Heidi Jo’s Jerky is a family-owned jerky company that traces its roots back to 1995, when founder Mike Tanner turned his passion for beef jerky into a business alongside his wife, Heidi Jo. Built around the motto “Where East Meats West”, the company has grown from a small venture into a well known specialty jerky vendor, offering traditional beef jerky, exotic meat jerky, beef sticks, hot sauces, spices, and other snack products. The brand emphasizes the use of quality beef and time tested recipes while maintaining the friendly, personal touch of a family run operation.
A distinctive part of Heidi Jo’s Jerky is its strong presence at state fairs, festivals, expositions, and other public events across the eastern United States, where customers can sample products and interact directly with the owners. The company has developed a loyal following through its wide selection of flavors and specialty meats, while also offering products that appeal to health-conscious consumers, including jerky varieties made without preservatives, MSG, artificial colors, flavor enhancers, or nitrates.
Today, Heidi Jo’s Jerky continues to blend old fashioned craftsmanship with a broad range of snack offerings, making it a recognizable name among jerky enthusiasts looking for both classic and adventurous flavors. This Heidi Jo’s Jerky brand is distributed under the same name, Heidi Jo’s Jerky, located in DunBarton, New Hampshire.
The first review on Heidi Jo’s Jerky will focus on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of their Hot Garlic flavored beef jerky. This flavor is described as being delicious, with a mixture of hot and spicy and garlic flavors. The bag was purchased online.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Top Round Beef, Teriyaki Sauce (Soy Sauce {Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt}, Water, Vinegar, Sugar, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Ginger Powder), Brown Sugar (Sugar, Molasses), Honey, Pineapple Juice, Liquid Smoke, Granulated Garlic, Granulated Onion, Black Pepper, Ginger, Cayenne Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper, Granulated Garlic Allergen Warnings: Soy, Wheat
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 used here consists of a good teriyaki sauce, very healthy honey, healthy honey, healthy pineapple juice, and liquid smoke.
Some healthy ingredients added are granulated garlic, granulated onion, ginger, and black pepper. The heat is achieved from cayenne pepper and crushed red chili pepper, which is healthy if eaten in moderation to expel toxins from the body.
The sugar level is a little high at 9 grams of sugar per 58 grams of jerky to lose a rating. For a hot based flavor as we have here, our preference is 4 grams of sugar or less per 28 grams of jerky. The salt level is also a little high at 710mg of salt per 58 grams of jerky to lose a rating. Our preference is 350mg of salt or less per 28 grams of jerky.
This jerky does qualify to be sodium nitrite free and does not use any other similar unhealthy preservative. Instead, salt is the main preservative used. Admirably, this jerky also qualifies to have no MSG added.
Alright (6/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
HEIDI JO’S JERKY – HOT GARLIC BEEF JERKY
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I smell basically nothing. The jerky consists of one huge “strip” of jerky, more like a gargantuan blob of jerky. It is relatively soft and thin, and it leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
When I bite into the jerky, I taste salt at a decent level, the sweetness is more prominent, the pepper is decent, and the garlic is quite prevalent, as advertised, but the sweet is dominating the flavor. As far as the heat goes, I am not experiencing much, if any heat.
Overall, the jerky is decent, but there is no part of this experience that blows me away. A 7.5/10 is my most accurate assessment, but rounding up puts it at an 8/10. Gentlemen?
Here is what Mark had to say about this Hot Garlic beef jerky flavor from Heidi Jo’s Jerky: “Thanks Paul for the candid taste review. I agree with everything stated. The garlic is at a good level, which is highly appreciated. The heat is hit and miss, with some strips and bites hotter than others. Even when you do encounter some heat, it’s not all that hot. The heat would rate at a 2 out of 5 on a heat scale. As Paul mentioned, the sweetness unfortunately overpowers the overall flavor, which is so unneeded and unwanted IMHO.”
“The natural beef flavor has no hint of tasting processed. In the background, there is a light level of smokiness, and the familiar flavor of soy sauce is at a mild level. One aspect that adds nicely to the overall flavor is the pineapple juice. It is kind of a shame that the garlic is nailed, the heat is hit and miss, but the excessive sweetness disappoints to a certain degree overall. A unanimous Good (8/10) taste rating will be awarded.”
This 3 ounce/85 gram bag of jerky was purchased online for $15.00. That works out to $5.00 an ounce, which rates as an expensive price.
Bag Review
This clear, resealable bag has a label affixed to the front and nothing on the back. There is an illustration of a cactus with the sun in the background. This bag is vacuum sealed, the best way to keep jerky tasting fresh.
A slogan printed on this bag could be “Distributor of Quality Beef Snacks”. Some facts printed are “Natural Smoke Flavoring Added”, All Natural”, “No Preservatives”, “No Added MSG”, “No Artificial Colors”, “No Flavor Enhancers”, “No Nitrites”, “High Protein”, and “Low Fat”.
Some bag categories missing are a blurb about the flavor or jerky, the jerky weight stated in grams, and a best before date. To the credit of Heidi Jo’s Jerky, they provide a phone number for customer inquiries.
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