Anyone have any favorites?
I’ve been trying “original” flavor of various brands of jerky recently. Seems that jerky has gotten wetter over the years, and that is not to my liking. In the past few weeks I’ve had Jack Link’s, Tillamook, Bridgford, Kroger, and Great Value. To my surprise, I like Great Value best of those.
I like the Tillamook Zero Sugar varieties, prefer spicy to sweet when it comes to meat.
And, not helpful unless you’re in Washington, but my neighborhood grocer - West Seattle Thriftway - makes their own excellent jerky, and Owens Meats makes addictive spicy bites - stores in Cle Elum & Tacoma plus several vending machines (doesn’t look like they ship) https://www.owensmeats.com/
Ever thought of making your own? As a kid my mom used to make it from flank steak… no special equipment necessary. If you’re interested I can try and dig up the recipe.
As mentioned in a prior thread, I like Mahogany Smoked Meats from Bishop CA. Its not as good as it used to be but still better than most. Here is a link to that old post. People mentioned a few others. One mentioned is Home Page - Prasek’s Family Smokehouse (praseks.com) I forgot that I wanted to order some of it.
Nah, it’s not something I’d want to make, but thanks for the offer.
#BecauseBacon
If you ever pass through Fort Bragg, Roundman’s
Smokehouse does some really excellent Teriyaki jerky.
Or if you pass through Cave Junction, OR, Taylor’s Sausage Country Store has excellent jerky, especially the Teriyaki.
This thread got me motivated.
Top round cut from Yosemite Valley Beef.
Turned out better than I expected.
If you order a minimum of 100 lb, shipping is free. 
That looks delicious. As much as I like jerky, I don’t think I can eat 100lbs. Making your own really is the best way to go.
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Making your own seems great, especially since the owners of the big firms are assholes like this one:
Tl;dr- the owner of Jack’s Link’s Jerky stages live pigeon shoots. It’s gross.
Thanks for that. I’m not anti-hunting, but that’s not hunting. That sort of shoot is disgusting, but even that sort of shoot could be managed much better than it sounds like that one is. There aren’t many companies that I avoid for reasons beyond just not liking their products, but Jack Link’s is going on my list. Guess it’s fortunate that there is jerky I like better.
Your photos briefly reminded me of empal, one of my favorite Indonesian snacks, but then I remembered that it was dried & fried beef.
In any event, which chilies did you use?
I have that exact brand of that chile (and size of bag) at home!
BITD we’d buy a flank steak or skirt steak (actually mom would buy it for us), marinate it with a bottle teriyaki sauce with lots of fresh ground black pepper and dehydrate it at a low temp oven or using the dehydrator. Homemade jerkey was best on backpacking trips across the Sierras or the coastal range. Elk jerkey is made and sold in this area but it seems awfully fibrous and terribly expensive.
Good beer drinkin’ jerky! Looks pretty alive.
