Tonight, on Christmas Eve, I’m going to write about beef, wild boar and other forms of jerky, because why not? More specifically, I’m going to write this post about how we con ourselves into believing a food is healthy, when, if we’re honest, we know it is not.
You’ve been following the blog, so you know how much I value eating the flesh of humanely raised and slaughtered animals as a protein source. Naturally, the dried form of said flesh splashes in the same (healthy) bucket, right? Not exactly.
This afternoon, my boys, their friends and I stopped at the jerky capitol of the world, Mahogany Smoked Meats, en route to our snowboarding in Mammoth. We dropped $60 on various forms of dried animals. I selected “peppered wild boar” and “habanero buffalo.” In my mind, I was about to crush somewhere between ¼ and ½ pounds of quality protein as my afternoon snack on a day in which I executed 3 core lifts (bench, row, RDL) with my friend at 6:00am this morning.
This was the perfect plan until I saw the ingredients. Then I quickly acted like I didn’t.
My “peppered wild boar” wasn’t organic and was soaked in soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and both white and brown sugar, among other spices.
Between the selection of my moppets and I, our beast of a truck was filled with the tastiest jerky I’ve ever encountered. Unfortunately, I also knew the truth. I was getting my protein, but it was delivered with shitty byproducts.
Now, I’ll take this snack all day over most others on the market, which generally arrive without any redeeming qualities. That said, the nutritional content of the jerky is highly variable. From greatist.com:
Jerky quality varies greatly and depends on the choice of meat, preservatives, and preservation technique.
Clearly, the amount of sugar is also a critical factor. At this point, I’m chalking up my experience today as a spontaneous indulgence, and one that was well worth it. My young men will tell their kids about the day we stopped at jerky heaven on the way to mob the snowy mountain. That fact made that sugar taste sweeter.
Jerky makes a great stocking stuffer. See? This post was about Christmas after all.
To all a good night,
Kap
I once stopped at a jerky stand in Colorado, which was operated by a woman who showed me several photos of all the weight she had lost from being on an “all-jerky” diet.
don’t feel bad-even Santa eats cookies on Christmas! Happy Holidays everyone!
Good stuff as always, Kap, and a good reminder to look out during this season.
The biggest concern I usually have with jerky is nitrites that sometimes get added (not to all jerkies though). The salt and sugar is concerning as well, but the nitrites (usually in the form of sodium nitrite) have always been extra concerning because really, if the meat is tendered and smoked correctly, it should preserve just fine. No need for an extra preservative, especially something like nitrites that has been shown to have harmful biological effects.
that is my favorite jerky store too