The next review on Savage Jerky Co. will focus on a 3 ounce/85 gram bag of their ghost pepper buffalo flavored beef jerky. This bag was kindly submitted for review by the Savage Jerky Co. team.
In 2013, the owners Brad and Michelle Summey took a road trip with some friends. Disappointed with the same old jerky selection available on the way, they decided to launch their own jerky company. The Savage Jerky Co. brand name was launched in 2014, where they are located in Lawrenceville, Georgia. This marks the fourth review done for Savage Jerky Co., where they have proven to know what they are doing when it comes to creating interesting jerky flavors.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Hot Sauce (Aged Cayenne Red Peppers, Distilled Vinegar, Water, Salt, Garlic Powder), Brown Sugar, Cider Vinegar, Black Pepper, Sea Salt, Chipotle Chili Pepper, Habanero Powder, Ghost Pepper, Lime Juice, Cayenne Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Molasses, 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 hot sauce, lime juice, and super healthy apple cider vinegar. There are no bad ingredients used in the hot sauce.
The heat is achieved from using hot sauce, chipotle chili pepper, habanero powder, Cayenne Pepper, and ghost pepper. As a general rule, consuming hot peppers is healthy if done in moderation.
The sugar level is very impressive, at only 1 gram of sugar used per 28 grams of jerky. Also commendable, the salt level is just 210mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky.
Kudos to Savage Jerky Co. for having no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservative. Instead, the main preservative used is sea salt. In general, sea salt is a much better choice to highly refined table salt. Further kudos in that there is no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
These strips of jerky are small to medium in size, and sliced to a medium thickness. They have a great dry texture that is surprisingly easy to chew, where it almost melts in your mouth. There are no visible signs of fat, and handling this jerky leaves no oily residue on your fingers.
The first taste detected is a surprisingly strong taste of vinegar. There is an absence of a sweetness, which really allows the natural beef flavor to stand out.
Then the heat starts to kick in. While you are chewing, the mild heat from the hot sauce and cayenne pepper is apparent. It is after chewing a strip, where the heat from the ghost peppers really starts to kick in. Even 30 seconds after eating a strip your mouth still burns. On a heat scale, you could say this would rate as a 4/5, or 5/5 on the heat scale. All along, there is a pleasant mild lime flavor that aids in absorbing the spiciness.
This 3 ounce/85 gram bag sells online for $7.99. That works out to 2.66 an ounce, which rates as an expensive price. We wholeheartedly recommend this jerky as worth your money for people who enjoy the spiciness from ghost peppers.
Excellent (10/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This is a standard sized resealable bag. Everything is imprinted directly on the bag on the front, and the back, with one exception. The ingredient list is a professionally affixed label.
The Savage Jerky Co. logo is a silhouette of a bearded man (savage). Their slogans are “Hand-Crafted”, “Small Batch”, and “Eat like a savage”.
The only minor bag category missing is the jerky weight not being stated in grams. There is a great blurb printed about Savage Jerky Co., and how Brad and Michelle started their own jerky company.
Order their jerky online: www.savagejerky.com
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