Sometimes companies claim to be small companies as a marketing angle. And then there are companies like Mountain America Jerky where you get an email straight from the CEO. Or rather, from the CJO – Chief Jerky Officer.

Product Background

Chuck Watson emailed me about checking out his jerkies, and after a little investigation I agreed to try his products. While his jerkies wouldn’t be considered “paleo,” the company appears to put a great deal of care into their products. The jerky is handmade from start to finish in small batches and guaranteed to be fresh. The meats are hickory smoked daily in the company’s Colorado facility.

Things to know about the jerky:

• No added preservatives
• No MSG
• No nitrates
• No fillers or binders
• Salmon jerky is made from wild caught fish
• Tuna jerky is sushi grade and dolphin safe
• Elk, buffalo, venison, turkey, and exotic meat jerkies contain no hormones

In addition, Mountain America jerky is made from whole pieces of meat. Not ground meat. While ground meat winds up making a very tender jerky, the quality of the meat used can easily come into question. Mountain America jerky consists of thick chunks of real meat, as opposed to bits and pieces held together with binders.

Exotic Meat Selection

One thing that sets Mountain America Jerky apart from other companies is the broad selection of exotic meats they have available. And by that I mean everything from alpaca and duck to kangaroo and snake. They even recently added Tibetan yak jerky to the line-up.

If you check out their shop, you’ll see a wide range of samplers available. If you’re curious about exotic meats, I’d suggest that as a good place to start. You can try small amounts of a wide variety of meats and at a good price, as well.

And in addition to the meat selection, the company also offers flavor variations of many of the meats. This includes original, spicy, teriyaki, peppered, sweet and spicy, garlic black pepper, and habanero. So basically, there’s no way you can’t find something to fit your particular taste buds.

Flavors I tried:

• Elk – Very easy to chew, with a mild smoky flavor. Tasted like a well-cooked hamburger. Not sweet, not peppery, and slightly richer than beef.
• Venison – Spicy, tender, but not quite as tender as the elk. Also milder than the elk and not as rich.
• Buffalo – Not as tender or soft as the other meats. Not too sweet. The spicy flavor builds as you eat it. Overall very enjoyable.
• Ostrich – Reminiscent of turkey jerky. This jerky is lean, but has a richer flavor than typical turkey jerky.
• Alligator – Definitely the toughest of the flavors I tried, but still quite enjoyable. Tasted like slightly richer bird meat.
• Beef Jerky – Pepper flavor is light, but tasty. Very, very tender.

Mountain America Alligator Jerky

Ingredients

Not all the Mountain America jerkies are gluten free. Some include a soy sauce powder that lists wheat, soybeans, maltodextrin, and high oleic sunflower oil as its ingredients. Aside from the soy sauce powder, the ingredients are completely inoffensive.

“One thing that sets Mountain America Jerky apart from other companies is the broad selection of exotic meats they have available. And by that I mean everything from alpaca and duck to kangaroo and snake.”

Certain flavors of the jerkies are available in a gluten-free version. These are made with tamari instead of soy sauce. If you are strict paleo, though, remember that tamari, while gluten free, is still made from soybeans.

My Recommendation

Mountain America offers free shipping on orders over $65.00 and does a flat shipping rate of $3.95 on all other orders. They have a wide range of prices, depending on the meat you choose and the amount you choose. For sheer entertainment value or for a neat gift for a meat lover, it might be something worth checking out. I know I was a bit sad when my samples were all gone.

Mountain America Jerky is available from $7.95 and up at MountainAmericaJerky.com.

If You Love Jerky, You Might Also Like:

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• Re-Wild Your Plate: 3 Easy, Tasty Game Meat Recipes
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post Tired of Boring Beef Jerky? Try Kangaroo, Snake, or Yak appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Over the years of experimenting with healthy snacks and convenient post-workout food or supplement options, I’ve come to expect more and more. I don’t think athletes should have to compromise flavor or health for convenience. There has to be a better way.

Enter Primal Pacs. I’ve reviewed a lot of jerky and other snack foods here on Breaking Muscle, and I always tout the advantages of dried meats as snacks for athletes. High quality protein that tastes good, isn’t excessively sweetened (or sweetened at all), and travels well is the holy grail of convenient athletic food. Not only does Primal Pacs offer jerky on its own, but the Primal Pacs also combine jerky with nuts and dried fruit to create a mixed-nutrient option for athletes.

