Jerkey

[Shug]

What kinda store bought jerkey ya'll getting. I've been getting "Wild Ride" brand hickory flavor from sportsman warehouse. A pound bag is about $15.....Use to get crocket creek at the factory. Got to be where all they had was honey bbq flavor. can't stand the sweet stuff

[UncleJak]

This probably doesn't count, but I bought a jalapeno slim jim the other day that said is was the "dare" version; indicating it was super hot. It was hot and delicious.

Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[frankmako]

i make my own.  better that way.  the price of store jerky is high. 

[bersaguy]

I buy 1 pound bags of Jacks Links Jerky at Sams for $12.95 a bag for the queens snacks.  I use to feed her Waggin Tails chicken jerky and paid $14.95 for it until I found out they quit making it here and began having it made in China. I contacted Jacks links and asked them where their products are made and they said U.S. and Canada. I figure it is made for Human consumption and my friends grab some when they stop by and none of them have died yet. I gnaw of some once in a while but not often. The queen loves it so works for me.

[enfield]

Somebody was selling jerky at the Sweetwater Flea Market.

[peejman]

Somebody was selling jerky at the Sweetwater Flea Market.

Flea market jerky? Um, no.

I like jerky but sometimes it doesn't like me. The store bought stuff is way too expensive and usually way too salty for me. A few coworkers make really good jerky. I'd like to get a dehydrator and make my own.

[Guest Keal G Seo]

Yeah, we too make our own. We usually go with chuck steaks though occasionally will go with brisket if we can find a lean enough one. You don't need a dehydrator. You can make your own from a couple of box fans. Many recipes online for the marinades and a bit of curing salt is all you need for the seasoning. When doing homemade it is easy to fall under the $10/lb mark.

The only trick to homemade is actual fat content as it doesn't dry evenly with the meat and as such will spoil sooner if you leave large pieces in it.

As for store bought, if I am on a road trip or something and have a craving I grab for the Jack Links as it has the softer (more moist) texture I prefer.

[Metalhead]

Old Trapper peppered usually is my go-to store bought. I like it better than Jack Links because there is usually a piece or three in a Jack Links bag that doesnt taste quite right with a funky aftertaste.

[tnguy]

I've made my own a couple of times. I was surprised how easy it was. It tends to disappear too quickly though. Going to have to have a marathon session one weekend. Also need to work out tracking down the necessary stuff to do it. The dehydrator came with two types of sachet, one is the flavoring but I'm not sure exactly what the other was.

 

If you don't want to pay out for a dehydrator, I hear you can do it in the oven at low temperature.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Make your own.. seriously.. way cheaper and way healthier... and sooo easy to make....

[TNMTBik3r]

Can make it in the oven, turn it on as low as possible (usually 350degrees).
You can drape the strips on the oven racks, or better yet stick a toothpick through and let the meat hang down from the rack. I forget the bake time, have used a dehydrator the past few times.

[UncleJak]

Can make it in the oven, turn it on as low as possible (usually 350degrees).
You can drape the strips on the oven racks, or better yet stick a toothpick through and let the meat hang down from the rack. I forget the bake time, have used a dehydrator the past few times.

I've made quite a bit like this. I set my oven on warm (170) and use the racks. I put foil underneath to catch drips. Usually takes 3 or 4 hours to complete.

Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[Shug]

I do make my own, but sometimes I don't have any when the hankering hits. So as the OP I was asking what store brand is the popular favorite

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

350 is to high, that will cook it ...

165 to 170 is ideal  heat / circulation.

Its  really better if you have some sort of circulating air ..

but if you use enough soy/terryaki sauce and enough hot pepper/cayenne whatever stuff.. you can also scewer  it on  long wooden sticks and hang it outside.. the sun wil lcure it and you will not get any flies or bugs on it.. but make sure the piece will not touch each other.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Sorry Chug.. didn't mean to derail this..

I think Jack Links is about  the best there is

[Garufa]

I can't hardly eat convience store jerky anymore, it's like some weird plastic.

 

When I get up around the Bass Pro Shop I'll raid the Beef Jerky Outlet but the quality of their stuff has gone down the past few years.  Way too much dried fat to chew around now.  Other than that the product is as it should be, dry.  Jerky should not shine.

[JAB]

I lost the ability to get my favorite 'bought' jerky at the same time I lost the ability to get the best barbecue I ever had (I seriously don't think there are very many barbecue examples out there that are as good as mine but this one blew mine out of the water.)  It was at a little hole in the wall place called Phil's Country Biscuit and Barbecue to Go that was on the highway (can't remember highway number) that runs from Ooltewah to Cleveland (the same highway as Couch's but closer to Cleveland - Couch's barbecue isn't bad but I liked Phil's a whole lot better.)  Seriously, he had some of the best barbecue ever (Phil was obsessive about good barbecue - he had different sauces for his beef and pork and once stopped selling the beef for a time because he couldn't get the exact spices he wanted to make the sauce.)

 

Anyhow, he also had a set up in the downstairs/basement area of his barbecue place where he made smoked beef jerky.  The barbecue flavor was good as was the spicy but the best might have been a rather unusual flavor that I haven't seen elsewhere.  He called it 'BG' which stood for 'butter garlic'.  That one wasn't super salty and tasted like, well, butter and garlic.  I generally prefer spicy but I think I could have eaten my weight in that butter garlic jerky.  I swear, that man was to smoked meats and spices what J.M. Browning was to firearms.

 

He closed that restaurant and then, a few months later, opened one in downtown Cleveland but the hours were such that I never seemed to make it by there.  I don't even know if he sold beef jerky at the newer place.  He has since closed that one, too.

 

I used to eat a lot more jerky but have had to curb my consumption due to a need to watch my sodium intake.  On a road trip a few months back, I tried Duke's brand Steak Strips.  I was craving jerky and got the Duke's product because it had a bit less sodium than other, similar things.  It was a bit different than regular jerky (Dukes sells regular jerky too, I think.)  It was not as thin - almost more like chunks in a way - and was more tender.  I also thought it tasted more like fresh beef than a lot of jerky that I have had.  I really, really liked it but I don't see it around my area, much (I got it at a gas station/convenience store in Kentucky.)

Edited October 7, 2013 by JAB