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From beef to bison, from mild to extra spicy, jerky is gaining ground as a popular snack food.
June 17, 2022
10 Min Read
JERKY: Eck Agriculture, Kingman, Kan., offers ready-to-eat beef jerky like this, as well as thinly sliced fresh beef strips for customers who may want to try their hand at making their own jerky at home. Eck uses only strips cut from the rib-eyes of cattle out of their certified Red Angus herd.Courtesy of Eck Agriculture
Move over, potato chips! Jerky is the fastest-growing segment of the snack food industry, growing rapidly in the last five years and running a close second to potato chips as America’s No. 1 snack.
Approximately 160 million Americans, just slightly less than half of the U.S. population, are now consuming meat snacks and beef jerky on a regular basis. Jerky enthusiasts, hikers, protein-obsessed dieters and the exercise crowd — including bodybuilders — can’t seem to get enough of the stuff. It remains a popular snack among cowboys, soldiers — and astronauts, too.
What began as a survival food has now become a convenient pleasure food, a snack that also offers nutritional sustenance.
In the past
Protein-packed jerky is as nutrient-dense, convenient, long-lasting and portable today as it was when Kansas Plains indigenous tribes preserved their excess buffalo meat by cutting it into strips and drying it in the sun.
For the indigenous people, jerky making meant survival. Preserving and storing meat allowed them access to high-protein food during periods of scarcity. As traders, explorers, and settlers learned to make jerky, they quickly understood its life-saving qualities and the convenience of using what was available.
As the industrial age approached, many companies began mass-producing jerky, and they continued to dominate the market for years. That is, until recently.
Since Kansas ranks third in beef production it’s only logical that jerky-makers have cropped up across the state. While more and more farmers and ranchers are turning their beef into this value-packed product, established independent businesses have developed loyal customer bases both within the state and beyond.
Co-packing and making
While all independent jerky makers have their own specific recipes and production specifications, many look to larger processing and packing facilities to co-pack their products. These fully equipped plants are USDA-inspected, allowing meats produced on-site to be legally sold in-state as well as across state lines
One such packing and processing plant is Krehbiels Specialty Meats Inc. in McPherson, Kan.
According to plant manager Zach Krehbiel, they co-pack for about 20 independents.
Traditionally jerky is sliced, but another popular style is known as ground or chopped, and formed. As the name implies, the meat is ground and then formed into flat, strip-like pieces for drying. Some jerky-makers also market smaller pieces of jerky, selling it as bite-size bits ready to pop into the mouth. Beef jerky takes the lead in Kansas, but jerky can be made from nearly every animal protein.
Krehbiel outlined the process of making sliced beef jerky (technically referred to as whole-muscle jerky) from start to finish.
1. Trim most of the fat. Start by trimming most of the fat, since fat causes jerky to spoil. Krehbiel says they leave about 1% fat to add flavor.
2. Slice it. Slicing the meat has as much to do with your final product as your flavorings. Should you slice it thick or thin? Slicing the beef thin generally yields a product that is harder and drier than thicker cuts. Should you slice across, or with the grain? Slicing across the grain produces easier-to-chew jerky that is easily torn, while cutting with the grain creates a stringier product with more chew.
3. Add your flavor. Much like a dry rub, seasonings are applied to the surface of the beef, while the liquids used in marinating infuse flavors throughout the meat.
4. Preserve your product. Krehbiel points out that preservation methods control both the bacterial and microbial growth in meats. This can be achieved by curing, using chemicals and additives, including nitrates; or by relying on natural salts and flavorings — where the resulting jerky is referred to as naturally cured, or sometimes as uncured.
5. Take out that water. Meat strips are placed in the smoker or dehydrator, spaced to allow enough room between pieces for maximum airflow. Krehbiel described their on-site smokehouse as an all-in-one smoker-dehydrator. Computer-controlled, it can be regulated to cook, smoke or dry, using temperatures and times that are specific to each independent jerky-maker, while meeting USDA regulations.
6. Package your product. Krehbiels Specialty Meats uses gas-flushed packaging that involves blasting nitrogen gas into the pouch after product filling and before bag sealing to displace ambient oxygen. Although designed to keep jerky at its peak, Krehbiel does warn that packages should be kept out of direct sunlight.
Kansas’ own
Who makes flavors like Dill Pickle or Cajun? What’s responsible for the crunch in Kansas Crunch? What’s popcorn jerky? Whose jerky is infused with Kansas-produced beer and honey? But, most importantly, which ones best suit your tastes for the best-ever jerky?
A look at some of the jerky-makers in Kansas sreveal the unique qualities of each of their products.
Basinger Beef, Pretty Prairie. The Basingers began experimenting with flavors a little more than three years ago. After conducting a series of taste tests, they followed overwhelming consumer preference and began producing original, jalapeño, pepper, and garlic flavors. The easy-to-chew texture of their ground-and-formed jerky is also a big hit with customers. Their cattle start on grass and are then finished on farm-raised grains. 620-532-1581, localkansasbeef.com.
Eck Agriculture, Kingman. Eck offers ready-to-eat beef jerky as well as thinly sliced beef strips for jerky fans who might like to try their hand at making their own. Eck’s jerky is made from the meat of Certified Red Angus cattle; currently, they are using strips cut from the ribeye — not manipulated in any way, making it true whole-muscle jerky. 620-243-3461, eckag.com.
