Established in 2013, Smokehouse Jerky Co. has grown significantly over the past decade, becoming a leading private label provider for over 150 jerky and snack companies. Franco and Patti Fonseca assumed company ownership in 2017 and have since been dedicated to refining their jerky and snack lines. Operating under the name Tender Heifer Snack Co., Smokehouse Jerky Co. actively seeks new distributors nationwide and offers private label services.
With a diverse product range, Smokehouse Jerky Co. presents an array of options, including beef, bacon, game, and exotic jerky, as well as meat sticks. The brand Smokehouse Jerky Co. is distributed by Tender Heifer Snack Co., which is headquartered in Beaumont, California.
The next review on Smokehouse Jerky Co. will focus on a 8 ounce/227 gram bag of their Hot flavored beef sticks. This flavor is described as being made from high quality beef, seasoned with various spices and herbs, and then slow cooked to perfection with no casing. The beef sticks were kindly submitted for review by co-owner Franco Fonseca.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Smoke Flavoring, Brown Sugar, Spices, Latic Acid, Garlic Powder, Dextrose, Malto Dextrin, Spice Extractive, Sodium Nitrite Allergen Warnings: Soy
This 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.
Some healthy ingredients listed are spices, garlic powder, and spice extractive.
The sugar level is great at 1 gram of sugar per 28 grams of meat stick. The salt level is acceptable at 170mg of salt per 28 grams of beef stick.
Unhealthy sodium nitrite is used as a preservative in this meat stick along with sodium erythorbate to lose a rating. This beef stick does not qualify to have no MSG added because the cheap, highly processed flavor enhancer hydrolyzed soy protein is used to lose another rating.
Alright (6/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
SMOKEHOUSE JERKY CO. – HOT BEEF STICKS
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I smell only a slight hint of vinegar and nothing else. The meat sticks (pepperettes) are smaller than your average meat stick, but outside of that, they appear to be just like any other meat stick, at least in hue.
When I bite into the meat stick, there is no, and I mean NO snap to the collagen casing, and the meat stick is soft, almost like I am eating melted chocolate, not in flavor, but in lack of rigidity.
The flavors I am encountering are salt, at a decent level, next to no sweet, which is a good thing, and slight heat, but by no means qualifying as “hot”. I detect slight pepper, but again, not enough to impress me. Possible vinegar in the background. This meat stick is “pedestrian” at best, closer to being “non-descript” than anything else.
I cannot, in good conscience, give this meat stick a ringing endorsement, closer to a 6 or 7/10, with the caveat that it is rather dull, non-descript, pedestrian, boring, and quite underwhelming. Gentlemen?
Written by guest jerky reviewer Stéphane Leclerc
Smokehouse Jerky Co. – Beef Snack Stick – Hot Stick, Wow! Where do I start with this one? They should have called this one the X-Factor. I am not sure which is worse, a cricket and cockroach meat stick or this thing. I could not find anything good about this meat stick. The smell, the texture, and the taste are atrocious. This experience was such a turn-off I could not even finish the meat stick. This flavor is labeled as Hot, and I detected no spiciness. Perhaps the spiciness builds up after a few bites, but I did not feel brave enough to find out.
I thought Smokehouse Jerky Co. was a decent and reputable company. I am surprised they would treat their customers like buzzards and scavengers. I guess the texture of this meat stick is pretty much what one would expect if they decided to chew on a cat turd.
I don’t know how to rate this meat stick, and I can’t find anything positive to say about it. Therefore, I’d rate this a 1/10 Taste Rating or whatever you think it deserves.
Here is what Mark had to say about this Hot beef stick flavor from Smokehouse Jerky Co.: “Thanks Paul and Stéphane for the candid taste reviews. I later found out that these beef sticks have no casing at all. Instead, they are ‘cooked in a form’. That explains why there is no snap whatsoever with this beef stick texture. I certainly lean more towards Paul’s review here. This beef stick is best described as mush, which is not for everybody, as witnessed by Stéphane, and the look on his face on the first bite said it all.”
“As for the hot flavor aspect, at most, you get a tiny tingle on your tongue. This beef stick is not hot, and even if it were named spicy, that would be pushing it. I found this beef stick very sour tasting, which comes across as vinegary but is from the lactic acid. In the background, there is a strange kind of smokiness. It would be safe to say that none of us prefer a meat stick with no casing, where we prefer a snap in the texture. With Stéphane at a 1 and Paul and me at a 6 rating, a Fair (4/10) taste rating will be awarded.”
This 8 ounce/227 gram bag of meat sticks sells online for $14.99. That works out to $1.87 an ounce, which rates as an expensive price.
Bag Review
This non-resealable plastic bag has a label affixed to both the front and back. The label has a fairly detailed picture of a wooden shack with a “Smokehouse” sign.
There are no slogans printed on this bag. Some facts printed on this bag are “Made in U.S.A.” and “Half Pound”.
The only missing bag category is a best before date. A batch number is printed, which can translate to the best before date.
Order their jerky online: www.smokehousejerkyco.com
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