Back in 2002, husband and wife Ray and Nina-Maria Cattaneo opened up a USDA facility from scratch. Ray handled the beef jerky aspect of the production process, and Nina-Marie was tasked with sales. This Ray’s Own Brand of jerky was officially launched in 2003. Within five years of very hard work and effort, sales were robust with Ray’s Own Brand being sold in countless stores. Ray’s Own Brand has since teamed up with several international brands who are taking their jerky all over the world.
Ray’s Own Brand all hand sliced jerky is advertised as sugar free, has no added nitrates, MSG free, gluten-free, preservative free, and made with sea salt. This is the true Steak N A Bag!! Ray Cattaneo’s style! Ray’s Own Brand has an adorable gift shop on the property with their USDA building, and lots of animals for the kids to enjoy! Ray’s Own Brand is distributed under the same name of Ray’s Own Brand, and they are based out of San Luis Obispo, California.
The next review on Ray’s Own Brand will focus on a 4 ounce/113 gram bag of their peppered flavored beef jerky. This flavor is described as being pure perfection in the form of a spicy beef jerky itself! The bag was kindly submitted for review by co-owner Nina-Marie Cattaneo.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Cider Vinegar, Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Garlic, Celery Powder.
The cattle used are confirmed to have about 85% free range access to graze on grass, and roam about. Based on the information provided from the fine folks at Harris Ranch, the cattle qualify enough to be ethically raised. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Very Good (9/10) rating.
The liquid marinade consists of only water, and super healthy apple cider vinegar.
There are some healthy ingredients added such as black pepper and garlic.
Admirably, there is no sugar added. The salt level is somewhat high at 450mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. However, the salt level is ignored because healthy minimally processed sea salt is used as opposed to heavily processed table salt.
This jerky is confirmed as having no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservatives. Instead, sea salt is the main preservative, and apple cider vinegar to a lesser degree. Celery powder is also used as a preservative with its naturally occurring nitrates. Commendably, this jerky has no MSG added.
Very Good (9/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
RAY’S OWN BRAND – PEPPERED BEEF JERKY
Written by guest jerky reviewer Stéphane Leclerc
Ray’s Own Brand Peppered Jerky is a very tasty jerky and I love it! The great taste of beef is well accentuated with fresh ground black pepper and a good splash of apple cider vinegar.
I couldn’t keep my hands out of the bag while indulging in this delicious jerky.
Someone at the movie theater should have slipped a bag of Ray’s own Brand to Pee Wee Herman. Pee Wee would have kept his hands in the bag for sure instead of …well, all over himself!
An Excellent 10/10 taste rating and Two Thumbs Up!!👍👍
Here is what Mark had to say about this peppered beef jerky flavor from Ray’s Own Brand: “Thanks Stéphane for the great taste review. No guarantees Stéphane, we are talking about Pee Wee Herman after all. For a change, I decided to write a taste review. Stéphane was intentionally vague, having already read my taste review.”
”When I open up the bag I smell natural beef, apple cider vinegar, and black pepper, guaranteeing that you are in for a good time. These rectangular sized strips are medium to large in size, and they are sliced very thick. For such a thick strip of jerky it still only takes a reasonable amount of effort to chew. The texture is on the dry side.“
”As I take my first bite the black pepper is noticeable, as is the powerful flavor of natural beef. Chewing more brings on a higher peppered level, which is akin to heaven. The garlic is at a light level, and the sourness/acidity from the apple cider vinegar does a great job to balance this flavor. This jerky texture also has a certain quality where it can just dissolve in your mouth using saliva and minimal chewing. STEAK in a BAG!“
”It is a pleasant change to have jerky with no sweetness whatsoever, and no soy flavor. In the background, you can detect a faint level of smoked flavor. Unfortunately, the nature of a peppered flavor is that many of the pepper flakes fall off the jerky strip but nothing is stopping us from scooping them up into our mouth.”
”This is our 5th review for Ray’s Own Brand, where I have developed a real affinity for Ray’s Own Brand. It is impossible to pick any single favorite jerky maker without inducing recency bias. I will definitively say based on memory that this is the best thick cut style jerky in the jerky market today. Ray’s Own Brand also has a strong presence on Facebook, which is normally a good indicator that the jerky brand is popular.”
”A no doubter, knock it out of the park, slam dunk, hail Mary throw, no brainer, Connor McDavid undressing Morgan Rielly highlight reel goal Excellent (10/10) taste rating. It would be a criminal offence to rate this peppered jerky flavor any other way. Hail to Ray’s Own Brand, where you have a new disciple. A very enthusiastic two thumbs up!!👍👍“
This 4 ounce/113 gram bag sells online for $9.00, which works out to $2.25 an ounce. That rates as a cheap price.
Excellent (10/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This non-resealable plastic bag has a label affixed to the front, and nothing on the back.
A slogan printed on this bag is “Ray’s Hand Cut, All Natural”. Some facts printed on this bag are “High Protein”, “No MSG, Gluten and No Sugar Added”, “No Nitrates or Nitrites added except those naturally occurring in Sea Salt & Celery Powder”, “Minimally Processed, No Artificial Ingredients”, and “Our Beef Is Raised, Harvested & Processed in the U.S.A.”.
The only bag categories missing are the plastic bag being not being resealable, and no blurb printed about Ray’s Own Brand, or this peppered flavor. To the credit of Ray’s Own Brand, a toll free phone number is provided for customer inquiries.
Order their jerky online: www.raysownbrand.com
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