The word “jerky” comes from the South American Quechua term “ch’arki”, meaning “dried meat”. It became well-known in Europe when brought over by the Spanish in the 1500′s. However, there is evidence that it was being produced en masse thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt. When it became repopularized during the American colonization period, from then on it became a staple food for Native Americans, cowboys, and pioneers.
Today you can buy it just about anywhere, from a gas station snack shop to online retailers. Aside from the large conventional jerky producers, a couple of snack companies stand out. Tanka and Paleo Brands both make high quality jerky-based snack products geared towards customers with strict nutrition requirements or a more discriminating taste.
I took the liberty of buying samples of both of their products, along with a conventional industry competitor’s products, and set out to compare them all. Below are the nutritional data, my opinion of taste and quality, and links to the product websites.
Paleo Brands Grassfed Beef Jerky
PaleoBrands – Natural Barbeque Beef Jerky
Serving Size: 1 oz (28g)
Servings Per Container: 2
Amount per Serving:
Calories: 70 Fat Cal: 10
Total Fat: 1g
Protein: 11g
Sugars: 5g
Total Carb: 5g
Ingredients: Beef, Evaporated Cane Juice, Water, Organic Ketchup (Organic Tomato Concentrate (Water, Organic Tomato Pate), Organic Sugar, Organic Vinegar, Salt, Organic Onion Powder, Organic Spices), Apple Cider Vinegar, Salt, Natural Smoke Flavoring, Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Black Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder.
What is it like? Easy to chew, not as dry as the conventional jerky brand. Very slight spicy-sweet aftertaste. Can taste a hint of the ketchup sauce used in the flavoring.
Jack Links Original Beef Jerky
Jack Links – Premium Cuts Original Beef Jerky
Serving Size: 1 oz (28g)
Servings Per Container: 3
Amount per Serving:
Calories: 80 Fat Cal: 10
Total Fat: 1g
Protein: 15g
Sugars: 3g
Total Carb: 3g
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Sugar, Less Than 2% Salt, Corn Syrup Solids, Dried Soy Sauce (Soybeans, Salt, Wheat), Hydrolyzed Corn And Soy Protein, Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrin, Flavorings, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Nitrate. Contains: Wheat And Soy.
What is it like? Tougher to chew than the Paleo Brands jerky. A slightly sweet aftertaste, and a bit tangy.
Overall: You pay a premium for the Paleo Brands jerky because it is gluten and soy free, and it comes from grassfed beef. I think it even tastes better. But, you have to decide if you want to go with quality over quantity, since you will pay more for less product.
Tanka Bites
Tanka – Tanka Bites
Serving Size: 4 bites (28g)
Servings Per Container: 3
Amount per Serving:
Calories: 70 Fat Cal: 20
Total Fat: 2g
Protein: 7g
Sugars: 6g
Total Carb: 7g
Ingredients: Buffalo, Dried Cranberries (Cranberries, Sugar), Sea Salt, Spice, Red Pepper, Garlic, Onion, And Lactic Acid Starter Culture.
What is it like? Chewy, single bite size not overly greasy like other products such as Slim Jims. Not dry either like pure beef jerky. Slight juicy sweetness from the added cranberry.
Jack Links Teriyaki Beef Steak Nuggets
Jack Links – Premium Cuts Teriyaki Beef Steak Nuggets
Serving Size: 1 oz (28g)
Servings Per Container: 6
Amount per Serving:
Calories: 70 Fat Cal: 10
Total Fat: 1g
Protein: 10g
Sugars: 5g
Total Carb: 5g
Ingredients: Beef, Water, Sugar, Less Than 2% Salt, Dried Soy Sauce (Soybeans, Salt, Wheat), Maltodextrin, Fructose, Flavorings, Monosodium Glutamate, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Sodium Erythorbate, Paprika Extract, Sodium Nitrate. Contains: Wheat And Soy.
What is it like? Definitely more moist than regular jerky. No sweetness like the Tanka bites, but this is teriyaki flavor. Bites are also a little smaller.
Overall: Once again the ingredients really set these two products apart, as well as the price premium for that higher quality. Tanka also prides themselves on sourcing their food from Native American tribes, and their overall sustainability.
I can’t say that I will buy any of the premium jerky products with regularity, primarily because I’m on a budget. But when I do, I know that I won’t bother with conventional jerky anymore. There is just way to much junk in the ingredients in brands like Jack Links. Wheat and soy should not be in a meat product. I want separation of meat and wheat!
Have you tried any of these beef jerky products? Which ones did you like?
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21 Responses to Comparison of Beef Jerky Snack Products
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Man….I have a bag of Jack Links teriyaki in front of me. I want to think its healthy and good source of lean protein….but truth be told, it’s just another junk food.
Jason´s last [type] ..Gonna take some time to do the things we never have
I have a tendency to read the back labels of everything I buy now. It’s a curse.
Honestly, the Jack Links seems to have more protein than the others, but that could be from the wheat and soy protein added in.
