Celestino's Venison Jerky

For the hunters out there you know the joy of Venison Jerky. Although venison is not generally found in packaged Jerky offerings, after you’ve brought home a fresh deer, Jerky is a great way to store and enjoy your prize. Venison is generally leaner than beef and the flavor of the meat stands out more than many types of beef where the meat flavor has been bred out.

The big difference between beef and Venison is that Venison fat and connective tissue does not taste that good. So a butcher preparing Venison will generally remove everything but the pure red meat. This leaves a very lean cut to make Jerky. On top of this, Celestinos Venison Jerky is cut very thin which balances the Venison flavor with the seasonings applied.

Because of the lean meat and thin slices the meat starts out in your mouth as a hard-leather like texture. But as you begin to work it in your mouth and your saliva re-hydrates the meat the flavor comes alive. Celestinos Venison Jerky is not gamey, in fact it has a very mild flavor where you can taste Venison and the Teriyaki in each bite its a great mix if you’ve never tried Venison. But be aware you better like jerky because you’ve got to work this meat in your mouth before it will give up its flavor.

Since Celestinos Venison Jerky is a butcher-shop product we don’t know much about the nutritional value but its safe to say the Teriyaki  has soy sauce that provides the sodium in this snack. Celestinos also adds a pinch of garlic powder and crushed Red Peppers and Cayanne to give it some kick. Sodium seemed a little high but this may be because of the paper-thin cut of the meat. The 4 oz bag has a lot more pieces than other jerky and at $9 (March 2015) it comes in at the same price as Celestinos beef jerky at $2.25 an ounce.

This Jerky gets 4-Flavor points, 4-Chew points and 3-Heat the 3-Sodium and 3-Value points so overall its a solid 3.5 Jerky.  Some people worry about Venison being gamey, but when properly prepared it offers a wonderful meat-eating experience and you can feel good about the fact that you are doing a biker a favor by responsibly managing the deer population.

 

Celestino's Venison Jerky

Ajay's Montana Bananas Original Extra Hot Beef Jerky

AJay’s comes to us from Grass Valley, CA by way of Missoula Montana.

I am a big fan of this spicy Jerky as I began the tasting I was not ready to write my thoughts down so I had to force myself to put the bag away and save some for later. Ultimately I was only able to hold out and save two pieces for this review, because i enjoyed it so much.

AJay’s comes to us from Grass Valley, CA by way of Missoula Montana. The owner Ajay tells about when he was touring with Cayenne, a Country-Rock band in the late 70’s and he came across an old-time butcher shop Missoula Montana where he had the best Jerky he had ever tasted. As his music career stalled, Ajay went back to Missoula, bought the rights to recipe and started making his own Jerky.

The Ajay’s flavor we are reviewing today is the Original Extra Hot Beef jerky and is a traditional thicker cut of beef. As you reach into the bag you are greeted by larger pieces of 100% Top Round. The pieces will need to be torn apart to be eaten in bites. The aroma from the bag hits your nose with a little smokey tone which may be from the Hickory smoke flavor that has been added. On the surface of the meat you can see both black pepper and other pepper seeds. As you chew the Jerky you will notice this is a harder Jerky, it gives you plenty of chew to savor your experience, but breaks apart nicely as you chew it down.

Like the aroma, the first flavor you taste is the Hickory smoke this is quickly followed by the juices in you mouth being released with the black pepper and garlic. Finally the heat builds up towards the end of the chew to leave your mouth with a strong heat that instinctively drives you back into the bag to eat another piece. What is it about hot food that as soon as your mouth cools you go in for another bite? Ajay’s lives up to the promise of Extra Hot.

Ajay’s is a USDA inspected Jerky and the ingredients are led by Teriyaki Sauce and Soy Sauce followed by Wine! Now Ajay doesn’t tell us what wine but my guess is a hint of chardonnay has been added. For you health-food and wheat freaks be aware Ajay has wheat in the Teriyaki and Succinic Acid is added. This adds a tart taste and is sold as a diet supplement (maybe I’ll loose weight eating Ajay’s). On the upside, this Jerky only has 2 grams of carbs per ounce so it’s not loaded with sugars.

