Oberto Beef Jerky – Mmm, premium beef snacks

by Annie Scott on

After my recent posts on the various jerky from Jerky.com, I was contacted by the nice people at Oh Boy! Oberto to try their jerky — which claims to be America’s #1 Favorite. In an effort to make sure you are getting the best jerky available for your travels (and for eating on your couch), I was happy to indulge in more compare and contrast.

The Oberto website, EatLikeAnAlpha.com opens with “Don’t be a sidekick. Eat like an alpha,” and makes it easy to jump right to their products on Amazon.com. You can get a 6 pack of 3.5 oz bags of Original flavor for $25 right now (on sale), and because it qualifies for Amazon Super Saver Shipping? It will ship for free. That’s kind of an amazing deal. Click here.

I want to mention right away the #1 thing that Oh Boy! Oberto holds over Jerky.com: Their packages are resealable. That is a pretty darn big advantage.

The #1 thing that Jerky.com holds over Oh Boy! Oberto? Their exoticism. Jerky.com has varieties of meats (venison, ostrich, etc.) that you’re not gonna find from Oberto.

Now, once again rating on chewiness, meatiness, and nutrition, I have tried the Original, Peppered, Hickory, and Teriyaki Beef Jerky, as well as their Limited Edition Southern Style BBQ Pork Jerky!

1. The Southern Style BBQ Pork Jerky. Let me begin by saying this tastes exactly like you might hope it might: like a cross between beef jerky and bacon. It’s very chewy (for a jerky), I gave it an 7 on a scale of “rock hard” (1) to “deli meat” (10). It’s definitely not beef — “the other white meat” gets a 5 on the meatiness scale. Nutritionally, it’s great, coming in at 80 calories per ounce, 1.5 grams of fat, and 10 grams of protein. Ideally, it wouldn’t also have 8 grams of carbs, but overall? This is a darn good jerky.

2. Original Flavored Beef Jerky:

This is the winner. I’m serious. Chewiness – 8, meatiness – 9, and just 70 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 7 carbs per ounce. 11 grams of protein. And is it delicious? It is so delicious. The chewiness of it really enhances my enjoyment. If you like your jerky to be somewhat impenetrable, don’t look here. If you want 6% of your daily recommended Iron intake per serving? Look here.

3. Teriyaki Flavored Beef Jerky: Chewiness – 5, meatiness – 7 (the sweetness of the teriyaki sort of interferes with the meatiness), 80 calories per ounce, and other than that, pretty much the same nutritional values as the Original Flavor, just a little less Sodium and a little more Iron. So that’s good. I’m not really into teriyaki, but I do like this flavor more than Jerky.com’s; it’s less sweet and a little more spicy.

4. Hickory Flavored Beef Jerky: Chewiness – 4, meatiness – 7 (again, a little sweetness undercuts the meatiness), and the lowest calories (70) and carbs (6 grams) combination we’ve seen! The hickory flavor, as you might guess, is woody and sweet — the second ingredient on the list is brown sugar. It’s not my favorite jerky, but I could see how someone might get really into this.

5. Peppered Beef Jerky: Delicious. Chewiness – 5, meatiness – 8, 70 calories, 7 carbs, and 11 grams of protein per ounce. This jerky has the lowest Sodium levels we’ve seen (430 mg), and matches the Teriyaki Flavor for Iron (8%). Though the second ingredient on this jerky’s list is brown sugar as well, you won’t taste the sweetness over the bright and spicy pepper! I really like this jerky a lot, almost as much as the original flavor.
Mmm, premium beef snacks. Jerky is good for the car, the plane, the hike, and the couch. Give Oh Boy! Oberto a try — they’ve been makin’ the stuff since 1918!

Gadling Take FIVE: Week of March 21 –March 28

by Jamie Rhein on

I’m psyched. As soon as I set this puppy to post, I’m heading to Cleveland to go to the Cleveland International Film Festival where I’ll meet up with Brook Silva-Braga for the showing of his film A Day in Africa. There’s also a load of stuff going on to commemorate the inductions at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It’s been busy around here at Gadling as well. Kent has been posting about his Competitours Race in Europe, Aaron is posting about his Heathen in the Holy Land experiences which includes why wearing stripes is a good thing. For anyone who wants to be a flight attendant, Heather has the scoop on that . And Karen, with her artist’s eye, tells about color in photography. Her post is gorgeous.

Here are six more.

Venison Jerky – Is this really necessary?

by Annie Scott on

In an effort to help you find the best jerky for your travels, we’ve tasted beef, turkey, and buffalo jerky from Jerky.com. Today’s challenge? Venison.

Venison. For the uninitiated, that means deer. Read on if you’re cool with eating Bambi. You’ll get no judgment from us — we totally did it.

