While on tour we sampled a large variety of the beef jerky products from around the country. At some point we realized that if we had a Beef Jerky manual, life would have been a lot easier. We decided to take a stab at it. If you have some Jerky stories you'd like to share, please send them in.

Damon & Samantha's impressions of River City Hot & Spicy Beef Jerky:

• Oddly shiny appearance
• Nice thickness, attractive portions
• Pretty tough at first, but quickly softens to a good, solid chew--excellent texture -VERY spicy. Yow! Hot hot hot
• Good flavor: pepper, soy, sugar, garlic, currants? Nicely focused -Our cat stole it, put it next to her catnip bag in the corner -Overall, excellent stuff, premium hot jerky, not too loaded with extraneous ingredients. Nice job.

Texas Brand spicy natural "style," hickory smoked:

Tastes like ass, good chew, all spice no flavor, a little bit fishy.

Smoky Valley pepper beef steak, teriyaki / tender style:

Canned meat bouquet, squishy, reconstituted, hammy and suspicious, it sweats, one taster could only say "Um..."

the Old Trapper regular solid:

Straight forward bouquet, sweet flavor, sugary, good chew, not too tough, could be chewier, had that "groped-by-a-truckdriver" taste.

the Old Trapper teriyaki solid:

Leather bouquet, great chew, strong, tough, no fun.

the Old Trapper regular disk teriyaki:

Definitely processed look and feel, smokier that "Solid," more mellow.

Jack Link kippered beef steak:

Classic jerky aroma, celery, pepper, salty, nice texture.

Jack Link pepper steak:

Way too peppery.

Oberto natural style:

Tough package, paper-like, lame texture at first but then a good chew, smoky, tangy, classic.

Pacific Mountain Farms venison jerky:

Classic jerky smell, ketchup taste, very firm, hard chew, not worth the price, it cut Bob's gums, felt sorry for the deer.

Buffalo Bill's premium hickory smoked:

Nice, short ingredient list, pepper and herb aroma, pee taste but great texture, good chew, Tom says "Great!"

King Bee:

Tough dry chew, not good if you have open mouth sores, good.

MK Ranch "original":

Fishy smell, dog food, dry, sweet, fishy beef stew, "Ptui!"

Jack Link kippered turkey:

A lot like pastrami, authentic "meat" taste!

SuperSlab:

Oily, so bad AAAAAAHHHH! bad bad bad bad.

Smoky Mountain:

Chopped and formed, easy to open, smell like pepperoni, rubbery flat pork, horse meat, survivalist jerky.

Wild Bill's Original Beef Jerky / Jerky Chew:

Looks like dead bugs, bullion-like, salty as f***, goes down quick.

Skinny Joe original jerky chew:

Sawdust color, fishy booty, "is fish food," "Gag!"

Wild Bill's basic jerky:

Good chew, explosive, complex, changing flavor, smooth then spicy, good aftertaste, good stuff!

Road Kill:

Great package, soy sauce smell, looks funny, blistery, sweet and sour, suspicious, funky, metallic, light pepper, inconsistent and scary but strangely appealing, this would make a great stocking stuffer.