Recently I tried out both the basic small Primal Pacs offering, and also a bag of their jerky all by itself. Here’s what I thought of each:

Primal Pacs Jerky

Jerky is included in the standard Primal Pacs, which I talk about below, but you can also get their jerky all by itself. As a jerky connoisseur, I half expected tough jerky when I saw it was also included in their mixed bag option, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The Primal Pacs jerky is high quality. They make it tender by using ground beef, which allows for a ton of flavor while keeping the jerky tender. This is the same way I make homemade jerky.

The jerky is lightly flavored, mostly with a standard garlic and salt flavoring. The light flavors allow the jerky to contribute a dose of the flavor as well. Having the food itself contribute most or all of the flavor seems to be a theme with Primal Pacs, and I love this quality. Since the beef is grass-fed and high quality, you want to actually taste it.

The jerky, like all jerky, is not for low-sodium diets. Part of the jerky-making process is in the salt. However, as jerky goes, Primal Pacs keeps the sodium content relatively light compared to store-bought versions. I did notice the labeling seems to be incorrect. The sodium content is listed as 110mg on both the snack pack and jerky labels. However, the Daily Value percentage on the snack pack label is listed as five percent, as opposed to thirteen percent on the jerky label. I’d guess the quantity on the jerky label is mistaken and should be more like 250mg. Even so, this is relatively low.

Where this jerky stands out is its well above-average softness. As noted above, I expected it to be tough, but actually experienced some of the most tender jerky I’ve had. With some jerky, high quality ingredients combined with a wet marinade yields a soft, but wet jerky. While Primal Pacs certainly uses quality ingredients, they use a dry rub to create a dry, but somehow soft product. A+ effort on this one.

Primal Pac

The Primal Pacs flagship product is the Primal Pac itself. The Primal Pac comes in two sizes: 2.3oz or 4.3oz. Each pack comes with the above reviewed jerky, along with macadamia nuts, almonds, dried cranberries, and dried mango.

The jerky is the same product from above, so already I love it, but in the Primal Pac you get the jerky flavor along with other sweet or nutty flavors. The cranberries are unsweetened, making them lightly sweet with a bite of tartness that complements the other flavors you might get in one mouthful. The mango brings a sweeter and milder taste than the cranberries, which mellows out the flavor. Although the mango is not listed as sweetened in the ingredient list, it tastes like it might be. Both kinds of dried fruit are moist and not at all chewy.

The nuts in the mix are unsalted. Their healthy fats, along with the saltiness of the beef, help spread all the flavors in your mouth. Although I had exactly one almond in the small pack I tried, it was not short on macadamias, so the slight is forgiven.

In my opinion, the blend of flavors found in the Primal Pacs go well together, but with minimal processing. Even cooking and drying processes are kept to a minimum. Each pinch of food from the pack gives you a different but always delightful mix of sweet, salty, savory, and nutty natural flavors.

The only possible downside on Primal Pacs is price. Any time you put together high quality ingredients you’ll get a higher price point, so this may not be a surprise to you, but it may give the average person cause to balk at purchase. Jerky also tends to be expensive anyway, so for the organic and grass-fed stuff, I don’t expect it’s shocking to pay a bit more. At over $7.00 a bag for the jerky alone (the small Primal Pacs are about half that price), keep in mind that you get what you pay for. That’s only a little more than the store-bought stuff, which doesn’t come close to the quality or tenderness of Primal Pacs.

Besides the justifiably higher price tag for the jerky, Primal Pacs are an excellent product. The mixed Primal Pacs are perhaps more reasonably priced and offer something unique: delicious flavor with the perfect blend of nutrients. Primal Pacs make an ideal post-workout or on-the-job snack that is also a pleasure to eat.

Primal Pacs are available at Amazon.

The post Primal Pacs (Product Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I may be working at virtually any hour of the day, so I’m always on the lookout for convenient protein snacks. I usually shy away from eating a lot of protein bars, even the healthier ones, because they tend to be higher in sugar than protein. So when it comes to getting in my protein, I prefer meat snacks, and if you’ve read my reviews, you know I love my jerky.