86 Farm LLC, Halstead. Brothers Jerry and Terry Holdeman own the farm and sell the bulk of their sliced jerky by word of mouth and farmers markets. Customers tell them they enjoy the soft and tender texture and the flavor of the farm-raised beef. Mild-flavored jerky is their bestseller, with spicy and sweet pepper flavors available. 620-345-6547, 86farmllc.com.
Farview Farms Meat Co., Topeka. Owner Drew Forster used his Kansas State University degree in animal science to start this jerky company in a refurbished meat locker. Farview specializes in distinctive flavors, like the bestselling Redneck Jerky, which Forster says is a little sweet and a little salty. They started with five flavors in 2001, and now have seven flavors available — rotating flavors and creating new ones to meet customer demand. 785-246-1154, farviewfarmsmeat.com.
Krehbiels Specialty Meats Inc., McPherson. Tried-and-true methods, techniques and flavors have been honed and developed over time at Krehbiels. Since 1974, the company has expanded its operation but continues to make its signature smoked jerky with the company’s classic flavor. Chopped-and-formed jerky is also available. For authentic Old West flavor, try the Kansas-raised buffalo, available in original, hot, and mild flavors. 620-241-0103, healthymeats.net.
Luther’s Smokehouse Inc., LeRoy. The smokehouse uses methods and recipes created by Martin Luther when he first started making jerky back in 1974. Thin strips of beef round are marinated for 72 hours, then smoked on-site and dried for 11 hours creating the company’s old-fashioned drier-textured jerky. The four flavors of beef jerky include mild to hot, jalapeño and teriyaki. Midnight Special Pork, a ground-and-formed option, has an undertone of sweetness from the addition of brown sugar. Some varieties are labeled “popcorn” jerky, a name Luther’s Smokehouse coined in reference to the bite-sized pieces it offers. Plans are to add a line of chicken jerky in the future. The smokehouse also processes jerky for Kansas ranchers using their meat. 620-964-2500, jerkyusa.com.
Pat’s Beef Jerky, Liebenthal. Medium-thick pieces of naturally cured beef are dried on-site using recipes and processes that have been in place for more than 30 years. While mild or regular jerky is their bestseller, they also offer peppered, hot and teriyaki flavors. According to owner Chris Schumacher, Pat’s ships jerky all across the country: “From Alaska to Florida and about everywhere in between. We have quite a following.” 785-222-3341, patsbeefjerky.com.
Poor-Man's Jerky LLC, Wellsville. Mike Stringfield describes his operation as a one-man band where jerky is made fresh weekly, or as needed, in his on-site, state-inspected commercial kitchen. Unique flavors are his passion. After fiddling with the recipes for more than 40 years, he’s come up with tastes that tickle the taste buds: Dill Pickle, with the pucker power of its namesake; Kickory, a hickory-smoked jerky with a habañero kick; 5 Alarm, which contains five of the hottest peppers; and Hawaiian Heatwave, with a hint of sweetness merged with soy, ginger, garlic, and crushed red and habañero peppers. Paying homage to the state, he’s created Kansas Crunch, which he describes “as so thin that you can see through it, and so dry that it is really crunchy.” 913-915-9024, poor-mans-jerky-llc.myshopify.com.
Primal Beef Jerky, Hutchinson. Extremely tender jerky that pulls apart in each direction, along with distinctive flavors, led this company to proclaim that they have the “world’s best jerky.” The tenderness is the result of using thicker strips of beef that are cut across the grain; the company also leaves as much moisture in the strips as is legally possible during the drying phase. It’s MSG-free, and only the sweet and spicy, and teriyaki, flavors contain added sugar. Bacon jalapeño and Primal’s original flavor are top sellers. Its hot jerky is flavored with cayenne and crushed red pepper, but the company points out, “We never sacrifice flavor for heat.” 620-664-0871, feedonprimal.com.
Schrockbier Old Smokehouse, Emporia. Christian A. Schrock, owner of the Old Smokehouse, makes “Kansas’ No. 1 jerky” from a recipe he’s perfected over time. It begins with top or bottom round from Kansas-sourced beef that is marinated in locally brewed dark beer with locally produced honey added for a hint of sweetness. The resulting tender, flavorful thin-sliced jerky comes in flavors that include classic, cracked black pepper and jalapeño. Schrockbier’s Ghost Pepper Jerky is some of the hottest in the state. schrockbierjerky.com.
Yoder Meats, with locations in Yoder, Lawrence and three stores in Wichita. Yoder’s website invites jerky-lovers to “taste the old-fashioned flavor.” According to co-owner Chad Bontrager, Yoder products fit into the old-fashioned category, because, “There is lots of Amish tradition baked into our business and products.” Yoder’s tries to stick with the original processing techniques, which include curing whole-muscle jerky that’s cut into thin cuts from the beef round. He adds, “We minimally process — just slice, spice and smoke.” It’s jerky with a middle-of-the road texture; original flavored beef is the company’s bestseller, but it also offers spicy and Cajun flavors. Buffalo raised near Moundridge, Kan., are used to create a modern-day version of the first Kansas buffalo jerky. 620-465-3807, yodermeatsks.com.
Newell West lives in Abilene, Kan., but grew up on a farm in Stafford County, Kan. A career educator, she taught home economics and family and consumer sciences at the secondary and adult levels. She continues to pursue educational endeavors as a freelance writer.
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