This post is not vegan-safe.
You may know mbcarval from our comment threads. He's a long-time member, a Sacramento native and Kings diehard who is in San Diego getting his MBA. And he's also an entrepreneur. He and a couple of friends have started a company called True Gentlemen's Jerky. Yes, that's jerky as in dried, flavored meat. Delicious, delicious meat.
Why start a new jerky company?
True Gentlemen's Jerky was formed by a group of friends who shared a common passion for a healthy alternative to the mass produced "jerky" that was being offered. The once All-American jerky that we grew up with seemed to be losing its appeal, along with its natural ingredients and flavor. Then one of our co-founders shared an old family jerky recipe that had been passed down to him from his father. The same way a dad would teach his son to play catch, his dad taught him the secrets behind making handcrafted, all natural jerky. It first started out as a college snack and way to fuel our active lifestyles, but over time grew into something bigger. We began incorporating new and fresh ingredients and ultimately creating various flavors to give out to friends and family. After receiving an overwhelming amount of positive feedback and requests for more jerky. There was an unexplainable self-fulfillment that we felt from rolling up our sleeves and slowly crafting meat into our vision of what jerky ought to be.Then after a lot of planning and careful deliberation, we realized that we had the opportunity to bring back the original gentleman's jerky to the public.That's when True Gentleman's Jerky was born. We are True Gentlemen's Jerky---The Original Craft Jerky Pioneers.
GO ON.
To ensure our customers have a positive craft jerky experience, we utilize an extremely lean eye of round cut of meat, which provides the perfect balance of texture and slow cooked flavor. Our jerky is high in lean protein and does not contain any nitrates, preservatives, growth hormones, or animal bi-products. This means that our jerky not only looks good and tastes good, but can also be nutritionally beneficial. Especially, as a healthy alternative to what large jerky distributors are passing off as jerky. We realized early on that the additives large corporations use to keep their meat viable (and cheap enough) for large-scale production aren't necessary, and when the meat is prepared right, the jerky stabilizes itself.
mbcarval and friends have a Kickstarter going, seeking to raise $10,000 to get access to a larger commercial kitchen and develop a broader offering. (They are currently doing 2-ounce packages in two flavors. They'd like to expand that. I'd like them to expand that, because MEAT.) True Gentlemen's Jerky is 77 percent of the way to their goal. We don't do this often (ever?), but we like to support StR-Friendly businesses when possible.
So, if you love jerky and Kings fans and Sacramentans doin' thangs: please contribute to the True Gentlemen's Jerky Kickstarter project. Let's help a brother out!