While a few other jerky review websites have popped up over the years, only two active ones exist worldwide, and both have an information technology background. Steve Johnson from www.bestbeefjerky.org started reviewing jerky in 2008, and I launched jerkyingredients.com in 2014. While Steve is still the world leader in reviewing close to 400 jerky brands, we may surpass www.bestbeefjerky.org by the end of 2025, currently at 368 404 jerky brands reviewed.
On a few occasions, after we review jerky from a jerky brand that submitted their jerky for review, they will contact me to remove the review as they believe it negatively affects their sales. Well, sorry, that is not the nature of submitting jerky for review. Removing the jerky review is complex, and search engines such as Google are not too keen on HTTP Error 404 (Page Not Found).
The more challenging aspect would be removing the jerky review from the database, where it would not be worth the time. A surprising amount of work goes into creating a jerky review, whereas writing the taste review is a minor step in making the entire jerky review.
While not everybody or anybody has to do a jerky review this way, I have broken down creating a jerky review into 30 different steps.
- Purchase or acquire jerky through a jerky brand submission. Jerky submissions can include many correspondences.
- If the jerky included jerky paraphernalia, add it to the Jerky Shrine.
- If the jerky included jerky paraphernalia, photograph jerky paraphernalia in the Jerky Shrine.
- Transfer pictures from cellphone to PC.
- Save the pictures to files using the imaging editing software Gimp, for example.
- Upload image files to your web host using Cyberduck, for example.
- Post Jerky Shrine images on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- Email jerky maker for a heads up that I am doing a review and asking standard and personalized questions.
- Photograph the jerky and bag.
- Separate the bag into portions for Paul and Stéphane if applicable.
- Arrange different methods with Paul and Stéphane to acquire the jerky. This is not always an easy job.
- Transfer pictures from cellphone to PC.
- Save the pictures to files using the imaging editing software Gimp, for example.
- Compress image files using Caesium, for example.
- Upload image files to your web host using Cyberduck, for example.
- Create database scripts. This can include adding a new jerky brand, jerky state or province, jerky country, jerky distributor, jerky distributor state or province, jerky distributor country, jerky private label, jerky private label state or province, jerky private label country, jerky type, jerky ingredient, jerky category, jerky tag, jerky flavor, jerky shrine jerky brand, or jerky shrine new item. See bottom for an example.
- Write an introduction for the jerky brand and flavor. Since 2023, most jerky brands are started by asking ChatGPT to describe the jerky maker. E.g. describe the Super Jerky brand www.superjerky.com/about-us. This ChatGPT post describes the process in more detail.
- Customize the jerky brand introduction with more research and correspondence from email if applicable.
- Create new jerky tags and categories if applicable.
- Manually type out the ingredient list writing in HTML. Add ingredients to the database if they are new, write a description, and assign a rating.
- Write ingredient review.
- Write bag review.
- Receive Paul’s taste review and Stéphane’s, if applicable, via email. Copy and paste their taste reviews to the jerky review.
- Write a taste review.
- Use Grammarly for grammar errors and suggestions. Go through this cycle at least three times, often many more.
- Verify that the ingredient, bag, and taste ratings match in the database, WordPress, and the webpage.
- Publish jerky review.
- Email the jerky brand about the jerky review if the jerky was submitted or if a jerky brand responded to my questions.
- Post jerky review on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- If a milestone was hit, e.g. 1000 jerky reviews, 500 jerky flavor names, 30 jerky types; write a post to celebrate that milestone, which includes finding or creating an appropriate image.
There are other sub steps not covered in the thirty steps. We have been steadily publishing two weekly jerky reviews since the second half of 2023 with no end in sight.
Using the programming language PHP and, for example, the open source database MySQL interacting with WordPress, I can neatly organize the jerky tags and jerky categories under each jerky review with a little bit of creative computer programming and SQL database scripts with each review.
Below are example database scripts for a single jerky review on a jerky brand from a new country that divulged the private labeler (aka co-packer), this is roughly how the database scripts would look. This review introduced lamb as a new jerky type and introduced to the Jerky Shrine. Not all fields in the database ‘bag’ table are used anymore, and I stopped populating the bagingredient table in 2019, where the work required was not worth the effort.
