A blend of over 7 spices and some habanero peppers create a great tasting spicy jerky that even your mother will love (and if she doesn’t we can always come there and beat the %$#@&*% crap out of her…..)
I’m not sure what has caused it, but suddenly there’s been an onslaught of spicy jerky manufacturers in the chilehead world. And that’s a great thing! You see, I’m a long time jerky fanatic – born and raised. I’ve tried all sorts of jerky: Beef, Turkey, Venison, Bison, Caribou, Elk, Salmon, Trout, Tuna, Shark, Emu, Ostrich, Bear… essentially any type of meat that you can hunt, I’ve tried – seasoned and dried. In fact, while living in Oregon, I used to detour off I-5 on the way up to Portland just to stop by Emmon’s Meat Market to buy my latest fix. I’m not sure if they are still in business, but if you are in Oregon, it’s worth trying to look them up. So long story short, I love jerky and have a fairly fine tuned jerky palate.
Doug, aka The Truth, has recently begun his own spicy venture (his other half Lisa is 1/3 of the Three Hot Tamales) and is now producing jerky in 2 varieties; Original and Spicy (Extra Spicy is available by request) under the Jersey Boyz Jerky company name. I picked up a few samples of the extra spicy at Zest Fest and frankly they didn’t last long.
The difference between the Spicy and Extra Spicy is the generous serving of Habanero Powder the Extra Spicy version is dusted with. The jerky is marinated in the Three Hot Tamales Toxic Tonic Hot Sauce (review here) which gives the meat a good base of flavor with a bit of back on the tongue heat. The habanero powder gets your taste buds from the start but doesn’t overpower the excellent taste and flavor of the meat. Sometimes extra spicy jerky’s tend to be all about heat without any thought to flavor. Jersey Boyz Jerky is definitely all about flavor, then the fire. The meat is tender and moist – melts in your mouth. It’s certainly not the type of jerky you’ll lose teeth trying to eat.
Jersey Boyz have also thought of a little extra special treat for us jerky addicts – each bag comes with an individually packaged flossy pick – so you can get those little extra bits of leftover flavor. That’s pure genius. Now there really is no excuse not to eat all the jerky you want.
Conclusion: The extra spicy could be spicier (don’t we always say that) BUT is excellent just the way it is. Any hotter and we might lose some taste buds and there’s no point in sacrificing the excellent flavor of the meat. The only request I have is for bigger packages – a 2oz. bag is just not enough. But that’s how good Jersey Boyz Jerky is – you’ll be left wanting more. Order extra to make sure you have plenty hanging around – never know when you’ll have a jerky craving.
Jersey Boyz Jerky is offering HSBers 10% off their entire order, simply drop Doug an email (or give him a call) and he’ll hook you up. Don’t forget to order one of each flavor as well – the non chileheads in your group will love the Original jerky – it has little to no heat, just pure flavor.
Mmmm…. Jerky for breakfast…
Jersey Boyz Jerky
33 Shaw Street
Garfield, NJ 07026
Doug@JerseyBoyzJerky.com