The greatest jerky on the planet-

[Just Bill]

I have been eating this stuff for over twenty years, they've been making it since 1886. It is hands down the best jerky around. Why?- it's dried steak. Not ground and pressed, or shredded- but huge slabs of meat cut, smoked and up to one inch thick. Not only does it taste good but is easily the closest substitute to fresh meat on the trail.
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The Jerky- (no more WHEY)
Although they don't have nutritional info Mike Held has told me it takes about 3-4 pounds of fresh to make a pound of Jerky. A three ounce serving of lean beef has roughly 22g of protein. While I know this math is a bit fuzzy and you lose a little in the process- an ounce of their jerky should be roughly equal. (Jack Links and other common junk has 15g)

The point being- an ounce of Whey Protein has 25g. Would you rather eat an ounce of jerky or choke down an ounce of powder? NO MORE WHEY for me. I'll take 2.5 ounces of jerky- the equivalent of an 8 ounce steak instead and 50g of protein instead. (Not sure why I never did this math before….)

https://heldsmarket.com/ Held's Meat Market is in the small town of Slinger Wisconsin, about 45 minutes northwest of Milwaukee and pretty far outta the way. My Dad found it one day as an over the road salesman and we've been buying several hundred dollars at a crack whenever we drove by. Truck drivers and many other folks do as well and it's generally a well kept secret.

I have long complained about driving up there and was not alone. Mike Held has been working on shipping his product and he has slowly worked his way onto the web and is ready for mail order. More importantly he finally figured out how to ship his slab jerky after a year or so of having to cut it up to ship it. They recently updated the website and he gave me the thumbs up on my last visit to pass it on. The mailorder was originally more for existing customers but he is ready for more...it takes over a week to make a batch. If you are in the area at all, stop in. I usually get some cheese curds and other treats available in the market and eat myself disgusting on the car ride.

Great family business-good people (used to be a thru hiker that worked there too)- great product.

Slab Jerky- https://heldsmarket.com/slab-beef-jerky-16oz/
$19 a pound is a good deal IMO- what would three pounds of good steak cost you? A one pound bag of Jack Links buffalo droppings imitation "cat meat" jerky costs $18.
"No word of a lie"- I have bought $600 at a crack- it is horribly addicting and easy to sell on any street corner or to unsuspecting scout troops. I have seen truck drivers haul out more and sell it at truck stops around the country. Don't screw yourself on shipping- buy a few pounds.
I prefer the spicy, it's not that spicy. We usually buy a 2-1 ratio of spicy to original. If you find spicy beef ramen to be too hot to eat- get the original.
The Jamaican style is decent- but it is thin sliced to soak up more marinade and nothing special.

Tired of soaking and paper toweling beef for your food?- get out a tater peeler and slice a litte of the original flavor for delishious real meat in your dehydrated meals. Make long thin strips to go with a spicy noodle soup.

Besides the Slab Jerky- I strongly recommend the:
Bloody Mary snack sticks- bout a 1/4" thick- and excellent flavor and cocktail addition
Landjaegers- about 1/2" thick- smoked summer sausage- (real slim jims) pictured next to the jerky on the kitchen scale pic- cut in half for trail use. Lots of good fats and a different taste.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

The greatest jerky on the planet- really Bill, don't demean yourself so.......oh wait....nevermind

[Just Bill]

The greatest jerky on the planet- really Bill, don't demean yourself so.......oh wait....nevermind

HUGZ-
The thread you were thinking of is this one- http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...round-the-fire

[Dogwood]

Although I'll sometimes splurge taking Krave or Perky Jerky brands Turkey Jerky on a hike because it's soft yet slightly chewy but not as tough as shoe leather and it has no nitrites/nitrates/MSG or also Ahi(tuna) jerky it's easy enough to make your own at a fraction of the cost. For a JMT thru-hike I made tuna jerky at home in Hawaii and mailed myself some to the Sierras eaten two months later. I didn't have a hydrator either. I just used the stove and borrowed a friend's plastic airtight sealing machine as described here. http://www.osanglers.org/uploads/Tuna_Jerky-3.pdf I went to the docks when the tuna boats were coming in and got sashimi grade tuna for $10/lb. For $20 of tuna and about $10 of sauces/juices/spices and a bit of my time I got 2 lbs of high grade Ahi(Tuna) Jerky.

