Frequently Asked Questions about Simple Jerky

How did you come up with the idea of making beef jerky?

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

Where did you get the recipes?

Some of our flavors are absolute creations of our own - Austrian Style, for example, is inspired by the good, traditional roast pork or a crackling roast. Berlin Style Curry is based on the famous currywurst. Hawaiian Teriyaki, Redneck BBQ, and our Smoky Original, however, are 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?

Aside from the actual quality of the meat, there are other important factors for us when purchasing 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 Weiderind and not Biorind?

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

"It is important to us that the animals are pasture-raised, meaning they have freedom of movement and receive only their natural food - grass. Meanwhile, more and more studies are emerging that show that the meat from naturally fed pasture-raised cattle is just as healthy as "organic meat." Organic often means impossible requirements and enormous costs for farmers, but only guarantees very limited "happier cows." Specifically for a product like jerky, "organic" in most cases means that the meat comes from very old female animals. Of course, "organic" is then labeled on the packaging, but the product quality suffers as a result. Therefore, for our jerky, we process lean cuts of meat from young bulls."

In short: The consumer - and us as well - primarily values species-appropriate husbandry, natural feeding, freedom of movement, environmentally conscious production, as well as animal welfare-compliant slaughter and outstanding meat quality.

Is Simple Jerky free from glutamate?

No. Some of our ingredients for 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 contains no additives, no sugar, no soy, and no chemicals, it is Paleo. We do not use additives or chemicals; however, our flavors contain small amounts of sugar and soy sauce. So we do not claim, like many other manufacturers, that we are 100% Paleo-friendly. Whether our jerky fits into your Paleo diet, you must decide for yourselves - Simple Jerky is 100% Austrian grass-fed beef, NO sodium nitrates, NO phosphates, NO flavor enhancers, NO other additives.

There are some jerky manufacturers that almost exclusively advertise themselves as being Paleo. ;) ;) ;) Until recently, you could still read on their website that sodium nitrates were indeed used in production. However, at this point, no ingredients are listed on the mentioned site anymore, and even two links that were supposed to "independently" confirm that their jerky is Paleo no longer work............

One last word about Paleo: we did NOT found Simple Jerky because we want to cater to the latest trend 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.....one 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 that our Jerky is not "authentic". People, Biltong and Beef Jerky are two different products! Unfortunately, I have to point out other manufacturers again who produce Biltong but call it Jerky. Why do they do that? Because Biltong requires less effort and can be produced more cheaply, while the term Jerky is more well-known. Biltong is hung in large strips and air-dried. Jerky is cut into small strips and EACH INDIVIDUAL strip is placed by hand, and the whole thing is then air-dried at temperature. There are also significant differences in the recipes. Therefore, the taste and consistency of these two products are different. After all, you wouldn't make a Currywurst and call it Bosna ;)

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

"Finally, we have put together some, partly very funny questions that have actually and seriously been asked of us at trade fairs and markets over time, and that have always left us "somewhat" astonished."

Is that chocolate?

Are those dried fruits?

Is that tobacco?

Is the jerky vegan?

Is this vegetarian?