as much as another crispy jerky that we reviewed around a year ago. My head is saying an 8/10, but I would be okay with a 9/10 as well.”

This original flavor was sampled between five different people. Stephane, Mark, and I were all at a solid, no brainer hands down Excellent (10/10) taste rating. Nolan with this being his first encounter with an intentional crispy texture was not impressed with the texture, but was willing to give this original flavor a 9 rating. We here at Jerky Ingredients tend to use the general consensus in awarding a taste rating. It is with great sadness and regret that we reluctantly only award this original flavor a Very Good (9/10) taste rating.

This 1 ounce/28 gram bag of jerky sells online for 10.00, which is a very expensive price.

Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating

Bag Review

This black resealable plastic bag has everything printed directly on the front of the bag, and a label affixed to the back. The Bovino logo has a silhouette of a cow’s head.

There are no slogans printed on this bag. There are several facts printed such as “Crispy Beef Jerky made with 100% Grass-Fed Beef”, “Gluten-Free”, “Sugar Free”, “Each Bag of Bovino Has 2X More Protein Than Average Jerky Per Oz”, “Premium Eye of Round”, “100% Grass-Fed Beef”, “No Sugar”, “No Preservatives”, and “Crispy, Chip-Like Pieces”.

The only bag categories missing are a transparent window to view the actual jerky, and a best before date. The Bovino social media handles are provided for Facebook and Twitter. An email address is provided for customer inquiries.

Good (8/10) – Bag Rating

Order their jerky online: www.bovino.co