/* ————————– Feed The Viking – Sea Salt & Herbs Lamb Jerky */
insert into jerkyshrinemaker (
jerkyshrinemakerid,
jerkyshrinemakername,
jerkyshrinemakerstate,
jerkyshrinemakercountry,
jerkyshrinemakerdisplay,
jerkyshrinemakerbag,
jerkyshrinemakerlocation,
jerkyshrinemakerlocationcount)
values (
502,
‘Feed The Viking’,
‘North Iceland’,
‘Iceland’,
‘Y’,
3,
3,
‘Y’);
insert into jerkyshrinemakeritem (
jerkyshrinemakeritemid,
jerkyshrinemakeritemdescription)
values
(31,
‘Jerky Bag’);
INSERT INTO flavour (
flavourid,
flavourname,
description,
category,
hot,
sweet,
flavoururl)
values (
550,
‘Sea Salt & Herbs’,
‘Sea Salt & Herbs flavored jerky’,
‘Original’,
‘N’,
‘N’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/original’);
INSERT INTO privatelabel (
privatelabelid,
privatelabelname,
city,
state,
country,
privatelabelurl,
privatelabeltagurl)
values
(22, — privatelabelid id
‘Nordlenska ehf.’,
‘Grímseyjargötu’,
‘North Iceland’,
‘Iceland’,
‘https://www.nordlenska.is/is/english/’, — brand URL
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/nordlenska-ehf/’); — Brand tag URL
INSERT INTO jerkytype (
typeid,
typename,
species,
category,
jerkytypeurl)
values
(27,
‘Lamb’,
‘Lamb’,
‘Mammal’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/category/mammal/lamb/’);
INSERT INTO distributer (
distributerid,
privatelabelid,
distributername,
city,
state,
zipcode,
country,
oriental,
distributertagurl)
values
(239,
22,
‘Feed The Viking ehf.’,
‘Reykjavik’,
‘Capital Area’,
”,
‘Iceland’,
‘N’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/feed-the-viking-ehf/’);
INSERT INTO brand (
brandid,
brandname,
city,
state,
country,
distributerid,
privatelabelid,
submitted,
oriental,
brandurl,
brandtagurl)
values
(247, — brand id
‘Feed The Viking’,
‘Reykjavik’,
‘Capital Area’,
‘Iceland’,
239, — distributer id
22, — privatelabelid
‘Y’, — submitted
‘N’,
‘https://feedtheviking.com’, — brand URL
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/feed-the-viking/’); — Brand tag URL
INSERT INTO jerkycategory (
categoryid,
categoryname,
categorydescription,
subcategoryname,
categorypermalink,
sortid,
categorysortid)
values (
74,
‘Lamb’,
‘All jerky reviews done on lamb.’,
‘Mammal’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/category/mammal/lamb/’,
4,
20);
INSERT INTO bag (
bagid,
bagname,
flavourid,
typeid,
brandid,
distributerid,
privatelabelid,
tasterating,
bagrating,
ingredientrating,
bagvalue,
thickness,
cost,
grams,
ounces,
dimensionl,
dimensionw,
reviewdate,
purchasedate,
purchasecountry,
purchasestate,
purchasecity,
purchasestore,
meatcountry,
slogan1,
slogan2,
handsliced,
biltong,
chopped,
chunked,
freerange,
grassfed,
halal,
kosher,
news,
nomsg,
nonitrite,
organic,
softtender,
stockrecipe,
ethical,
resealable,
smoked,
vacuumsealed,
oxygenabsorber,
plastictype,
submitted,
reviewed,
reviewurl)
values
(1386, — bagid
‘Feed The Viking – Sea Salt & Herbs Lamb Jerky’, — bagname
550, — flavourid
27, — typeid
247, — brandid
239, — distributerid
22, — privatelabelid
10, — tasterating
10, — bagrating
9, — ingredientrating
‘Expensive’, — bagvalue
‘Medium’, — thickness
9.99, — cost
50, — grams
1.85, — ounces
20, — dimensionl
15, — dimensionw
‘2020-08-26’, — reviewdate
‘2020-08-26’, — purchasedate
‘Canada’, — purchasecountry
‘Ontario’, — purchasestate
‘Brampton’, — purchasecity
‘Submitted’, — purchasestore
‘Iceland’, — meatcountry
‘Come and Take It’, — slogan1
”, — slogan2
‘N’, — handsliced,
‘N’, — biltong
‘N’, — chopped
‘N’, — chunked
‘Y’, — freerange
‘Y’, — grassfed
‘N’, — halal
‘N’, — kosher
‘N’, — news
‘Y’, — nomsg
‘N’, — nonitrite
‘N’, — organic
‘N’, — softtender
‘N’, — stockrecipe
‘Y’, — ethical
‘Y’, — resealable
‘N’, — smoked
‘N’, — vacuumsealed
‘Y’, — oxygenabsorber
‘tempvalue’,
‘Y’, — submitted
‘Y’, — reviewed
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/2020/08/28/feed-the-viking-sea-salt-herbs-lamb-jerky/’);
insert into bagcategory (bagid,bagcategoryname,categorypermalink,sortid) values
(1386,’Lamb’,’https://jerkyingredients.com/category/mammal/lamb/’,1);
insert into bagcategory (bagid,bagcategoryname,categorypermalink,sortid) values
(1386,’Mammal’,’https://jerkyingredients.com/category/mammal/’,2);
insert into bagcategory (bagid,bagcategoryname,categorypermalink,sortid) values
(1386,’Very Good (9/10)’,’https://jerkyingredients.com/category/very-good-ingredient-ratings/’,3);
insert into bagcategory (bagid,bagcategoryname,categorypermalink,sortid) values
(1386,’Very Good (9/10)’,’https://jerkyingredients.com/category/very-good-taste-ratings/’,4);
insert into bagcategory (bagid,bagcategoryname,categorypermalink,sortid) values
(1386,’Excellent (10/10)’,’https://jerkyingredients.com/category/excellent-bag-ratings/’,5);
insert into bagcategory (bagid,bagcategoryname,categorypermalink,sortid) values
(1386,’Soy’,’https://jerkyingredients.com/category/allergies/soy/’,6);
insert into bagcategory (bagid,bagcategoryname,categorypermalink,sortid) values