I recently checked out Blaistix as an alternative to my usual jerky, and I’m pretty happy I did. Blaistix are 100% grass-fed, hormone-free, nitrate-free, MSG-free beef sticks that come in five different flavors. They taste great and are much healthier than the typical versions. They also present a great alternative to jerky, since they are softer, less chewy, and generally easier to eat.

Here’s a list of the flavors I tried:

• Mild Mannered: This is their most basic option. Spicy but not hot, the Mild Mannered flavor delivers exactly what you expect in a beef stick without all the added toxic chemicals.
• Hot & Spicy: This one is similar in flavor to the Mild Mannered, but with a kick. If you’re sensitive to spicy foods, this one isn’t for you, but if you’re anything like me, these won’t last long.
• Sweet & Savory: The flavor is, again, fairly similar to the above options, but instead of the spicy kick of the Hot & Spicy this one has a sweeter flavor, more along the lines of barbeque. I also found this one to be a little juicier than the other flavors, which I liked.
• Coriander: I was most excited about this variety. I wasn’t sure if they meant it would have standard cilantro flavors like you find in Mexican cooking, or if they were referring to the coriander seed flavor. I’m mildly obsessed with cilantro (the leaf of the coriander plant), but the flavor of this beef stick is from the seed. To me it tasted almost of mild anise or fennel flavor, which I don’t personally enjoy, but the flavor was otherwise good. If you enjoy a mild fennel flavor that is similar to licorice but much less intense, you’ll love this one.
• Chipotle Adobo: This flavor delivers nice chipotle and adobo flavors that aren’t at all oppressive. The flavor is great and exactly what you’d expect, but without too much heat. If you’re looking for some extra spiciness, the Hot & Spicy is for you, but for a mild chipotle flavor, give this one a shot.

Each one-ounce stick has ten grams of protein, with the exception of the Sweet & Savory flavor, which trades some protein for a few extra grams of sugar. The fat profile looks good (five or six grams per stick, and a good blend of healthy fats), and the meat is grass-fed. Cholesterol (13-14mg) and sugar (2-5g) are low. Sodium ranges from 363mg-463mg.

Now if you compare this to the store-bought stuff like Slim Jim, which is the best known brand, you’ll see that Blaistix are only slightly more expensive when you purchase the larger box sizes. For the small difference in price, you get grass-fed, hormone-free beef with half the fat, more protein, less sodium, and just as much flavor (or more, if you prefer natural flavors like I do). Seems worth it, if you ask me.

That’s not all, from a price point perspective. If you compare the cost of the sticks in the larger boxes, it’s actually fairly comparable to online retailers of regular grass-fed beef pound for pound, but Blaistix are dried and packaged. This means per pound, you’ll get more protein from Blaistix, and will likely find it cheaper than other grass-fed beef per gram of protein. If you’re looking for a convenient high-protein snack after a workout, you won’t find a better one.

The only downside for Blaistix is the sodium content. As mentioned earlier, Blaistix have considerably less sodium than the store-bought alternative, but like pretty much all dried beef, you’re going to find extra salt. It’s the nature of the beast. You’d have to eat a lot of Blaistix to get a big dose, but if you’re sensitive to sodium, if might be best to prepare beef at home yourself so you can control the sodium content.

In case you couldn’t tell, I’m a fan of Blaistix. If want a post-workout snack that delivers more flavor and nutrition than your average powder or bar, give Blaistix a try. You’ll get great flavors, no artificial sweeteners or preservatives, high-quality protein, and convenience at a good price. You can’t go wrong with that combo.

Blaistix are available for various prices at LocalPastures.com.

The post Blaistix Beef Snack Sticks (Product Review) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

If you are familiar with my reviews, you know that I love jerky, and I make jerky. I think it’s a great snack for athletes because it’s high in protein and convenient to keep with you, as it travels well. I understand how it’s made, what makes it good or bad, and I hold claims of “good jerky” under considerable scrutiny.

All that said, Krave Jerky is pure magic. When eating this stuff I almost forgot I had to write a review about it. I even balked at trying to figure out how they did it because the only thoughts in my mind were that I needed more. It’s pretty much that good. Sadly, however, I am a reviewer and I had to (partially) trade pure ecstasy for scrutiny.