BTW – Africa is a great song, what you talkin’ about? heheh
Oh without a doubt! that’s why I wrote about it =)
Jason´s last [type] ..Gonna take some time to do the things we never have
But Jack Links have such great “Messin’ with Sasquatch” commercials!
Fitz´s last [type] ..The Spectrum of Minimalist Running Shoes
Indeed, they’re quite effective – why I bought Jack Links to compare with. Poor Sasquatch.
I tried the Tanka bars once and wasn’t a fan… the airy texture and the sweetness just threw me off. I’m guessing the bites are similar? Not my cup of tea, though I know others like them!
I go through jerky phases and eat quite a bit of the Trader Joe’s jerky at times. Some are gluten free- I know the ‘organic original’ is gluten free, and I think the non-organic is as well. They also have Buffalo, Teriyaki, and Turkey… not sure about the first 2, but Turkey jerky is definitely not gluten free and quite sweet (to me).
I once treated myself to some slantshack gourmet jerky. Super tasty, but expensive and not gluten free (for those that care).
Meat dehydrators are the cheapest way to go for Jerky. They’re easy to use and the only skill needed is knowing how to slice meat. With a dehydrator you can control what goes in your jerky. Either way, good read, Dave!
As for reading the label on whatever you eat, I’ve started doing the same. I found Jone’s Breakfast Sausage to be a good breakfast meat if you like a conventional breakfast. The ingredients are meat, salt, sugar and spices.
I don’t buy commercial jerky; there are just too many added ingredients for my taste (the Tanka Bites, with the least amount of ingredients, have added sugar, small though the amount may be).
I make my own jerky. I have a food dehydrator and keep it almost constant use. Prepping the meat takes a couple of hours but once the meat is in the drier, one can sit back and relax for a day or two while the meat dries.
My dehydrator is wearing out though. The small motor is beginning to sound like a shaken can containing BBs so my next dehydrator will consist of a box fan and a large cardboard box per Alton Brown of Cooking Channel fame. I’m thinking a small wood fire placed to allow the smoke to draft into the box will add that ever-so-lovely smoke flavor to the meat.
Addendum: I don’t bother with ingredients lists because I don’t buy any food requiring such a list (other than “fresh frozen” fruits). I know this sounds pretentious but my life is a lot simpler by buying only (raw) foods that I must prepare myself.
I know what you are saying about the ingredients list. I’ve been cooking from scratch much more lately, but then of course it usually means more time spent cooking. Sometimes my schedule will dictate that I’ll have to resort to already-prepared meals.
Yes of course! I need to stop buying this Jack Links crap and make my own. It’s so simple…and probably fun too. This one looks easy enough to work with
http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-American-Harvest-FD-28JX-Dehydrator/dp/B000FFX642/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1298573132&sr=1-1
Jason´s last [type] ..Gonna take some time to do the things we never have
Have you guys ever made jerky with just your regular oven? Low temperature setting for a long duration.
Yes, I’ve tried a low-temp oven for jerky but the texture tends towards more toughness, even an exterior crispness. I think it has to do with the combination of the higher temperature and higher humidity of the oven. My dehydrator uses lower temperatures than can be attained by the oven and the fan of the dehydrator desicates the meat by drawing in the low ambient humidity, which in my area can be as low as 5%. In the oven, while the moisture does escape, the humidity tends to remain high.
Since I don’t have the space for a dehydrator right now (think REALLY small house and two nosy, food-stealing cats), I keep a package of Tanka Bites around for those times that I need to grab and go and I’m out of hard-boiled eggs. Wasn’t too sure at first, but they are growing on me – and it helps that I can buy them locally and don’t have to do mail order like I would with the PaleoBrands.
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One thing that was not mentioned at all – despite many references to the ingredient lists – is that on nearly all packaged jerky, the second ingredient is SUGAR! I spent nearly my entire life with an intolerance to anything from the sugar cane plant (sugar, molasses, brown sugar, evaporated cane juice, etc), so I’ve very aware of its presence in the SAD. One thing that is so exceptional about the paleo/primal lifestyle is that it removes this unnecessary addendum to our food. Since when do we need sugar with our meat? Do you bring out the bag of sugar when you cook a steak? No, of course not – people would laugh at you and think you were crazy. Yet we find it perfectly acceptable to dredge meat in sugar before dehydrating it? This seems illogical, especially for food that is marketed as “paleo,” such as the PaleoBrands jerky.
That’s a good point Marisa, and yes I agree that it is unfortunate when sugar get’s added to meat. I’m not sure why high quality meat would need it to taste good.
If you ever want to make your own: http://www.sonofgrok.com/2008/12/recipe-the-sog-jerky-method/
J.
So no oven, cool-drying instead? Very interesting.
I highly recommend the jerky from http://www.grasslandbeef.com
Very few ingredients (basically just salt, no MSG or soy protein!), 100% grass-fed and finished beef, and easier than making your own. As a friend commented the other day “it tastes like roast beef”.
[...] flavored joy. What’s odd about this rediscovery was literally the same day, my friend over at Naturally Engineered wrote a blog comparing and discussing the ingredients of the more popular brands of jerky. Was it [...]