We’ve been over a decade in the making and we’re starting to grow faster than ever expected. As how most things start we noticed a problem! There was no beef jerky product in the mass market worth chew’in. We found a few niche folks who had a pretty good recipe, but they were all missing something and we could only buy them when “in the neighborhood.”
We set out to change that by coming up with the perfect beef jerky recipe and drying process. For personal reasons, obviously! We never figured we’d end up selling the damn things! So what did we end up doing? Well… we bought a bunch of meat, spices and various flavorings including a mix of hot sauces which turned into our signature hot sauce blend. I assure you it wasn’t easy and we did destroy some perfectly good meat in the process. But only in the name of science! Here’s what happened…
Our Meat – Angus Beef, Top-Inside Round
We only use “one” cut in all of our jerky. Why? Because it simply yields the best final product! Through our research we found that every other cut of beef doesn’t come close to the inside round. I’m sure some other folks out there will argue for the bottom round and it is a good cut of meat, but just not up to our standard!
When it comes to quality we only use the best. Which means each and every cut is either Prime or the Top 2/3 Choice. The additional marbling helps to keep the final product moist and tender as well as enhancing the overall flavor.
We believe using the Best Beef, Top Quality & Right Cut makes the best tasting jerky!
Our Process
Is just as important as the meat or the ingredients that we use. Anyone who has made jerky before will tell you it’s hard to get the same thing every time. It all comes down to consistency, time & temperature. And as everyone knows you can’t rush perfection! From the time the knife hits the meat until the time it’s packaged for sale is no less than 4 days of processing. Marinating allows all the ingredients time to penetrate the meat to both flavor and tenderize it. Dehydrating brings the meat up to the right temperature and allows just the right amount of moisture to evaporate to effectively preserve it. Resting Time is the key to locking in the flavor and bringing all the jerky to the right moisture content that allows it to remain bendable and tender, not dry and brittle like many of our competitors.
Our Company, Our Passion
- 10 Years of Recipe Development
- 8 Years of Market Research
- 6 Years of Product Testing
- 4 Years of Process Refining
It seemed almost silly to keep the final outcome to ourselves. We started small producing batches for family and friends to enjoy at various events whether a reunion, vacation, camping trip or just munch’in during a long drive. Before we knew it folks were asking us to make them entire batches and giving it out to their friends. Almost immediately… people just started demanding the stuff. Before we knew it we had enough people requesting to buy it, we needed to make it official and so EF Jerky was born. But we definitely had many concerns scaling up operations. It was important that we continue to maintain our quality and standards including sourcing all of our ingredients from American farmers & suppliers. Check out our BLOG to read more about how we remain committed to our beef jerky passion.