Food Ideas for Winter Car Kit / GHB

[rbeau30]

Over the weekend I did some jerky taste testing. I love jerky but I usually eat "real" jerky - whether homemade or store bought, the big pieces that taste and look like strips of dried meat. .

Have you tried the "Small Batch" I think made by Jack Links? It is pretty darn close to real jerky right off the drying rack.

[Brian]

Have you tried the "Small Batch" I think made by Jack Links? It is pretty darn close to real jerky right off the drying rack.

Is that the grey bag? I did see those I think - the bags were a little big for what I was looking for, but I'll grab one and try it if they're good. I can always reseal in smaller vacupac bags.

[rbeau30]

Is that the grey bag? I did see those I think - the bags were a little big for what I was looking for, but I'll grab one and try it if they're good. I can always reseal in smaller vacupac bags.

Yeah they are grey There are a couple of different "recipes" I think I liked No. 11 and I think No. 17 was a little bit too salty for me. they also have teryaki and peppered, etc. It is worth a try... if you are a jerky connosoir. For commercially made stuff it isn't bad.

[brutal]

Over the weekend I did some jerky taste testing. I love jerky but I usually eat "real" jerky - whether homemade or store bought, the big pieces that taste and look like strips of dried meat. My concern is that a) packages of jerky that tastes good usually start around $5ea and higher and are more than I'd eat at once (so high probability for waste), and b) rumor is they aren't supposed to keep as well. I'm trying to restock 3 cars plus a couple spare bags, and don't need $30 of jerkey each time I repack.

So I dove into "beef stick" land. Man, I don't know how people eat this stuff. Maybe in a real emergency I guess.

Slim Jim Meat Sticks
(small individual multi packs, about the size of a short pen, maybe $.20ea)
- Kids/wife hated it, I only ate one bite. Threw the rest away.

Slim Jim Mild Meat Stick
(basically the same as above with the same result - not good)
- These slim jims taste like oily cardboard to me.

Jack Links round Beef Sticks
These are bigger/longer, the taste is slightly better, but honestly not anything I'm planning to buy again
- Wife and kids say they'd rather eat just about any other dried food vs. these things.

Jack Links "Tender Bites" Teriyaki
So these came from Walmart in a box with 5x .625oz baggies in them. Great for packing as a snack, not a ton of food though per baggie.
They look "weird" - kinda like some plastic dog food. They're not wet, but they look wet. However, the flavor was not bad. It's not like real jerkey, but honestly they didn't taste bad, if your expectations aren't too high.
If the price is right, I may buy some of these again for ease of use - would be a quick small protein snack for the kids to supplement other stuff.

Jack Links "Beef Steak" - too expensive here but you can at least see what I'm talking about: http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Links-Ste...dp/B005DVIKIU/
These are about 1oz strips of what looks like might be actual meat, about the size of a thin pistol mag. They were about a buck each at walmart, and come in a bunch of flavors.
These were pretty good, not as good as homemade jerky but they don't taste like some weird plastic experiment.

So for now, I'll probably stick to the individual wrapped beef steaks and the tender bites bags when I need something without a lot of effort. But honestly, more than anything this makes me want to start working on my own jerky, or if nothing else buying some good stuff local in bulk and vacuum sealing it into smaller baggies, even though that would be a lot more effort than a quick trip to walmart.

Have you tried the "Small Batch" I think made by Jack Links? It is pretty darn close to real jerky right off the drying rack.

Is that the grey bag? I did see those I think - the bags were a little big for what I was looking for, but I'll grab one and try it if they're good. I can always reseal in smaller vacupac bags.

Yeah they are grey There are a couple of different "recipes" I think I liked No. 11 and I think No. 17 was a little bit too salty for me. they also have teryaki and peppered, etc. It is worth a try... if you are a jerky connosoir. For commercially made stuff it isn't bad.

I'm not a strong jerky lover but I do like the Jack Links stuff. Always grab a bunch when it's on sale.

Expensive, but if you enjoy it, and it helps you prep, worth it IMHO.