The package has 4 oz and retails at $5.99 (Feb 2015) so its value is quite good coming in at a $1.50 an ounce. Sodium is on the high side at 480 mg which is the only thing holding this back from being a solid 4 point Jerky. Bottom line, I really enjoyed this Jerky the flavor and heat we just to my liking. I will be purchasing more of Ajay’s Jerky and will add it to my regular rotation of road-trip treats.

ajaysmontanabanana.com


Ajay's Montana Bananas Original Extra Hot Beef Jerky

The Don Spicy Original Beef Jerky

The Don is the self-proclaimed “Godfather of all Jerky” and they drive the point home on the package with the Green, White and Red Italian flag stripes and the 45 (ish) caliber pistol artwork used in place of the “r” in Jerky like the Sopranos. This Jerky is marketed by The Don Jerky Factory hailing from the mean-streets of Arcadia, California. This is a private labelled brand likely from KMB Foods, Inc., who private labels jerky for several companies.

This is one of the most ‘transparent’ Jerky’s on the market as the packaging is clear except for the applied (private) label.  You can flip over the package a clearly see the Jerky you about to consume. It is USDA packaged with full disclosure of the nutrition and ingredients which are printed ever-so-small on the label. The first thing you notice when you tear open the package is the strong smoky aroma. The ingredients add a little insight to the Italian connection as the list includes both anchovies and tomatoes! This is a spice mixture not seen regularly in Jerky.

This is slab style Jerky and the texture of The Don is dry to the touch and firm with little resistance as you tear it apart. When you put a piece in your mouth you will notice there is little to no flavor on the tongue. It’s dry and the flavor needs to be released but when you start chewing finally a rush of flavor hits your palate. As your mouth begins to moisten the tangy Worcestershire and hint of tomato flavor is readily apparent this is followed quickly by the heat of the aged cayenne hot sauce used in the recipe.

The meat has a strong chew bordering on tough, several pieces in the bag left muscle tissue that didn’t easily break-down. Some people will look at this as the ‘bonus chew’. You can work this little nugget in you mouth for quite a while and it will keep releasing its flavor until it is discarded or swallowed whole.

I purchased this Jerky at one of my favorite watering holes The Beach Ball at the pier in Newport Beach. The 2 oz bag was $4.00 (at the bar! March 2015) This price point in a store puts this Jerky right in the middle of the value range at $2 an ounce (at a bar its downright cheap!) This is not a sweet jerky but it has both Corn Syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup included in the ingredients and the carbs come in pretty high at 8 grams. The Sodium comes in at 410 mg per ounce so it get 5 heart bombs.

At a 2.5 overall score, I wouldn’t go out of my way to seek out The Don Spicy Original Jerky but when you are at the bar it is a value-driven, high-protein, salty snack that goes great with a cold beverage. I can tell you from first-hand experience it tastes even better while sitting at a bar while looking out at the sunset over Catalina Island on the California coast of the Pacific Ocean!

The Don Spicy Original Beef Jerky

Celestinos Texas Style Hot Beef Jerky

Want to find great jerky? Visit your local meat market. I was chatting with a friend about jerky and she asked “Have you tried Celestinos?” A quick road trip to Costa Mesa, CA led me to the doorstep of this family owned meat market and their selection of hand-made jerky. I picked four flavors including the Texas Style Hot Beef Jerky.

When you peel back the label on this Jerky you know you are in for something different from the pre-packaged jerky bought in a convenience store. The aroma of the beef is an immediate tell. You wont find any of the “smoke-flavor” smell dominated by other Jerkys. The smell is pure beef and this is 100% hormone and nitrate free fresh beef. You will immediately notice the translucent nature of the thin cuts of meat and in the body of the meat you can see small traces of fat in the muscle. On the surface, there is a distinct cross hatch pattern from the drying racks and a few small bits of red pepper flakes.

