Basketball plus trampolines equals Slamball. Chess plus boxing equals Chess Boxing. (I’m not kidding. Go follow that link.) Yogurt plus archery equals … Okay, you can’t just put any two terms together and get something great.
How about “tropical fruit” and “jerky”? I know. It sounds wrong, doesn’t it? But the people at Jerky.com emailed me a couple of weeks ago to see if I wanted to try some of their new pineapple jerky. I had to say yes, if for no other reason than curiosity.
That’s what I told them when I wrote back: Sure, I’ll try it, but I’ve got to tell you it doesn’t sound like an obvious winner. That’s okay, they said. We’re confident you’ll like it.
A couple of weeks go by and no package. I wrote to make sure they had my right mailing address, and they told me orders were so strong they couldn’t keep up with demand. That’s a good problem to have with a new product.
So production finally caught up and I got my shipment. Two packs of pineapple jerky.
(These are sample packs. The packs you get when you order them have about four times as much in them.)
Check out the ingredients listed on that package. (Click on the picture for a larger view if you’re having trouble reading it.) Pineapple and honey. That’s it. Made in Maui. Well okay, this is promising.
And you can see from the shape of it that each piece is a slice of pineapple. They look surprisingly like flowers, which suggests some interesting possibilities in terms of presentation.
Unlike meat jerky, which can be hard, dry and stiff, these are flexible and chewy.
Like meat jerky, though, you might not want to try this with braces or bridgework. I don’t know if something happens to the pineapple when they dehydrate it, or if it’s the honey, but these things take a pretty strong bite to get through. And they chew a lot like meat jerky.
The flavor was amazing. The pineapple was concentrated and tart, with just enough honey to balance it without making it taste like candy. I’ve been trying to think of something to make with this so I can take advantage of the flower-like appearance. But I can’t think of anything that I’d want covering up the flavor straight from the package. Yes, I thought of dipping it in chocolate, and I don’t think that would improve it.
Packs of pineapple jerky definitely cost more than the fruit snacks you might give your kids. But they’re real food that you can feel good about giving them, and they’re good enough that you might just keep them for yourself.
This is the first product I’ve tried from Jerky.com, but the ingredients look just as good on the rest of their stuff, Beef Jerky, Turkey Jerky, Ostrich Jerky, Alligator Jerky … I’m starting to think they’ll make jerky out of just about anything.
16 Comments
Sounds good–I’ve seen a few reviews for these guys recently, and the consensus seems to be “yum.”
How about dicing some up, rehydrating in just a bit of hot water (or juice, for that matter), and making a pineapple upside down cake? To play up the honey theme, what about a play on baklava? Use ground macadamias, minced up rehydrated pineapple dudes and layer w/phyllo. Pour a pineapple/honey syrup over all when it comes out of the oven.
I’m kind of missing the point. Why would I buy dehydrated pineapple, only to chop it up and rehydrate it, instead of buying fresh pineapple? Okay, maybe when they’re out of season. Or I’m just not getting the advantage. Different texture? Concentrated flavor?
Yup–the texture will be chewier and the flavor will be more concentrated, even when rehydrated. It’s why folks use plumped raisins in cookies instead of grapes!
But, I guess just eating it as a snack sounds like a good plan, too!
Mmmm, fruit jerky. Hm, you don’t think dipping it in chocolate would improve it? How about wrapping it in bacon? I’m running out of ideas here…
Maybe dice it and add it to stuffing for a pork loin. Then it would rehydrate a bit, but it would rehydrate with pork juices and whatever other seasonings where in there. It would help keep the stuffing from getting too soggy and give a good blast of pineapple flavor. Then you could garnish with a couple whole slices and still get some use out of the flowery appearance. Or just cut it into strips and put it in a teriyaki chicken sandwich. Hmmm, I think I might have to check out this stuff…
Jenni, oh my God that’s it! Chop it up and use it instead of raisins in oatmeal cookies.
Bob, bacon … hmm … I’ve said before that everything’s better with bacon. But how to prepare it? I’ll have to think about that.
Ooh–and use macadamias and some coconut and you can call them pina colada cookies. Or not….
I guess I’ll have to look for these in the store. I haven’t seen them yet. They would be good to send with the hubby on his truck! I’m always looking for something new for his lunches.
Sounds good! I’d put them on a cake. Because they look like flowers they’d be really pretty on it, and they’re healthier than sugary candy flowers.
Linda, they don’t list any stores on their site. I think they’re mostly, if not exclusively, mail order. Talk to your grocer, though. There’s a link on the main page if you want to become a supplier.
Tori, they’d look great on a cake. Just be aware you’d have to take them off before cutting it. If you tried to cut though one, you’d crush your cake.
I'd use them in oatmeal. Just like in oatmeal cookies, chop them up, and stir them in. Also the pork loin idea sounds good. I have a recipe that uses dried figs with pork chops and it makes a yummy sauce (made it for dinner last night). I'm all for the sweet & savory idea. Teriyaki Chicken?
I bought something very similar in the UK a while back, and I wasn’t too impressed! It was a dried sweetened pineapple ring, so pretty much the same?
The texture was a bit chewy and the flavour, although like pineapple, was not quite right. I can’t put my finger on why!
But hey, everyone has different tastes!
Ryan, I think you got candied pineapple. The stuff that Drew is showing in more like dehydrated pineapple. The biggest difference is the level of sugar. The candied pineapple is pineapple that is basically boiled in a simple syrup and then dried, sort of like candied orange peel. Dehydrated may have a light dip in a simple syrup or honey, but then they are put in a machine to get as much water out as possible. The texture & taste are extremely different.
You could probably recreate it and have a dipping sauce by doing this: Ever had honey in vanilla yogurt? It's very yummy. Dehydrate some pineapple, then dip it into a vanilla yogurt & honey mix. You can control the amount of honey in the yogurt so that you don't have to experiment with the balance of honey to pineapple in the dehydrator.
Drew… check these out….
http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2009/05/honey-baked-ham-cupcakes.html
Well that is just a hell of an idea. I’ve done mini meatloaves in muffin tins using bacon as the “wrappers”. I wonder what else I could do this way.
Or you could try these ideas – http://www.figandcherry.com/reviews/5-great-ways-to-enjoy-pineapple-jerky
I found that link on the ”comments” section on the pineapple jerky page.
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