Hi Mountain Jerky Cure & Seasoning Kit - VAIRIETY PACK #1

I've been making hamburger jerky using nesco for years now and everyone loves it. However I heard good things about the Hi Mountain so I bought the sampler to give it a try. I'm a big fan of the Orig, Mesquite, Hickory, and cracked pepper/garlic. All great flavors. I'm also a fan of the bag of seasoning that you measure out what you need rather than having it prepackaged. Now from experience with nesco brand I assumed that I should cut the cure by half to make it edible otherwise it is WAY too salty. Unfortunately, Hi mountain is even saltier. Even only using half the cure called for, it was so salty as to be completely inedible. Now if you knew how much I salt everything, you'd actually know that when I say it is too salty it has to be really bad. After the first test, the second batch I made, I used 1/5 the amount of cure and for me it was just right, for the rest of my family they felt it was still too salty. The third batch I made, I left the cure out altogether. Everyone agreed that it was still missing something. The final batch I mixed the seasonings in and then using a salt shaker, I just sprinkled the cure in (probably about 1/4 tsp for 2 lbs hamburger) and it was just right. Being that we eat it about as fast as I can make it, cure really is not needed. Hi Mountain will now be in the rotation. We still like Nesco but Hi Mountain is equally as good, just different flavors. With Hi Mountain I find I like the Mesquite mixed together with Cracked Pepper/garlic best. Just anyone trying this BEWARE!!!! SALTY beyond edible if following directions. Make small batches until you get the ratio correct

We liked this variety pack for being able to sample the various seasonings. We really liked the original, mesquite, and hickory flavors. The cajun was okay but not very strong and the pepper n' garlic was mostly pepper with minimal garlic flavor. I took off 1 star because at the end we still had about 1lb of Mesquite and 3 lbs of Cajun flavor left without any jerky cure. Our bottle also came without a lid, so mixing the powders was not so easy. In general, it's a good jerky seasoning kit but I prefer to wet marinate; the process to lay out all the meat, pat it dry, then sprinkle seasoning on both sides and then mix again in the bowl just seemed like extra unnecessary steps compared to mixing the seasoning and cure with some water and marinating overnight in a bowl.

Purchased this variety pack to make a couple pounds of jerky of each kind to try. Very simple recipe to follow and all of the jerky turned out delicious.

This is my second time ordering this product. I like the choice of seasonings and have made lots of jerky using them. Great product.

I had 5lb of venison strips to work with, so I made a 1lb batch of each included flavor. The instructions were okay, but depending on your setup, the drying time can be way off. My rack stacks are pretty close together, so the top layer would dry out well before the rest; I would have to remove the top rack and continue drying the rest, then remove the next rack an hour later, and then again, etc. It ended up taking around 8 hours, or 2 four-hour runs of each set of racks, to complete the job. Also, I cut these strips with a electric meat slicer thinner than recommended, so it seems odd that it took much longer than the listed 2 hours. As far as flavor while using the recommended ratio: Original: completely bland. Tasted like regular meat with a light sprinkle of salt on it. Hickory: better, but difficult to discern from the Mesquite Mesquite: You could taste the earthy flavor a bit more, but pretty similar to Hickory Cajun: very little flavor up front, then you'd get hit with a little bit of heat at the end...tastes more like hot sauce than full cajun flavor. Cracked Pepper & Garlic: I actually cheated on this one because the amount of pepper I saw didn't seem like enough, so I added more cracked pepper, and this was definitely the best of the lot. I think the amount of cure powder is fine, but the seasoning powder ratios are way too low. When I make the next batch, I'll double the amount of seasoning, and maybe play with adding some of my own ingredients - The Cajun batch could be much better with some Slap Yo Momma seasoning. The packaging would be better if the seasoning packets came in resealable pouches. I had to dump mine into snack baggies and label them for future use. The number of steps and ease of application could be improved if the cure and seasoning could be wet mixed and poured over the meat, rather than pat drying the meat and shaking the mix over each side and then hand mixing. Giving 3 stars because it has potential if you make some adjustments (much like a lot of cooking and baking due to variables like climate, temp, materials, etc.).