Taste-wise I have covered the flavors offered below and I’ll let them speak for themselves, but all in all every flavor was amazing. I hated to do it, but I did share some of my Krave Jerky to get a few second opinions, and every single one was favorable.

As far as toughness goes, this is by far the most tender jerky you will ever eat. Some of the meat in some of the flavors literally fell apart at the touch and most were actually wet to the touch as well, practically dripping with flavor. Unreal. This is because of their unique baking process that doesn’t dehydrate the meat in the usual way.

Krave’s preparation process has advantages and disadvantages. It allows for less salt to be used, which not only makes the product healthier, but also more moist. The trade-off is that it doesn’t last as long once opened as other jerky products do. The company recommends consuming within a week of opening, although it will last a year if unopened. However, I’ll be honest, it was a struggle to not eat the entire bag immediately after opening anyway. For the sake of the review, I actually waited several weeks to finish each bag, which is longer than Krave recommends. While it was slightly drier, the jerky hadn’t lost a step and tasted just as good.

As far as the ingredients go, this is one of the healthiest jerky options you will find. With a host of natural, low-fat ingredients, the aforementioned low sodium content, no MSG or nitrites, and no gluten, it is rare to find jerky of this quality. Even if it tasted half as good, they’d have still gotten a great review from me, but to combine amazing flavor, unprecedented tenderness, and quality ingredients is a jerky tour de force.

My only gripe, and it’s a small one, is that they don’t have a sugar-free option. They have a few flavors with only 5g of sugar per serving, which isn’t much, but I love my jerky savory and every last one of their flavors has cane syrup as the second ingredient. Again, it’s still better than most snacks by leaps and bounds, but worth a mention.

Now on to the flavors. Here we go:

• Pineapple Orange Beef: Sweet flavors of dried tropical fruit. Not oppressively sweet, but I personally prefer savory as mentioned, so this flavor, while delicious, wasn’t my favorite.
• Grilled Sweet Teriyaki Pork: I’m a first timer for pork jerky. This almost translucent pork has perhaps lightest meat flavor out of all of them, which means it is purely a high-protein carrier for their delicious sauces. The sweetness came through on this one, and while it is delicious, the teriyaki flavor isn’t particularly strong.
• Black Cherry Barbecue Pork: Meatier and with more texture than the other pork jerkies, this is one of Krave’s best offerings. A perfect mix of spices and sweetness, most spicy food lovers will find this to be pretty mild, but it might be a kick for those sensitive to spiciness. Everyone, however, will find this delicious. I suppose if it were possible to not like any food at all, you might not enjoy this jerky, but for all of the rest of us this one will have you coming back for more. This is also one of the lowest in sugar and the highest in protein of all of their jerkies.
• Sweet Chipotle Beef: This one has the flavor experience kicked up a notch. It is both one of their spicier and also sweeter offerings, and the beef is amongst the softest I’ve ever had. You can’t go wrong with honey and southwestern spices mixed together.
• Basil Citrus Turkey: Like the teriyaki pork, this turkey is merely a high-protein, low-fat vessel for a basil flavor, cut by powerful undertones of lemon. Along with the other turkey offering, this variety has the most sugar. Although that’s a downside for me, it is still not at all sickly sweet like it could have easily been.
• Lemon Garlic Turkey: More turkey taste than the Basil Citrus. A great sweet garlic flavor without oppressive lemonyness.
• Chili Lime Beef: A delicious medium-hot chili garlic sauce tphat contrasts perfectly with a refreshing lime taste. The saltiest of their offerings, this is the only one that approaches average jerky saltiness. Most of the other flavors fall much lower on the sodium scale.
• Garlic Chili Pepper Beef: This one is also made with the garlic chili sauce from the Chili Lime Beef, but is taken to another level of heat without the lime. Their spiciest offering, this jerky is loaded with flavor. Another of my favorites amongst a strong list of offerings.

So really, all that is left to be said is to take a look at that list. I’ll tell you, besides the teriyaki, I found the flavors true to their descriptions. If any of those strike your fancy, you’d be doing yourself a huge favor by checking them out. This is definitely the best jerky I’ve had.

Krave Jerky is available at Amazon.com.

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