[WingedMonkey]

I don't eat jerky and I don't speed hike.
So I got nothing.

[Game Warden]

Is it jerky, or smoked beef?

[myakka_]

Cool. I usually make my own so that I know what is in it, but I will probably order myself a little sample. Just for comparison....

[Matthikes]

That looks so good. Might just have to order some.

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[Venchka]

Buc-ees jerky. A staple in Texas. Required for every hunt.

Wayne


Sent from the State of Delerium.

[Adriana]

Bourgeouis' Beef Jerky from Louisiana is awesome. It can now be ordered online.

http://bourgeoismeatmarket.com/

[rhjanes]

Questions.
Helds. Doesn't say anything about keeping the jerky, the snack sticks, after opening. They OK non-refrigerated for a while? I ask, because (read below).
How about those "formed" jerky? Looks like they would pack better.

The Bourgeois, they say they are vacume packed and once opened, must be refrigerated. So...on trail for 5 to 7 days?

[Adriana]

The Bourgeois, they say they are vacume packed and once opened, must be refrigerated. So...on trail for 5 to 7 days?

. Unless it is the dead of summer it should be fine for 5 days, 7 might be a stretch. You might consider vacuum packing it into smaller portions. It really is fantastic jerky. I made the hour+ drive from NOLA to buy some a couple of years ago and it was worth the drive. Glad to see that they ship now.

[harmonjazzman]

Thanks! Ordered 3lbs today

[Just Bill]

I don't eat jerky and I don't speed hike.
So I got nothing.

Thanks for your insight.

Is it jerky, or smoked beef?

I sorta understand your question so I'll take a stab-
Jerky refers to any lean meat dried to allow it to be stored. The main method is by dehydration.
Smoked beef- a bit of an open definition. Beef brisket is smoked beef, but not shelf stable.

This is jerky made by smoking the beef and using the smoker to accomplish the dehydration at the same time. Like good brisket or smoked pork- this jerky has a "bark". It is prepared like jerky (as much fat trimmed as possible and a salt heavy marinade used) but smoked and cut more like a brisket in thickness compared to traditional jerky.

Traditional jerky is cut as thinly as possible to aid/assure complete drying. This jerky is cut for maximum flavor and slow smoked to dry and cure it. Fully cured it remains up to 1" thick. The outer bark is hard and leathery like overdone jerky can be, but the inside is tender and red like a perfectly cooked steak. The best description I have is that if you dried a steak this is what you would have.

So the answer to your question is YES.

Buc-ees jerky. A staple in Texas. Required for every hunt.

Wayne.

From the pics I saw this is traditional thin slice jerky. Not that it wouldn't be tasty...

Adriana- looks like the stuff you recommended is also strip jerky. Slightly thicker slices of meat- pretty close to how native people would cut it (hand cut versus slicer).

I like the thin sliced jerky's just fine- but they are more to me like marinated chicken or pork- they display the flavor of the sauce but not the meat.

Slab jerky has flavor in the bark- but the taste of the meat is the main flavor internally.

Questions.
Helds. Doesn't say anything about keeping the jerky, the snack sticks, after opening. They OK non-refrigerated for a while? I ask, because (read below).
How about those "formed" jerky? Looks like they would pack better.

The Bourgeois, they say they are vacume packed and once opened, must be refrigerated. So...on trail for 5 to 7 days?

Mr. Buscemi-
Landjaegers and snack sticks- (a bit like pepperoni) These are higher fat sausages that have been smoke cured and are shelf stable. Like any fatty meat product the fat itself has a chance of going rancid when exposed to heat. I have safely used these items in the summer for up to two weeks, I have had a few go bad after a few weeks in mail drops and don't take the chance any more. These are mainly nice things to have to snack on around the house so you don't accidentally eat a pound of jerky. They are nice to have around the house, but for the trail- they are excellent in the winter or cooler months when munching on this high fat treat will keep you warm when it's chilly. Below 50 there is virtually zero risk of spoiling even on Tipi Walter length trips.

Held's Slab Jerky-
It comes a bit moist fresh from the smoker. You can store it in the freezer to maintain the moisture level/tenderness. Just make sure to completely thaw it prior to packing it by putting it out on the counter for a few days before you pack it. I made this mistake before when I had someone doing maildrops for me. They dropped the jerky in the boxes frozen and it got a bit fuzzy on the outside. I scraped off the fuzz and ate it.