(1386,’Wheat’,’https://jerkyingredients.com/category/allergies/wheat/’,6);
INSERT INTO ingredient (
ingredientid,
ingredientname,
description,
rating,
fresh,
preservative,
sodium,
sauce,
sweet,
hot,
pepper,
tenderizer,
emulsifier,
juice,
href)
values (
807,
‘Lamb’,
‘A young sheep, typically less than one year old, known for its tender and flavorful meat. Lamb is a rich source of high-quality protein, essential for muscle growth and repair. It is packed with important vitamins, minerals, B vitamins, and healthy fats.’,
10,
‘N’, — Fresh
‘N’, — Preservative
‘N’, — Sodium
‘N’, — Sauce
‘N’, — Sweet
‘N’, — Hot
‘N’, — Pepper
‘N’, — Tenderizer
‘N’, — Emulsifier
‘N’, — Juice
‘lamb’);
/* — Stopped doing this in 2019 — */
insert into bagingredient values (1386,807);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,60);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,105);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,20);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,28);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,48);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,719);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,502);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,159);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,61);
insert into bagingredient values (1386,14);
insert into jerkytag (tagid,tagname,tagdescription,category,tagurl,sortid,tagsortid)
values
(841,
‘Feed The Viking’,
‘Feed The Viking brand name’,
‘Brand Name’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/feed-the-viking/’,
14,
70);
insert into jerkytag (tagid,tagname,tagdescription,category,tagurl,sortid,tagsortid)
values
(842,
‘Feed The Viking ehf.’,
‘Feed The Viking ehf. distributor name’,
‘Distributer Name’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/feed-the-viking-ehf/’,
14,
100);
insert into jerkytag (tagid,tagname,tagdescription,category,tagurl,sortid,tagsortid)
values
(843,
‘Capital Area’,
‘Jerky brand from Capital Area, Iceland’,
‘Brand State/Province’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/brand-state-capital-area/’,
14,
80);
insert into jerkytag (tagid,tagname,tagdescription,category,tagurl,sortid,tagsortid)
values
(844,
‘Capital Area’,
‘Jerky distributor in Capital Area, Iceland’,
‘Distributer State/Province’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/distributer-state-capital-area/’,
14,
110);
insert into jerkytag (tagid,tagname,tagdescription,category,tagurl,sortid,tagsortid)
values
(845,
‘Iceland’,
‘Jerky brands in Iceland.’,
‘Brand Country’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/brand-country-iceland/’,
14,
50);
insert into jerkytag (tagid,tagname,tagdescription,category,tagurl,sortid,tagsortid)
values
(846,
‘Iceland’,
‘Jerky distributed in Iceland.’,
‘Distributer Country’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/distributer-country-iceland/’,
13,
120);
insert into jerkytag (tagid,tagname,tagdescription,category,tagurl,sortid,tagsortid)
values
(847,
‘Nordlenska ehf.’,
‘Nordlenska ehf. private labeler name’,
‘Private Labeler Name’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/nordlenska-ehf/’,
2,
130);
insert into jerkytag (tagid,tagname,tagdescription,category,tagurl,sortid,tagsortid)
values
(848,
‘North Iceland’,
‘North Iceland private labelers’,
‘Private Labeler State/Province’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/private-labeler-state-north-iceland/’,
14,
140);
insert into jerkytag (tagid,tagname,tagdescription,category,tagurl,sortid,tagsortid)
values
(849,
‘Iceland’,
‘Iceland private labelers’,
‘Private Labeler Country’,
‘https://jerkyingredients.com/tag/private-labeler-country-iceland/’,
14,
150);
/* — Populates tags under the jerky reviews — */
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,2);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,30);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,758);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,7);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,69);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,70);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,797);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,16);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,303);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,841);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,842);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,843);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,844);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,845);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,846);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,847);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,848);
insert into bagtag (bagid,tagid) values (1386,849);
/* — Populates tags under the jerky reviews — */
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