Frequently Asked Questions about Simple Jerky

How did you come up with the idea to make Beef Jerky?

Quite simply: we are both jerky lovers and were always very spoiled with handmade, real US-American jerky from small "butcher shops". However, we couldn't find good jerky in Austria, only factory mass-produced goods that tasted as chemical as they smelled. At some point, we got a nice piece of meat and made our own jerky in the convection oven of our kitchen. That was over Christmas 2013. A few weeks later, in January 2014, the idea came that homemade jerky would also be appreciated by many others - Simple Jerky was born!

Where do you get the recipes from?

Some of our flavors are absolute original creations - Austrian Style, for example, is inspired by the good, traditional roast pork or a crust roast. Berlin Style Curry is based on the famous currywurst. Hawaiian Teriyaki, Redneck BBQ, and our Smoky Original are, however, very typical jerky recipes as known from the USA.

Where does your meat come from?

From Austria. 100%.

What is important to you when buying meat?

Apart from the actual meat quality, other things are important to us when buying meat - short transport routes and dignified procedures for the animals, traceability, high quality controls and standards, and modern environmental management on the part of the supplier.

Why pasture-raised beef and not organic beef?

At the beginning, we wanted to jump on the organic bandwagon, but our opinion changed after countless conversations with farmers and butchers who gave us a very good insight into the meat processing industry.

It is important to us that the animals are pasture-raised, i.e., they have freedom of movement and only get their natural food - grass. Meanwhile, more and more studies are emerging that prove that the meat from naturally fed pasture-raised cattle is just as healthy as "organic meat." Organic usually means impossible requirements and enormous costs for farmers, but only guarantees "happier cows" to a limited extent. Especially for a product like jerky, "organic" usually means that the meat of very old, female animals is used. Of course, "organic" is then on the packaging, but the product quality suffers. For our jerky, we therefore process lean pieces of meat from young animals.

In short: For the consumer - and also for us - species-appropriate husbandry, natural feeding, freedom of movement, environmentally conscious production, as well as animal welfare-compliant slaughter and outstanding meat quality are especially important.

Is Simple Jerky free from glutamate?

No. Some of the ingredients in our recipes contain small amounts of glutamates.

Do you use flavor enhancers or other chemical/non-natural additives?

NO!

Is your jerky suitable for a Paleo diet?

As long as jerky uses no additives, no sugar, no soy, and no chemicals, it is Paleo. We use no additives, no chemicals, but our flavors contain small amounts of sugar and soy sauce. So we do not claim, like many other manufacturers, that we are 100% Paleo-compatible. Whether our jerky fits into your Paleo diet, you have to decide yourself - Simple Jerky is 100% Austrian pasture-raised beef, NO sodium nitrates, NO phosphates, NO flavor enhancers, NO other additives.

There are some jerky manufacturers who advertise almost exclusively that they are Paleo. ;) ;) ;) Until recently, you could still read on their website that sodium nitrates were indeed used in production. At the current time, however, no ingredients are listed on the said page anymore, and even two links that were supposed to "independently" confirm that their jerky complies with Paleo no longer work............

One last word about Paleo: we did NOT found Simple Jerky to serve the latest trendy diet that will be forgotten in two years. We want to make the best BEEF JERKY, a clean, quality product for meat lovers.

What are the average nutritional values of Simple Jerky?

You can find the exact nutritional values for each flavor under the respective product descriptions!

Is Simple Jerky "authentic" beef jerky?

Well.....half of the Simple Jerky duo is a native US-American who grew up with authentic beef jerky. So you could say: It doesn't get more authentic than this!

Unfortunately, many make the mistake of confusing biltong with beef jerky and therefore believe our jerky is not "authentic." Folks, biltong and beef jerky are two different products! Unfortunately, I have to point out other manufacturers who produce biltong but call it jerky. Why do they do that? Because biltong requires less effort and can be produced more cheaply, but the term jerky is better known. Biltong is hung in large strips and air-dried. Jerky is cut into small strips and EACH SINGLE strip is placed by hand and then air-dried with temperature. There are also big differences in the recipes. Therefore, the taste and consistency of these two products are different. After all, you don't make a currywurst and call it Bosna ;)

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If you have any further questions for us, please write us an email (office@simplejerky.at) and we will be happy to assist you!

Finally, we have compiled some, partly very funny questions that were actually and seriously asked to us at trade fairs and markets over time and that always "somewhat" surprised us.

Is this chocolate?

Are these dried fruits?

Is this tobacco?

Is this jerky vegan?

Is this vegetarian?