Bacon? BBQ Pork? Coconut? Here's a roundup of some of the best jerky beyond beef.
Korean BBQ Bacon Jerky // Mission Meats // Decorah, IA
Bacon + Jerky is a match made in heaven but throw in a great mission (hence the name) and you have a special product.
Via Mission Meats:
"Our mission is to provide good food and help foster positive relationships to ourselves, each other, and nature. That’s why we source only the finest grass-fed beef for our meat sticks, and it’s also why we give 10% of our profits to social good organizations."
We love the salty, sweet combo of the Korean BBQ flavor. Kudos to Mission meats for thinking outside the bacon box.
Turkey Bak Kwa // Little Red Dot // Sunnyvale, CA
If there’s a universal language of food, “cured meat” is Vocab 101, commonly understood — and proudly, traditionally enjoyed — in every culture near and far. But this translation has a twist. Bak Kwa isn’t the sound of a gobbling turkey, but a kind of Southeast Asian street snack. These umami-packed meat morsels are quickly roasted, instead of slowly air cured, like most. Air dried jerkies — emphasis on dry — leave you chewing, and chewing, and chewing, long after their fleeting flavor fades. Softer, bolder, and bursting with juice, this one is extra savory with the addition of old-world fish sauce and a deep blend of spices. Learn the local lingo, and don’t worry about talking with your mouth full.
Maple BBQ Pork Jerky // Field Trip Jerky // Brooklyn, NY
Barbecue is site-specific. Hot coals aren’t exactly TSA-approved. But jerky is a moveable feast: have meat, will travel. Field Trip is made for carnivores on the go. Started by three ski bums looking for a healthier, heartier fuel pre-, post- (and during) long days on the slopes, where mountain lodge sustenance is scarce, and usually covered in nacho cheese. A kiss of smoke, a sprinkle of sugar, and no MSG or preservatives make this a perfect way to sate your grill cravings anywhere you go. Good luck passing the 3-ounce rule, though.
Coconut Jerky // Foreal Foods // Brooklyn, NY
Every once and awhile we taste a product that shakes our steadfast beliefs to their core. We were firmly in the “Jerky in all it’s meaty goodness is perfect and can never be iterated on” camp until Foreal Foods came along and pulled us out of the man cave and into the future. 100% Plant-Based, Umami laced and packing the serious well, meaty-ness of real jerky this is a way better use for coconuts than all that water stuff. It’s Keto, Paleo, Gluten-Free and most importantly just a rad company that’s helping the planet:
From the Maker:
“We value the people we work with, beyond just a buyer/seller relationship, and seek to mitigate the impact of deeply rooted systemic poverty in the regions in which we manufacture and produce.”
Need more convincing? Hey, it worked for this dude…
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