Meat jerky "is like Greek yogurt for men."

  • http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy

    I can understand being ashamed of getting caught with Slim Jim, especially if you left your WWF cap and Nascar shirt at home. 

    But I enjoy other dried meat products. They should be expensive, all meat should be.

    Jerky. Mmmmmmm

    • SomeGuyNamedMark

       Just don’t eat a lot of it.  When I climbed Mt Rainier I over did it with the jerky and let’s just say I spent a lot of time in the outhouse.

  • Jeremy Pickett

    Seriously, Old Trapper jerky (especially the spicy kind) is one of the best things on Earth.  http://www.oldtrapper.com/beef_jerky.html  It ain’t cheap, but it’s the real thing.  And this comes from someone who is *prefers* fruit and veg.

    • ldobe

      I prefer Orberto when I have to buy jerky in a package.  But that’s just because I live in western Washington.  But I also have real choices, being friends who live over in Idaho and Montana who ship me absolutely orgasmic venison and elk jerky about twice a year.  There’s no point in trying to compare something in a package to fresh elk or venison that’s never touched bha/bht or any other preservative except for smoke and salt.

      I’ll take a look at Old Trapper, if they have better animals than just beef or turkey I might just hop on board.

      • Jeremy Pickett

        Old trapper *is* the real deal, and it’s made in Forest Grove Oregon (half a state away from you).  I make jerky as well, and that’s the one I buy if I don’t have home made.  Oberto is–like I am sure you know–is a pale imitation.

        <– no association with the brand, just love the stuff.  And now I want some Montana elk jerky, damnit :)

        • ldobe

          I looked at the trademarking and logos, and yes, I’ve bought a couple of small packs of it at the convienience store a few times, and Old Trapper is very good jerky.  Really expensive, but definitly justified by quality.  I still end up getting Orberto, since I’m a cheap ass.  I get venison and elk for free, twice a year y’know.  And I go through it way too fast.

    • L_Mariachi

      Five Star is my favorite. Soft and chewy instead of tough and leathery, probably wouldn’t last very long in an emergency kit. I’ve only ever seen it for sale at R.E.I. though. In addition to various beef and turkey varieties, they’ve got salmon and ahi tuna too, although not on their website.

  • Gilbert Wham

     Biltong > Jerky

    • Stooge

      In Dried Meats of the World Top Trumps, Bresaola beats everything.

      • http://goodsharer.com/ Aloisius

        Personally I’m a fan of saucisson sec, especially goose or duck. Bresaola is good stuff though.

        • Smash Martian

          Get to the Coppa!

          • Stooge

            …only if you can’t get your hands on some Culatello, obviously.

      • Jeremy Pickett

        We should be friends.

  • John Thorne

    If you are gonna eat meat in dried form, it should be Carne Seca with Red or Green New Mexico chile. Anything else is just pretending. 

  • bkad

    Is salt still bad for you? When I was growing up in the 80s-90s, my parents pushed to eliminate almost all salt possible from our diet (assuming even by doing this, we’d get more than enough anyway). I don’t hear anyone talk about it anymore. Is it just that attention has moved elsewhere, or was the salt risk overblown to begin with? (If you have a source you trust, please point me in that direction. Obviously I’m not going to make life choices based on things I read in internet forums. But I do suspect someone out there is paying more attention than I am.)

    • ldobe

      I remember reading a thing in Scientific American (Not a great source, but not always bullshit) that talked about how the majority of studies looking at salt and health end up being quite inconclusive, and very hard to control for.  So to SciAm the jury’s still out on whether salt is terrible, just bad, or mostly harmless.  Here it is

      Personally I think nearly all westerners eat way too much salt, myself included.  And I’m pretty sure that long term elevation of sodium intake is really bad for health.  If not by hypertension directly, then by problems with osmosis, and hepatic and renal stress.  You don’t want to constantly overconsume anything really.

      And after all, SciAm is just the advertizing arm of Nature, so we should always take the blogposts and news spots in it with a grain of salt XD

      • http://www.xradiograph.com/ OtherMichael

        You can always balance out the bias with a subscription to Nurture magazine.

    • Andy Reilly

      Salt is bad for you, if you have high blood pressure. Obviously way too much of anything can cause you harm, but even with a highly processed diet, the salt is not what is really bad for you. People with high BP are told to avoid sodium because it causes water retention, raising their blood pressure. They may also be on diuretics for their blood pressure, which does the opposite of what salt does, so obviously you don’t want to fight the meds you are already taking. But salt does NOT cause high BP in a healthy person who does not already have the condition. If your resting BP is below 120/80, don’t be afraid of salt. Be more concerned about what’s MISSING from your diet.

