“Best” beef jerky (commercially available)?

73Chall

73Chall

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So, for those who enjoy beef jerky - and for those of us who either do not make (y)our own and have no access to homemade - can anyone recommend a brand of beef jerky that can be purchased online or which is widely (nationally) available in stores?
 
Not available online, but widely available in the southeast.

Buckeyes has probably the best store bought beef jerky I've been able to find in the last 10 years.

Nowhere near as good as the stuff I make at home or other home made stuff, but it's a solid decent.
 
Wow, thank you ALL - VERY MUCH!

I used to “jerk” all the time, decades ago and I’m not sure when or why I stopped (prolly something to with high blood pressure)

Since getting back to the gym - and having an egg for breakfast every morning - I’m finding it easier to go all day without ”feeling hungry” but, there are some days … like yesterday, felling timber all day where some intake is required but, I’m in no position to stop, even for a sandwich.

Up til yesterday, I’ve relied on the Equate Meal Replacement shakes (“steak dinner in a bottle”); however; a sis has recently gifted me some beef jerky and the spread out combo of the jerky, a shake and a sugar free Propel was quite significant, energy-wise (which lends to job safety, too)

A main reason I asked here is I suspect I may be able to get better bang for my buck than the Wagyu I was gifted …

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I have this on subscribe and save on Amazon delivered every month. Good snack to have around and less than half the cost of buying individual bags.
Jack Link's Beef Jerky Variety Pack - Includes Original, Teriyaki, and Peppered Beef Jerky, Great for Lunch Boxes, Good Source of Protein - 96% Fat Free, No Added MSG** - 1.25 oz (Pack of 15) https://a.co/d/8H0GgJu
 
To me, the best mass-produced jerky is "Old Trapper" if is soft and pliable. If its stiff, pass, its old. It does not keep too long though so it's not a "long term storage item" IMO for best flavor. Walmart seems to have the best prices on it at around $12 a bag. I've tried others I've found at small stores during trips but they are more region or botique jerky. Old Trapper's taste and the meat cuts is consistent to me.

https://oldtrapper.com/collections/beef-jerky

I cannot stand any of the Jacklinks stuff its always mealy and gritty. The dog likes it though. I recently bought a bag of Sam's club jerky and it tasted and had the texture of Jacklinks FWIW.
 
You can now buy online from Beef Jerky Outlet. Their traditional is on the dry side, but the smoked jerky and sausage sticks... I could eat about $300 worth in a sitting.
 
I like Pemican brand, Tillimook, or if you have a QT near you try the store brand, it's actually pretty good, like $10 for a bigger bag seems like it's called Trapper or something like that, it's been awhile since I bought.
Beef jerky outlet has some good stuff but I prefer to buy in the store from them as a couple times I've had it shipped it was stuff that was getting close on their use by date.

If you consistently eat jerky it's not hard to make your own, you can pick up a decent large dehydrator for $120 or so off amazon and there are recipes everywhere for marinades or rubs. It's a lot cheaper than buying and a lot healthier than what you're getting in a package. Plus you can dry fruits/veggies, spices, make fruit roll up, dry roast nuts, etc with it depending on what you buy. I've got a couple I've bought over the years but this is the one that sits on the kitchen counter most all the time, Between drying apples, pears, orange slices, lemon slices, jerky, etc it usually gets used 3 or so times a week, I bought when it was on sale on black Friday. It's still got a $40 coupon on it to bring it down to $150
Amazon product ASIN B09R82G6XZ
Depending on where you get your meat you'll get anywhere from 1/2 to 1/3 weight of finished jerky to raw meat. If it's a good dry cut you're starting with then it's more like 1/2, if it's commercial packaged it's more than likely injected with water to increase the weight and you'll only get about 1/3 the weight when it's dry.

Maybe buy some different flavorings and type of jerky (beef, chicken, pork, fish, etc) to find what you like and then try making a batch up yourself. If you have a toaster oven you can do small batches easy enough just to see if it's something you like doing.
 
73Chall said:
Wow, thank you ALL - VERY MUCH!

I used to “jerk” all the time, decades ago and I’m not sure when or why I stopped (prolly something to with high blood pressure)
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As long as you go easy on salts and stay away from nitrates you shouldn't have anything to worry about making your own. The nitrate free low salt stuff is all going to come at a premium cost over just run of the mill jerky. Besides the fact that I just like jerky I was in the same boat, bad numbers when I went to dr and looking at family medical history heading quickly for bad health that I didn't/don't want, so I wanted healthier filling snacks. A handful of dried apple slices, couple pieces of jerky and some roasted nuts and I have something good tasting and actually good for me, versus a bag of funyuns, some pizza rolls, or something from Little Debbie.
 
