okay, time to give my review. i chose to use my sample on two different meats. first up was a boneless skinless chicken thigh. second was beef jerky.
test 1- the chicken thigh. i know it was developed with a beefy focus, but i wanted to try it on something else, because i am a curious sort and like experimenting. anyway, nothing fancy, just sprinkled a good layer on a boneless skinless chicken thigh and baked it in the oven at 400 til done.
it was excellent. very savory, very complex and not overly salty and no one flavor seemed to dominate. and i could still taste the chicken, not just the dust. this is where a lot of my umami/savory suggestions came from. it may have been developed with beef in mind, but it'll work some magic on a yard bird.
test 2- beef jerky. wanted to try it on beef, because, hey, that's what it's focus was. wasn't sure what to do. long story short, while i was thinking about it, i happened to see a youtube video of aaron franklin making jerky. the light bulb went on and i had my mission. i bought an 8oz flat iron steak that i lightly tenderized with a jaccard then hand cut it into roughly 3/8-1/2 in strips. tossed the remaining sample (about 85% of the bag) onto the strips and mixed them til evenly coated. then into a ziplock bag for 24hrs. put em on the dehydrator with plenty of room in between and 5.5hrs later they were done.
jerky on
jerky done
due to the thickness, i pulled it off when it was still just a smidge soft in the middle. tried a piece and wow! it was awesome. flavor was really peppery, but not in a bad way. the bites without as much pepper, the flavor of the seasoning on the meat really came through. these, together with the semi-soft jerky made for a really enjoyable snack.
i bagged up the remaining jerky and took it in to work today. it didn't make it through the morning. i know of at least 7 people(i wasn't in the office the whole time) who tried it. every single one loved the flavor. i even had a couple asking when i'd be able to get more to make more jerky.
overall-excellent product and very versatile. while there is a lot going on, flavorwise, none seem to drown out the others. delicate enough for chicken and confident enough for beef jerky. i think you've got a hit on your hands here. i feel that to accurately hint to people what kind of flavor they should expect, it's name should include some variation/synonym of savory or the like.
couple more name suggestions
savory shot
savory magic
mrbill's jerky magic
.
