The Matt-Hat Jerky story started long before Matthew Kulpack was born. Matt’s grandpa Kuplack began making jerky in the 1980’s. Grandpa shared his special secret with several people. After grandpa passed away in 2013, it turns out that the special recipe of jerky that grandpa left with everybody was different. Matt then worked with his father also named Matt to duplicate grandpa’s special recipe. Matt refined the recipe to perfection, and zeroed in on being savory, chewy, and delicious with just a little kick of heat.
With the help of Matt’s twin sisters Kyla and Katrina (3 years older than Matt), they helped launch Matt-Hat Jerky in 2017 when Matt was only 11 years old. This Matt-Hat Jerky brand is distributed under the same name of Matt-Hat Jerky, and they are located in Jefferson Township, Pennsylvania.
The first review on Matt-Hat Jerky will focus on a 3 ounce/84 gram bag of their original flavored beef jerky. This jerky was kindly submitted for review by co-founder, Matthew Kuplack.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Soy Sauce, Hickory Flavoring, Spices. Allergen Warnings: Soy
The beef used 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 liquid marinade consists of just water and soy sauce.
Healthy spices is listed, which most likely includes garlic powder, black pepper, and onion powder.
The sugar level is perfect at 0 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. While the taste does not testify to this claim, the salt level is very low at 130mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky.
There are no unhealthy preservatives used, where this jerky is confirmed as having no sodium nitrite. Instead, salt is the main preservative used. Admirably, this jerky has no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag, I smell natural beef. The strips of jerky are huge in size, but sliced pretty thin, a lot like Agram’s. The jerky is a perfect texture, not too soft, not too hard. It is easy to chew, and it leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
I am met immediately with a strong salt flavor, which is delicious. Some other flavors I encounter are pepper, garlic, and a juice, I’ll guess pineapple juice. The natural beef flavor is quite prominent, and I believe I detect an ever so faint kick.
This jerky is scrumptious, it is head and shoulders above most other original flavors. I am left wanting more, this jerky is crazy delicious. My jaws are killing me, but I can’t stop, my resolve is too weak, I have succumbed to the ‘crack in a bag’, better known as Matt-Hat original beef jerky. Grab me a drool bucket, I’m in this for the long haul. A massively enthusiastic, emphatic, addictive, over-the-top two thumbs up so high, you’d need a telescope to see how high they are. 10/10 gentlemen, this jerky is da-bomb…😋👍
Here is what Stéphane had to say: “I am onboard with Paul’s review, I also really like this tasty jerky. However, my only quirk is with the saltiness and the strong soya, where I find it muddles the other great flavors. I am still at 9/10 taste rating and this little gem is certainly quite addictive nonetheless.”
Here is what Mark had to say about this original beef jerky flavor from Matt-Hat Jerky: “Thanks Stéphane and Paul. Yes, Paul loves his salt. The strong soy flavor often comes across as pineappley tasting. There is a nice smoked flavor present, where this is a good old fashioned tasting jerky in both taste and texture.
“This jerky was shared between 13 people. Salt lovers loved this jerky. About 2/3 of the people noted the high level of saltiness. Personally, after consuming several strips, the saltiness certainly starts to weigh in on you.”
“Here are the official ratings between the Group of Seven (Mark – 9, Paul – 10, Stéphane – 9, Nolan – 9, Mark M. – 9, Sid – 9, Ava – 7.5)”.
This 3 ounce/85 gram bag of jerky sells online for $7.99. That works out to $2.33 an ounce, which rates as a cheap price.
Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This plastic resealable bag has everything imprinted on the bag itself, including the front and back. On the front is a high resolution picture of 11 year old Matt Kulpack. Included with each bag is a handy dental flosser.
Some slogans printed on this bag are “100 % Beef! 100% Delicious!”, and “11-Year Old Makes World’s Best Jerky”. Some facts printed on this bag are “Low Carbs”, “No Nitrates”, “No Sugar”, and “No MSG”.
The only minor bag category missing is the jerky weight not stated in grams. Printed on the back is a good long blurb about Matt-Hat Jerky and original flavor. To the credit of Matt-Hat Jerky a phone number is provided for customer inquiries.
Order their jerky online: www.matthatjerky.com
The best, no THE VERY BEST JERKY available in these United States!! I have ordered ñ reorder more times that makes me a champion jerky person!!Four (4) orders in a month! I am about to move to Pennsylvania to be closer to their shop.