Jailhouse Beef Jerky is a specialty snack brand offering premium, all‑natural jerky made from the finest cuts of beef. Their flagship flavors include Original (a smoky, classic blend with black pepper, garlic, and onion), Hot & Spicy (a chili-infused version crafted for heat lovers), Teriyaki (marinated in soy sauce, ginger, and garlic), and Honey Glazed (sweetly smoky with a honey coating). Each flavor delivers about 11 grams of protein per serving, just 90 calories, and minimal fat, appealing to health-conscious snackers and fitness enthusiasts alike.
The brand leans into a playful “mob‑style” persona, affectionately positioning the jerky as so tempting it “should be illegal”, and they’ve even built a comedic “Jailhouse Jerky Crew” web series to promote the product, featuring notable figures like actor Tony Darrow of Goodfellas and The Sopranos fame. Alongside their jerky line, they also sell “Original Tony’s Sunday Gravy”, a pasta sauce based on Darrow’s family recipe.
This Jailhouse Beef Jerky brand is distributed under the name What’s Your Beef LLC, and it is located in Greenwich, Connecticut. The jerky is manufactured by Targhee Brands, Inc., located in Rexburg, Idaho.
The first review on Jailhouse Beef Jerky will focus on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of Original flavored beef jerky. This flavor is described as a rich, smoky flavor complemented by a hint of black pepper, garlic, and onion. The bag was purchased online from Amazon.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Brown Sugar, Sugar, Water, Salt, Contains 2% or less: Sea Salt, Cultured Celery Powder, Natural Flavors and Spices.
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 is comprised of plain old water.
The only healthy ingredients listed are spices. The vague term natural flavors is a listed ingredient, which may contain healthy and unhealthy ingredients.
The sugar is very high at 10 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky to lose a rating. Our preference is 3 grams of sugar per 28 grams. The salt level is also very high at 590mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky to lose another rating. Minimally processed sea salt is also a listed ingredient, but the majority of salt comes from highly processed table salt.
This jerky qualifies to have no sodium nitrite or any other similar unhealthy preservatives. Instead, the main preservatives used are salt and cultured celery powder to a lesser extent. Admirably, this jerky qualifies to have no MSG added.
Alright (6/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
JAILHOUSE BEEF JERKY – ORIGINAL BEEF JERKY
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I smell almost nothing, maybe ever so slightly sweet. The jerky is medium to large, and the strips are sliced to a medium thickness. The jerky is soft and chewy, not like our forefathers intended. There, however, is no oily residue left on your fingers.
When I bite into the jerky, I am met with medium salt, high sugar, medium pepper, and low garlic. This tastes like an original flavor, or perhaps a blend of teriyaki and original. A bit too sweet for me, and nothing at all pops out at me, rather pedestrian, mediocre flavor, most likely a 6/10, 7/10 at best. Let’s go with 6.5/10.
Here is what Mark had to say about this Original beef jerky flavor from Jailhouse Beef Jerky: “Thanks Paul for the candid taste review. I cannot really disagree with anything that Paul stated. This jerky does contain a pleasant blend of spices. But as Paul mentioned, the sweetness is too high for an Original flavor. While there is no hint of the natural beef flavor tasting processed, the flavor of beef is rather masked by the taste of sugar.”
“In the background, there is a light smokiness present. The overall taste profile is somewhat simple and well-balanced except for the sweetness. I concur with Paul that there is no ‘wow’ factor, but the flavor comes across as pleasant tasting. With Paul at a 6.5 and myself at a 7, a Decent (7/10) taste rating will be awarded/”
This 3 ounce/85 gram bag of jerky sells online for $7.99, which equates to $3.33 an ounce. That rates as an average price.
Bag Review
This black, plastic resealable bag has a everything imprinted on the bag both the front and back, with a small sticker affixed on the back with a barcode and QR code. The transparent window to view the jerky is rather large, which depicts a realistic jail cell. There is a high resolution picture on the front of a man smoking a cigar.
A slogan displayed on this bag could be “What’s Your Beef!?”. Some facts printed are “Made With 100% Beef”, “11 Grams of Protein”, “Low Fat”, and “Great Source of Protein”.
There is no missing bag categories. One minor complaint is that there is a fair amount of unused space on the bag. There is a small blurb printed on the back about Jailhouse Beef Jerky. A QR code is displayed on the back.
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