You can also simply hang the jerky up or store it in a paper bag in the pantry. It continues to dry out and does eventually get fairly tough. No biggie if you are cooking it or willing to slice thin strips to chew on.

If/when it dries to fast it can also get a bit of white powder on the surface. This is what they call "salt bleed" and are simply salt deposits left as the jerky continues to dry. Had this happen a few times when I bought a few slabs and left them in the car for a few days in warmer weather.

I have also made pemmican with this jerky. Simply leave it out for six months until it gets brittle, then use a mortar and pestle to smash it into sawdust. The jerky dust is also excellent in soups or with mashed potatoes. If somehow the jerky escapes my mouth long enough to dry out too far for normal tastes then I set it aside for this use.

To the best of my knowledge, the slab jerky does not go bad. Archeologists have found pemmican prepared by Native American's that was over 200 years old and still edible. I have personally eaten it after roughly a year (found a bag in the bottom of the car camping box).

"Formed Jerky"-
Most gas station jerky is formed jerky. All that means is you take ground beef or scraps and form it into strips or chunks to dry. The advantage is you can use less marinade (or get more flavor) and any crap meat you can find to make it. For quality formed jerky (homemade)- you can use leaner ground beef or sirloin and more easily ensure the end quality/safety of the jerky. Most home jerky kits/dehydrators come with a jerky press for this reason. Hand trimming all the fat (or buying good enough beef) and slicing it thin is expensive.

Held's sells a jerky like the others mentioned- thier jamaican jerky is traditional thin sliced so it could soak up the most flavor.

I like the slab because it has a very unique "steak" flavor. It is not something the industrious home jerky maker should/could try.
I would never attempt pieces of meat this large or thick- to the best of my knowledge nobody does. I have seen cured slabs hanging in the shop 2'6" wide by 4'6" long. I have no idea how big that would have been to start with or how much balls and knowledge it takes to hang twenty pounds of lean beef sirloin in your smoker and get it to cure perfectly. I have tried subtlety, blunt force, and outright bribery over the years to learn the tricks or even glean a hint of the process- but they keep their lips sealed.

[gof]

Mr. Just Bill,

Can you comment on the quality of their Summer Sausage. That is, if it is not hijacking the thread.

Thanks.

[Just Bill]

Mr. Just Bill,

Can you comment on the quality of their Summer Sausage. That is, if it is not hijacking the thread.

Thanks.

Never bothered actually... I'm sure I sampled it before and don't recall anything good or bad.
They make all your standard Wisconsin fare and have a very impressive bacon collection but other than the jerky, landjaegers, and Bloody Mary sticks their other stuff is pretty standard (good quality) stuff.

I'm sure it's tasty but I only recommended the stuff you can't get elsewhere and is worth the cost of shipping, but if you don't have quality stuff by you order up.

[gof]

http://www.MinguaBeefJerky.com

About the only Summer Sausage I can get my hands on is the standard supermarket fare.

I might try some, especially with cost of shipping from them...ouch.
BTW, I want to put in a good word for Mingua Beef Jerkey.

Thin sliced but very tasty. Regional to Ky and southern Ohio.

[Just Bill]

Yar- the shipping can be rough, that's why I say order up what you want to save on it. The initial cost is high but they pretty well charge per package so if you buy a few pounds of stuff it's only a buck or two an item. I just ordered 4lbs and it was $10 for shipping.

Plus I end up eating half of it the week it shows up.

Nothing against anyone's local favorite- I honestly have never heard, seen or found anything like the slab jerky they make.

[CalebJ]

Why is this in the trail running and speed hiking section? Just curious, seems odd. In any case, this stuff sounds wonderful and I ordered two pounds of it. And I'll be using it on my upcoming BMT through hike attempt next month which will definitely qualify as speed hiking, so maybe this discussion is in exactly the right place.

[harmonjazzman]

Got my 3 lbs in and finally cut into it tonight. It really is amazing. The bark is rather tough but rich and smokey. The center, however, is soft and tender...full of flavor...absolutely addictive. My gf prefers the regular as it has a nice spice in the bark. I prefer the spicy because the mild heat sits on your tongue a little longer. The aroma of smoke fills the room. Definitely our new favorite trail food!

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