Note: For a recent, live taste review, open Tillamook Country Smoker – Old Fashioned Beef Jerky (Recipe #3).
The next review on Tillamook Country Smoker will be on a 2.8 ounce/80 gram bag of their original flavored beef jerky. This bag was purchased at a convenience store in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, back in 2012.
The Tillamook Country Smoker jerky brand name is manufactured and distributed by Tillamook Country Smoker Inc., located in Bay City, Tillamook County, Oregon. They have been in business for over 50 years. It all started with providing jerky to brave pioneers who often walked every step of the 2000 mile long grueling Oregon Trail. According to Tillamook Country Smoker, the original Oregonians, the Native Americans indigenous to the area, taught settlers how to make jerky.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Contains Beef, Brown Sugar, Water, Salt, Corn Syrup Solids, Black Pepper, Garlic Powder, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrite.
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 just plain old water. There are healthy spices used such as black pepper and garlic powder. Unfortunately, the cheap sweetener corn syrup solids (corn powder) is used, where corn based products have no business being in jerky.
The sugar level is high at 7 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. Our preference is 3 grams of sugar or less. The salt level is extremely high at 640mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky. Our preference is 350mg of salt or less.
This jerky does use unhealthy sodium nitrite as a preservative. On top of that, unhealthy sodium erythorbate is also used as a preservative. On a better note, this jerky does qualify to have no MSG added.
Bad (3/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
Note: For a recent, live taste review, open Tillamook Country Smoker – Old Fashioned Beef Jerky (Recipe #3).
I do not remember this flavor all that well. My scant taste notes indicated that this jerky just tasted alright.
This 1 ounce/28 gram bag of Tillamook Country Smoker original flavor cost $1.99, which rates as an average price for jerky. Not that it matters anymore because this particular jerky recipe is not for sale anymore. Given that an unhealthy ingredient list was used, we would have not recommended this jerky as worth your money.
Bag Review
This is a small bag that would be expected for only 1 ounce/28 grams of jerky. Everything is imprinted directly on this bag, on both the front and back.
The Tillamook Country Smoker company registered trademark logo is a circle with a ‘T’ in the middle. There are numerous facts printed on this bag such as “97% Fat Free”, “Og Trans Fat”, “Made From Solid Strips of Beef”, “80 Calories per Serving”, “Natural Wood Smoke Flavor”, and “Made in U.S.A.”.
All bag categories are covered, where a blurb about the jerky is missing, but that is common with small bags. To the credit of Tillamook Country Smoker, they offer a toll free phone number for customer inquiries.
Order their jerky online: www.tcsjerky.com
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