We found the Black Pepper Venison Jerky easier to chew than the turkey or beef, much like the buffalo. Is it a more tender meat, or is it the black pepper spices making us salivate more? We’re not sure. But we’re fairly certain we don’t care why it’s easier to chew.

The venison jerky is less “meaty” than the buffalo, but definitely meatier than the turkey jerky. It’s like the other other not-really-white meat.

Remember when Bambi’s mother died? Sorry! Sorry!

The Black Pepper Venison Jerky has the same number of calories as the turkey and beef (just 356 in a 4 oz package), but more fat, more carbohydrates, and less iron than the beef. It has the same amount of protein as the turkey jerky (more than the beef), but then why not just get the Black Pepper Turkey Jerky? It’s healthier.

That said, the Jerky.com jerky is all pretty healthy stuff, and if you’re into trying new things, venison jerky certainly is unusual! The Black Pepper Venison Jerky is available for $9.99 per 2 oz package.

Buffalo Jerky – Better than Beef or Turkey?

by Annie Scott on

We recently compared and contrasted some some beef and turkey jerky from Jerky.com. Were our cravings satisfied? Yes. Well, for the afternoon.

What about Buffalo Jerky? Is that chewier, meatier, more healthy than turkey or beef? We tried some Black Pepper Buffalo Jerky to find out.

Firstly, we loved the Black Pepper flavoring. It was spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. We could still taste the meat — and we think the bold flavor actually helped us salivate more. And to take down buffalo jerky? You’re gonna have to salivate.

We found the Buffalo Jerky chewier than the beef or even the turkey jerky, and think that the extra salivating from the spices may have been part of the reason. But we don’t really care why; it was just plain easier to eat.

The buffalo meat tasted lighter than beef, but definitely much heavier than turkey. Most importantly, check this out: A 4 oz package of Black Pepper Buffalo Jerky (no preservatives, MSG, or nitrites, and made from grass-fed buffalo) contains all the iron of Beef Jerky (32% of your daily recommended value), but has half the fat like Turkey Jerky (2 grams). Better still? It has more protein than either! 60 grams, folks. Bring it.

Buffalo Jerky is available from Jerky.com for $9.99 per 2 oz package.

Beef Jerky vs. Turkey Jerky

by Annie Scott on

I like beef jerky. I know I like it. When I go to the store and I see beef jerky, turkey jerky, ostrich, venison, buffalo … I get flustered and buy the beef jerky.

I was thinking “I wish someone would explain to me the difference between all these types of jerky” (other than that, you know, they supposedly come from different animals), and then I thought “oh wait, that’s my job.” So, I tried out some Beef Jerky and Turkey Jerky from Jerky.com and did some research on the health aspects for a little compare and contrast.

Obviously, all jerky is great for travel. It’s light, compact, and high in protein. It’s great for hikes, the car, the airplane, and anywhere where you know you might not be able to eat when you want to. When I don’t eat, I get cranky. And you know what? So do you.

Here at right you see the teriyaki beef (below) and teriyaki turkey (above) jerky. I rated them on their heaviness of flavor, chewiness, and nutritional benefits (/pitfalls).

Let’s start with the Teriyaki Beef Jerky. It’s very tough to chew. On a chewiness scale of 1-10, I’d give this a 3. The flavor is very rich and you can definitely tell it’s beef. As for the nutritional values, a 4 oz package contains 356 calories and 4 grams of fat (none saturated), a meager 16 carbohydrates, and a whopping 48 grams of protein! Holy awesome, no wonder this stuff gives you so much energy. It also contains 32% of your daily recommended iron. Hear that, women? Jerky is not just for men. I find the teriyaki flavoring a bit heavily sweet, but overall, I’d have no problem recommending this jerky to you, your mother, or your dog. I should add that it has no preservatives, MSG, or nitrites, and is made from “Grass Fed Beef.”

The Teriyaki Turkey Jerky also has no preservatives, MSG, or nitrites. It’s slightly chewier than the beef (I’d give it a 4 — it’s still tough jerky), and as it turns out, I like the flavor much better! I’m still not in love with teriyaki, but the fact that this is made from turkey makes it much lighter-tasting and less like a serious protein blast. That said, it actually has more protein than the beef jerky, 52 grams in the 4 oz package! Also, it contains only half the fat. The sacrifice here is that it also contains on ly half the iron, and if you’re like me and avoid carbs, you won’t like that it has twice as many of those. The calorie count is the same, and I totally took down the whole bag in one sitting.

Overall, the turkey wins in my book. And though both are very healthy, the thing to remember when choosing between beef and turkey is that the beef has more iron and fewer carbs, and the turkey has more protein and less fat.

The reviewed Teriyaki Beef Jerky and Teriyaki Turkey Jerky are available from Jerky.com for $9.99 per 3 oz bag with free shipping from Jerky.com.