Dearborn Brand is a jerky company rooted in America’s industrial heartland. Their story begins with a family recipe passed down through generations of Michiganders, not some Silicon Valley startup trying to disrupt snacks. The brand prides itself on using only American beef and pork, sourced locally whenever possible, and hand cutting every strip to ensure thickness and texture.
Unlike mass produced jerky that’s machine pumped full of preservatives and nitrates, Dearborn Brand keeps it simple with salt, pepper, and natural smoke flavor. They’re not chasing trendy flavors or pretending to be artisanal, they make real jerky for real people who work hard and want a snack that can keep up. This Dearborn Brand jerky is distributed under the name Dearborn Sausage Co., located in Dearborn, Michigan.
The first review on Dearborn Brand will focus on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of their Sweet BBQ flavored beef brisket jerky. This flavor is described as being boldly seasoned and smoked with Real Hardwood. The bag was purchased at a convenience store in Monroe, Michigan.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef Brisket, Seasoning (Sweetener (Refiner Syrup, Honey), Brown Sugar, Sugar, Salt, Paprika, Spices, Garlic, Onion, Molasses (Refiners Syrup, Cane Mill Molasses, Cane Caramel Color), Smoke Flavor (Maltodextrin, Natural Smoke Flavor, Silicon Dioxide)), BBQ Sauce (Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Vinegar, Corn Syrup, Salt, Food Starch – Modified, Contains Less Than 2% of Soybean Oil, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Mustard Flour, Dried Onion, Dried Garlic, Natural Flavor, Red 40, Blue 1), Salt, Sodium Nitrite.
The cut of beef brisket 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 not so healthy refiner syrup, healthy honey, a poor brand of barbecue sauce, healthy vinegar, and soybean oil.
Some healthy ingredients added are spices, paprika, garlic, onion, mustard flour, onion powder, and garlic powder.
The artificial colors red 40 and blue 1 are used to lose a rating.
The sugar level is very high at 8 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky to lose a rating. Our preference is 5 grams of sugar or less for a sweet based flavor as we have here. The salt level is high at 580mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky to lose another rating. Our preference is 350mg of salt or less per 28 grams of jerky.
Super unhealthy high fructose corn syrup is used in the BBQ sauce to lose a rating.
This jerky does not qualify to be sodium nitrite free as sodium nitrite is used as a preservative to lose a rating. This jerky does not qualify to have no MSG added because the cheap, highly processed flavor enhancer hydrolyzed soy protein is used to lose another rating.
Very Bad (2/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
DEARBORN BRAND – SWEET BBQ BEEF BRISKET JERKY
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I smell sweet, and nothing else. The jerky is medium in both size and thickness. The jerky is not very rigid, and it is quite oily.
When I bite into the jerky, I immediately taste the BBQ, along with medium salt, medium sweetness, decent pepper, mild garlic, and some natural beef. Thankfully, the sweetness is moderate, due to the fact that “sweet” is mentioned in the title.
Man, this jerky is oily, which is not necessarily a bad thing, it just likely means the marinade is intense.
Actually, when it comes to flavor, it is mostly solid, better than I would have imagined. The BBQ is definitely stealing the show, it is as advertised, minus the typical ridiculous sweetness. I am enjoying this flavor enough to warrant an 8.5/10, rounding it up to a 9/10. Gentlemen?
Here is what Mark had to say about this Sweet BBQ beef jerky flavor from Dearborn Brand: “Thanks Paul for the positive taste review. We agree on every aspect. This flavor is described as being bold tasting, and bold it is. Each strip has a thick marinade, and the barbecue flavor comes through clearly. As Paul mentioned, there is sweetness present, but it does not go overboard.”
“The natural beef flavor has no hint of tasting processed. While I favor bold flavors, one could argue it is too bold to drown out the beef flavor. There is a noticeable smoked flavor in the background. I too very much enjoyed this flavor and cannot identify a single issue with this jerky. There is some ‘wow’ factor but not a total ‘wow’ factor. It didn’t take long for my portion to be devoured. A unanimous Very Good (9/10) taste rating will be awarded.”
A 3 ounce/85 gram bag of jerky sold for $9.59, which equates to $3.20 an ounce. That rates as a borderline cheap price.
Very Good (9/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This beige plastic resealable bag has everything imprinted on the bag on the front and back with no labels affixed. The Dearborn Brand logo depicts a butcher with a butcher’s knife and a meat cleaver. A high resolution picture of jerky strips appears on the front, with mountains in the background.
A slogan printed on this bag could be “Feed Every Adventure”. Some facts printed are “Est 1946”, “Smoke Flavor Added”, “Gluten Free”, “MSG Free”, “7g Protein Per Serving”, and “No MSG”.
The only missing bag category is a transparent window to view the jerky. To the credit of Dearborn Brand, a phone number is provided for customer inquiries. You are encouraged to follow Dearborn Brand on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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