If you’re looking for something novel, you need to treat yourself to the San Diego House of Jerky in Liberty Station. Especially if your taste leans toward the exotic in jerky, “any” kind of exotic variety including trout and shark – even camel.
Operated by Brandon and Danelle Cox with products largely imported from Temecula, their first business venture has been open since Oct. 1 at 2445 Truxtun Road, Suite 100 in Liberty Station.
Of how they got started, Brandon said, “My wife and I have some friends who own the Temecula House of Jerky in Old Town Temecula and we thought they had a good business model, so we took that and did our own thing. It took us a while to find a location. We thought this would be a great location, and here we are.”
Cox pointed to a wall in his shop set aside for exotic jerky varieties including peppered salmon, duck, python, alligator, kangaroo, lamb, wild boar, elk, and buffalo jerkies. “We get a lot of people who like to try the different animals,” said Cox of his jerky shop, which carries other hard-to-find products, like refrigerated brands of small-batch soda like Crush and Frostie. “This is the old school stuff that you don’t get to see everywhere,” he said adding, “We even have a chocolate-covered maple bacon soda and a pumpkin pie soda.”
Of his business, Cox said it is not a franchise but rather one of 37 stores nationwide that are similar to his that are all family-owned and operated. Cox pointed to his other, domestic wall of jerky, which features different flavors and cuts of beef and turkey jerky. “We have some spicy stuff, made with one of the hottest peppers known to be on the face of the Earth right now,” he noted.
The business also carries an exhaustive line of hot sauces including Salvation Sauce with a mini Bible attached to it. Another hot sauce brand, Reaper Evil, Cox said is known to be “650 times spicier than a jalapeno pepper.” Yet another brand of hot sauce, named Mega Death, comes in a coffin-shaped box.
“We also have local honey from Temecula,” pointed out Cox. “We carry a bunch of different flavors. Some are infused. We have chipotle and habanero honey.”
The jerky shop carries other novelties as well such as gourmet popcorn and flavored dill pickles.
SAN DIEGO HOUSE OF JERKY
Where: 2445 Truxtun Rd, Suite 100.
Hours: Mondays-Fridays 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturdays-Sundays 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Información: Sandiegohouseofjerky.com, 619-993-6156.
What is jerky? Jerky or “charqui” is lean trimmed meat cut into strips and dehydrated to prevent spoilage including the addition of salt for preservation. The word “jerky” derives from the Native American Quechua word ch’arki, which means “dried, salted meat.” Modern manufactured jerky is often marinated, prepared with a seasoned spice, rub, or liquid, or smoked with low heat. Store-bought jerky commonly includes sweeteners such as brown sugar.
Jerky is ready-to-eat, needs no additional preparation, and can be stored for months without refrigeration. To ensure maximum shelf-life, a proper protein-to-moisture content is required in the final cured product. Many products that are sold as jerky consist of highly processed, chopped, and formed meat rather than traditional sliced whole-muscle meat. These products may contain more fat, but moisture content, as in the whole-muscle product, must meet a 0.75 to 1 moisture-to-protein ratio in the U.S.
