Snack Review: Tillamook Country Smoker Old-Fashioned Beef Jerky

Most of us rush in and out of gas stations without a second thought. We spend our money, pump our gas, and buy coffee or cigarettes, if we must, to see us through the commute ahead. Focused on the final destination, be it the office, home, or some more pressing errand, who can blame us? Gas station shops are small and often grimy, with a heart-wrenchingly limited variety of cheap, over-processed snacks.

Or so it would seem.

In actuality, gas stations can be great spots to find local goodies and outright oddities. From fresh-baked Amish cookies in the Midwest to pickled eggs in the South and Mexican pastries in L.A., a visit to a gas station provides ample opportunity to glimpse (and smell, and taste) the local culture. Although Jim covered plenty of old favorites in a thoroughly enjoyable, nostalgic and somewhat irreverent Top-10 List of Gas Station Snacks, he neglected one snack seldom seen outside of gas stations.

Dear snackers, I give you… Old-Fashioned Beef Jerky.

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Top 10 Gas Station Snacks

Gas. Oil. Water.

Forty years ago, gas stations were called service stations, and that’s what you got. You’d sit in your car and the attendant would fill ‘er up with gas, check the oil and water, chat about the weather, you’d fork over a few bucks and then ease on down the road.

Today you can still get gas, oil and water for your car, but so much more for yourself! The possibilities are endless! Space and time are limited here, so enjoy the TOP TEN SNACKS you can find in a gas station. This list is certainly not definitive, but it’s based on my years of careful observation as a trained, professional snack critic.

In college I worked behind the counter at a gas station for half a summer, and the only person I ever saw eat pickled eggs was a homeless guy named Wig who washed them down with 40 oz. bottles of malt liquor. Maybe there’s a “Wig” in every neighborhood, ’cause someone’s eating these things. I’ve heard they’re popular in midwestern taverns, so maybe you have to be pickled yourself to properly enjoy them.

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Snack Review: Pemmican Steak Fajita Beef Jerky

A large chunk of my beef jerky history is limited to that of my younger days with convenience store Slim Jims purchased in the harsh fluorescent brightness following a night of rabble-rousing and debauchery. As my friend Andrew so wisely puts it, beef jerky is also “the meat of road trips.” I’m sure Kerouac ate it before scarfing down his pie a la mode, and maybe Neal Cassady had a slice in his back pocket as he trekked down that lonesome and fateful railroad track. But I digress.

There is something wild and romantic about jerky. Squatting on my haunches and gazing out over the prairie (my back yard) I anticipate the day’s cattle drive (lawn-mowing and dog-chasing), tear off a piece of jerky with my teeth and take a sip of steaming hot java. HooWEE! My testosterone levels go through the barn roof.

The Pemmican line of jerky features a wide variety of beef and pork. I sampled the new “marinade” style Steak Fajita. This beef jerky had the typical jerky format - thin, flat pieces of dried beef, but unlike other jerky I’ve tried, this was very tender. The steak fajita flavor was mild with just a hint of spice; however, the smoke flavor was a tad overpowering. A pleasant aftertaste followed, with a lingering and flavorful spice.

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