I LOVE beef jerky. The NEX carries a few brands, one of which is Jack Links. Since 2020, the prices have gone up and the sale prices haven't been what they used to be. Before 2020, a one pound bag ran about $16 or so, but the NEX would often have them on sale for $12-$13 a bag. Once I saw it at $11 at the big NEX at the Norfolk Naval Base.

When it would drop down to about $12-$13 a bag, I'd buy a case...once I bought two cases. My favorite are teriyaki and hickory smoked, followed by original. But I haven't bought any in a while because the sale prices are around $17-$18 a bag now. Sorry, I don't love beef jerky to buy it a lot at that price. If it dips below $1/ounce, I'll think about it again.

Cattleman's Cut is pretty good, and more tender than Jack Links.

Oberto just doesn't do it for me.

I haven't bought any at Buc-ee's yet, but I'm going to give some of theirs a try soon. They have a TON of different flavors and you can find some online. But I think I'd rather buy it bulk at Buc-ee's than the more expensive bags online.

I like Old Trapper.

There are a lot of other brands out there I'd like to try, and I'm sure there are plenty that I have but can't remember.
 
Enjoying the thread. Had to throw this out there. Basically a dehydrated steak in a bag. Super spendy. Can't afford to try it.
carnivoresnax.com

Carnivore Chips – Carnivore Snax

Try our delicious carnivore chips by Carnivore Snax. They melt in your mouth! From steak to lamb, we have a variety of different carnivore chips to taste.
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jimmyjames8 said:
Enjoying the thread. Had to throw this out there. Basically a dehydrated steak in a bag. Super spendy. Can't afford to try it.
carnivoresnax.com

Carnivore Chips – Carnivore Snax

Try our delicious carnivore chips by Carnivore Snax. They melt in your mouth! From steak to lamb, we have a variety of different carnivore chips to taste.
carnivoresnax.com carnivoresnax.com
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Holy cow! Spendy indeed at $25 to $40 for 5 ounces!

Darned expensive for something that advertises as "No marinades, no seasonings no sugars. Just meat and salt." I'm thinking that "100% Grass-fed and
regeneratively farmed" part is their justification.

Pretty big hype there for something that cattlemen of yesteryear would have looked at you and said "Grass-fed? Duh!"

For $40, biting into a piece better be orgasmic enough to require a change of underwear.
 
Yeah, besides being healthier by controlling what's in it, making without preservatives, etc it's a lot cheaper to make your own. I prob average $8-9 a lb for finished jerky if I catch decent lean meat at $4 a lb and that's including the cost of the marinade or rub. I generally do 5 lbs of wet weight at a time and that'll dry out to ~2.25 - 2.75 lbs. I catch on sale buy a big bunch of it up and have the butcher in the store slice it on their slicer and all I have to do is trim any excess fat when I get home, marinate or rub and then dry it. I generally just ziplock it and leave in fridge and it gets ate before you have to worry about it going bad. I have vacuum sealed it with desiccant packs, but it never makes it more than at most a couple weeks before I'm into it, so kind of a waste to do that. I may try dry canning some jerky sometime just to see how that does.
 
bootsector said:
Available at Harris Teeter and Amazon.
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Harris Teeter has the smaller bags on sale. I was in there this morning and checked out that isle. It's not cheap. The small 2.2oz bags were $2.80 off so they were $3.99. The big bags shown above were $13.99ish?

I picked up two (original and pepper) since they were on sale to try as after reading all these comments the past few days, I needed a fix. Without all the sugar you can really taste beef and the salt as well. It is a thinner cut compared to Old Trapper and Cattleman's but not bad and not as hard as Mingua which I had to rehydrate with spit to chew it the time I tried it last year. In the original flavor, the pepper in the mix seems to be hit/miss between pieces but the peppered version lets you know you're eating pepper with strong black pepper taste without eating chunks/chips of peppercorn like some other brands.

It only took the dog a couple minutes from a dead sleep downstairs to find me in the office once I opened the bags.

Overall, I'd say it's got that jerky flavor and old time jerky bite/pull and if it wasn't for the price, I'd put it in the buy once in a while category.
 
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I know he used not to be able to ship, but if you are ever in the Greenville/Winterville/Ayden area, go by Summerell's Sausage if you can find it and get Brian to fix you up with some of his jerky. It is really the same biltong he made in Africa before he fled with just the shirt on his back because of the light color of his skin. Good stuff.
 
I'm not sure how widely available, but I've recently found this jerky at ingles grocery. This is the best Jerky I've had in a long time. I've bought 4-5 bags and it is extremely consistently good. They have a few different flavors teriyaki is good and this jalapeño and lime is great. My dog approves as well.

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