    • Antinous / Moderator

      Unless you happen to be like me and have low blood pressure, you should probably eat less salt. Apparently, 25 – 30% of Americans have high blood pressure.

      • regeya

        I’m one of that 25-30%.  It’s a combination of genetics and being a fatass, for me.

    • http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

      Too much of anything is bad for you.

  • Nicole Dunham

    mmmm tasty tasty adjectives!

  • SomeGuyNamedMark

    I’ve always wondered if real pemmican was palatable as a backpacking food. The high levels of fat in it seem almost more of a survival food and I’d think it would be like eating old grease.  Some people swear by it though.

    One place I’ve seen selling the real stuff: http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Categories.bok?category=Grassland+Beef%3ABeef+Pemmican

    • bkad

      It certainly doesn’t sound appetizing to me — pure animal fat grosses me out; I even cut the fat off chicken and steak before I cook it  –  but I suspect that is largely culture/ individual upbringing. I love dairy fat after all (butter/cream/cheese), which people who aren’t from cow countries probably don’t appreciate as much as I do.

    • bkad

      But also, if you are backpacking, all sorts of things become palatable, even Spam mixed with Kraft instant macaroni and cheese. Mmmm.

      • http://www.gyrofrog.com/ Gyrofrog

         And Libby’s Spreadables!

      • Sparg

        Just like being in the Army and growing to love MREs, though many soldiers also carried a bottle of hot sauce in an ammo pouch.

        • SomeGuyNamedMark

          Mountaineers sweat by hot sauce for overcoming the loss of appetite that comes with decreased oxygen

          • SomeGuyNamedMark

            “Swear” that is, “sweat” is a nice pun though

    • ldobe

      I like pemmican.  Not as much as good jerky.  And yes, it is VERY greasy.  But well made pemmican isn’t overtly slimy to handle or anything.

      And it’s GREAT hiking food, especially at altitude.  You just have to be sure to eat your fruits and veggies too, because the fruit mixed into pemmican is mostly for sugar and taste, and not much fiber is added.  If you eat too much, expect some really bad times at the cathole.

      Other than that, pemmican is a very high energy content food, and will keep you going all day, and if you’re freezing out on a mountain it’s good for general body heat calories, because it’s so dense.  It’s definitely not an everyday food unless you can burn off the massive calorie content.

    • http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

      From what I remember meat doesn’t make for a very good survival food anyway, because of the amount of energy and water required to digest it properly.

      • SomeGuyNamedMark

        From what I understand fats are a good energy source but become harder to metabolize as oxygen levels drop, then you want carbs.  More of an issue for mountaineers than most hikers.

  • Snig

    Alton Brown has a show on DIY jerky, didn’t look that hard.

  • http://www.eatdrinkri.com/ David Dadekian

    The Wall Street Journal has a thing for jerky. I say this based on the odd fact I was interviewed for a 2004 WSJ piece on jerky: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB107542433520816064.html

  • Antinous / Moderator

    30ish years ago at Indian Days in Sacramento, I had some (obviously homemade) jerky that was basically fatty salmon skin.  It was mighty tasty, and I don’t even like salmon very much.

  • Boundegar

    “Want some beef jerky?  I’ve been jerkin’ it all day!”

  • Steve Johnson

    How about squid jerky? Available at your neighborhood Ranch 99 (in the west), or your neighborhood hole-in-the-wall orienteal grocery. Peppery and sweet! Yumm!

  • http://www.gyrofrog.com/ Gyrofrog

    And here I am sitting on a freezerful of kwanta, waiting for the right occasion.

  • regeya

    OK, I’ll be the first one to say it: Greek yogurt is the Greek yogurt for men.  If you think it’s nasty, you’ve had bad Greek yogurt.  If you think it’s just for the ladies, what are you, 12?

    • ookluh

       Or you’re lactose intolerant.  Don’t know why exactly, but Greek yogurt seems an even more efficient pain machine than run of the mill stuff.

      On your final point.  Yes.  1000 times, yes.

      • Antinous / Moderator

        It should be better if you’re lactose intolerant, since it’s fattier.

  • MollyMaguire

    What I don’t like about every jerky I have looked at is that some kind of sugar is always the second or third ingredient. They are too sweet for me. And, the rule of thumb I have heard for going low-carb (this is from Mark Sisson or Gary Taubes) is that you should get the grams of carbs per serving down to around 1 or 2.

  • snagglepuss

    A local Asian food supply house used to sell cuttlefish jerky, seasoned with red chilli pepper.

    Anytime I wanted to be left alone that afternoon, I’d go grab a handful on lunch hour and not brush my teeth afterwards. Powerful stuff, as they say – And it’s anti-social properties far outweighted any (debatable) health considerations. Never noticed any ill effects afterwards, but it sure kept away those who WOULD have raised my BP. Just sayin’….