Whether you’re buying it for a road trip, a fun hiking expedition, or merely as a little snack, a good bag of beef jerky is sure to help you go the distance. There’s just one problem though — for some reason, store-bought beef jerky is ludicrously expensive. And while you could certainly try your hand at making your own beef jerky in the oven, sometimes time and convenience factors simply won’t allow for that. So if you’re going to spend your hard-earned dollars on some jerky, you want to make sure you’re getting a quality product. That’s why you should avoid picking up jerky from Dietz & Watson.
In a Chowhound feature ranking nine store-bought beef jerky brands from worst to best, the offering from noted meat brand Dietz & Watson took the dubious final placement. While the company is reputed for its deli meats, it seems that it couldn’t translate this success to the realm of beef jerky. While you want a degree of resistance or “bite” in your jerky, this one was docked points for being far too tough to enjoy. In addition, this jerky was noted as having a confusing taste, with gamey and musty flavors dominating it. So while Dietz & Watson might give you your money’s worth for its other products, you’d be better off spending your cash on another bag of beef jerky besides this one.
What jerky makes the cut?
Dietz & Watson’s beef jerky selection clearly didn’t make par, but that doesn’t mean that you should write off store-bought beef jerky altogether. There are still some really solid options out there, including many that are incredibly easy to find. When evaluating these jerkies based on both taste and texture, some options stood out from the pack and proved to give you more satisfaction for your buck.
Conveniently, beef jerky super-brand Jack Link’s stands as something of a barometer here, placing fourth out of nine products — which should help you contextualize just how much Dietz & Watson falls short with its jerky. But none could compare with Krave’s beef jerky, which was lauded for achieving a near-perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors while still presenting some subtle-but-present seasoning spices. In fact, the best accolade for this product is the simple fact that the review was fairly short, taking a “no notes” approach to praising this jerky. Where Dietz & Watson tasted muddled and “off,” Krave met and even exceeded expectations. So when you see these two products side by side on the store shelf, you know which to pick up and which to leave there.
