The Jerky Junkie

Moving on to more sophisticated meat, we encounter a challenger to the average jerky image. Behold! Jack Links Prime Rib Tenders. Such a cut of meat conjures up images of meaty, bloody steaks with savory rubs and accompanying Au Jus. Yet, we wonder, how does this translate to beef jerky? Prime Rib, like many higher end steaks, has a rather high fat content, and has the potential to do some weird things in jerky. This is no matter to those jerkists at Jack Links. The meat is re-formed into pinkie-size pieces and packaged for our pleasure. Sound odd, yet interesting? Read on.

The Jerky Scale Scores

4: very moist

4: quality cuts of meat

4: easy to chew

4: thicker chunks

1: not sweet

5: very salty

2: little spice

What the folks at Jack Links have managed to provide are salty sticks of re-formed beef, with a very beefy aroma. There’s no sneaking these babies into the movie theater or church without everyone knowing. Prime Rib Tenders make a statement, and that statement is “ha ha, now you’re hungry too!” The surface of the tenders is the normal drop of canola oil in any bagged item that might stick to the bag. Under that surface is a flavor that you don’t want to like, but you do. You also like the idea of a Coke or a Beer with it after 3 pieces. This is a jerky that you need to break up a bit, unless you have a serious salt deficiency. As for the re-formed aspect, it is no worse than a few sausage links at breakfast. There’s going to be some texture, since Jack Links decided not to turn them into cocktail wieners with pureed beef in the middle. The texture gives these tenders character…tasty tasty character.

The Outer Scale Scores:

4: A specialized choice, but a good buy

1: Excellent packaging

Luckily for those who want to put the brakes on after 4 pieces of this salty bad boy, Jack Links has excellent packaging to keep this meaty goodness moist and fresh. It is hard to tear wrong with this bagging, and the smaller sized bag fits in more places than the monster bags flat jerky comes in.

Sharing is caring with this variety of jerky. This may start as a novelty among friends, starting with “let me try one of those weird lookin’ things,” followed by “hey, those aren’t bad.” I say they’re great in moderation and delicious to have on hand.

Stay tuned. There’s meat to come.