Biting into the Jerky requires a good pull with the teeth to break off a bite size piece. The first flavor you will pickup on your tongue is the light Teriyaki but this flavor does not mask the beef. To me this is the correct amount of flavoring to compliment the meat but not overwhelm your taste buds. As you chew the flavor and texture of the beef is revealed. The chew is strong but the meat breaks down wonderfully as you chew. Finally the pepper is released and the mild heat builds in your mouth as you swallow the bits. Of note, this package also included one piece of end cut. Far thicker than the other pieces this was not easy to eat and required a strongpull to get it apart. But it provided a mouthful of flavor and chewed down just like the thin pieces. Although this is listed as ‘Hot’ this jerky is on the mild side of the heat scale. The pepper heat adds spice but won’t cause the fire alarm to go off.

Celestinos is a butcher-shop Jerky so the package does not share the exact nutritional information but to my palate I will put the sodium in the middle of the pack. From the ingredients we can see this Jerky gets all of its salt from the Teriyaki and is not further salted. At $9.00 (March 2015) for 4 oz. this jerky comes in at $2.25 an ounce which is very close to the same price you’d pay for a grocery-store Jerky.

Overall this is great example of a local artisan jerky. Its got great beef flavor is a natural and healthy and if you are in Costa Mesa you get the opportunity to talk with the guy who is making the Jerky. If you are nowhere near California, take a few minutes and go visit your local butcher. Chances are you’ll find some wonderful Jerky right around the corner.


Celestinos Texas Style Hot Beef Jerky

The Don Spicy Original Beef Jerky

The Don is the self-proclaimed “Godfather of all Jerky” and they drive the point home on the package with the Green, White and Red Italian flag stripes and the 45 (ish) caliber pistol artwork used in place of the “r” in Jerky. Proclaiming these are gangsters just like the Sopranos. This Jerky is marketing by The Don Jerky Factory hailing from the mean-streets of Arcadia, California.

This is one of the most ‘transparent’ Jerkys on the market as the packaging is clear except for the applied label.  You can flip over the package a clearly see the Jerky you about to consume. It is USDA packaged with full disclosure of the nutrition and ingredients which are printed ever-so-small on the label. The first thing you notice when you tear open the package is the strong smoky aroma. The ingredients add a little insight to the Italian connection as the list includes both anchovies and tomatoes! This is a spice mixture not seen regularly in Jerky.

The texture of the Don is dry to the touch and firm with little resistance as you tear it apart. When you put a piece in your mouth you will notice there is little to no flavor on the tongue. It’s dry and the flavor needs to be released but when you start chewing finally a rush of flavor hits your pallet. As your mouth begins to moisten the tangy Worcestershire and hint of tomato flavor is readily apparent this is followed quickly by the heat of the aged cayenne hot sauce used in the recipe.

The meat has a strong chew bordering on tough, several pieces in the bag left muscle tissue that didn’t easily break-down. Some people will look at this as the ‘bonus chew’. You can work this little nugget in you mouth for quite a while and it will keep releasing its flavor until it is discarded or swallowed whole.

 

I purchased this Jerky at one of my favorite watering holes “The Beach Ball” in Newport Beach. The 2 oz bag was $4.00 at the bar (March 2015) and that puts it right in the middle of the value range at $2 an ounce. This is not a sweet jerky but with both Corn Syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup included in the ingredients the carbs come in pretty high at 8 grams and the Sodium comes in at 410 mg per ounce.

At a 2.5 overall score, I wouldn’t go out of my way to seek out and purchase The Don Spicy Original but it is a value-driven salty snack to go with a cold beverage while sitting at the bar looking out at the Newport Pier.

The Don Spicy Original Beef Jerky