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- Review: Golden Island All-Natural Five Spice Beef Jerky (C+)
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Howdy!
In service to our meaty intent, today we’re tearing into a package of Sugar River Original Beef Sticks Ends and Pieces purchased at the local Cabelas.
Sugar River Original Beef Sticks
Weighing in at a whopping two pounds, this vacuum packed snack block definitely commands attention. Like the Beef and Pork Sticks Ends and Pieces previously reviewed, this is a LOT of meat. It’s pork-inclusive counterpart was reasonably tasty so there’s cause to be optimistic that this tempting jumble of beef stick bits will prove to be a treat of worth. Does its size foretell of its delicious goodness? Let’s see what you get with this one:
Taste (C+): These meaty bits have a pleasantly savory flavor that starts with a pretty equal balanced between salt and smoke tastes and is then accompanied by a bit of sweetness. It’s pretty enjoyable, but not particularly great. After a few bites you start to make out some of the other tastes – a touch of pepper, some garlic – but they’re just barely discernible. After a bit the taste starts to suffer a bit from the exceptionally greasy nature of the meat. Your tongue gets thoroughly coated pretty quickly and the overall flavor suffers for it. So, while tasty, it ultimately doesn’t excel. Still, you’ll still enjoy it.
Texture (C+): These stick bits are fun to eat. The casing is slightly crisp, but not at all distracting. The meat itself is tender and generally pleasant to chew. They’re good, but not particularly remarkable.
Smell (C): While these beef bits don’t smell badly, they don’t smell especially appetizing either. There’s a somewhat greasy smell to these bits… clearly discernible but not overpowering. There’s some smoky meat scent in there too, but it is meaningfully diminished by the greasy scents. In the end, it’s okay, but that’s about it.
Appearance (C+): For a pack of ‘end and pieces’ the meat bits looks pretty good. The dark reddish-brown color of the casing looks tasty enough, and the pieces are generally enjoyably bite-sized. The cuts, while running at all sorts of angles, are clean and straight and look well made. Like it’s pork-inclusive counterpart though, there’s a slightly gooey coating of grease that seems to have been expressed from the meat during the vacuum packing process. It’s everywhere – coating every piece of meat on every surface and spread throughout the inside of the packaging. It’s messy enough that you should have some napkins handy and plan to thorough wash your hands when you’re done.
Consistency (B-): Bite to bite these sausage bits are remarkably consistent. Again, given that this is a bag of ends and pieces you wouldn’t necessarily expect great consistency in the package, but the meat’s moisture and texture don’t deviate much as you snack your way through the lot and both bigger and smaller pieces offer a predictable taste and feel throughout. It’s well made and really does exhibit quality at its core.
Overall Impression (C+): This is a snack that’d be a great companion on a camping or hunting trip or, given the quantity, perhaps as a casual snack for visitors and the like. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable, albeit messy, treat with a nice flavor that’s enjoyable to eat. Odds are you’ll enjoy these beef ends and pieces from Sugar River so picking up a bag the next time you’re rummaging around your local Cabelas. Enjoy!
Howdy!
Today we’re tearing into a bag of Texas Best Smokehouse Beef Stix purchased at their outstanding store in Italy, Texas.
Texas Best Smokehouse Beef Stix
No stranger to this veritable shrine to dried meats, the Beef Stix are just one of many tasty treats arrayed to tempt the visitor. Unlike sausage-style sticks, these “Stix” are strips of regular beef so the temptation to see how they stack up to the veritable cornucopia of other meats offered at the smokehouse was simply too great to refuse. Just how tasty are these narrow strip of beefy goodness? Let’s see what you get with this one:
Taste (A): Straight up, this jerky’s taste is fantastic! Foremost you taste a solidly delivered black pepper kick. It’s strong, and enjoyably so, and pairs up with the beef itself in an outstanding fashion. There’s also a pronounced garlic flavor accompanied by a low-key brown sugar sweetness that seem to chime in with the pepper in a way that takes the whole well beyond the sum of the parts. It’s an outstandingly tasty and yet deceptively simple flavor.
Texture (A): While this natural-style jerky is only slightly moist it is quite pliable and easy to tear. The bites start of slowly requiring a bit of effort to really dig into the beef, but it quickly softens up to really let the flavor out. The pieces are cut along the grain and can be torn by hand easily enough. The feel of this jerky in your mouth though is really something special. It’s substantial and tough while also quickly soft and tender. You get the whole gamut of feels from this jerky and it’s just really fun to eat.
Smell (B): This jerky projects a relatively low-key scent, primarily conveying garlic and hints of black pepper. It’s dry enough that there’s just not a lot of scent going on there, but what you do smell is still pretty pleasing, all told.
Appearance (A): This jerky is natural-cut along the grain into long strips, or “Stix”. These Stix are several inches long and generally around a half-inch wide. Cut relatively thin, the meat has a dark reddish-brown hue and very, very slight sheen. The meat itself looks to be of excellent quality and is really eye-candy in its own right. Simply stated, the folks at Texas Best Smokehouse make a find looking jerky.
Consistency (A+): These sticks are clearly the work of folks with deep expertise and zealous attention to detail. The moisture of each piece was indistinguishable from one another, always maintaining that exceptional dry yet pliable feel. The taste, similarly, was fantastically good from the first bite to the last with the pepper and garlicky sweetness steady throughout. This jerky is simply outstandingly made and is a real testament to the skill of the folks at Texas Best Smokehouse.
Overall Impression (A): This is an exceptionally good jerky. The flavor is delicious, it feels like joy in your mouth, and you have real sense of the quality and care that went into making it with every bite. This is the good stuff and if you’re a fan of peppery jerky this one will doubtless be a quick favorite. If you make your way into the Texas Best Smokehouse you can rest assured that selecting their Beef Stix is a choice you’ll definitely feel good about on your way out of the store. Swing on by Italy and grab yourself a bag of this awesome jerky and you’ll be in for quite a treat. Eat well!
Greetings!
Following a recent trip to Canada we’re enjoying a bag of West Coast Select Beef Jerky picked up at the airport duty free shop in Calgary, Alberta.
West Cost Select Beef Jerky
We’re all about exploring the local flavors so this little bag of jerky was a welcome find. West Coast Select is the beef jerky brand of Sundance Seafood Ltd. in Surrey, British Columbia. They offer an interesting range of salmon – smoked, canned, frozen, etc. – as well as a pair of beef jerky flavors. With their focus on fish, does their cow-based snack do the job? Let’s see what you get with this one:
Taste (B): This is a really salty jerky. It’s good and really brings out the flavor of the beef, but it is still quite potent. There’s a complementary sweetness in the mix, too; some sugar and molasses that blend well and help to take a bit of the edge off of the saltiness. A bit of smoke flavor rounds it all out and, in the end, it tastes pretty good! It’s not a particularly complex flavor all told. If you’re into salty you’ll really take to this one.
Texture (B+): A dry but pliable jerky, the pieces are cut along the grain and tear easily either by hand or teeth. It’s easy to chew and the meat has a quality feel to it. Your mouth will like it.
Smell (B): With a smoky scent that’s both simple and mild, this jerky smells nice. That’s about it though.
Appearance (B+): The pieces are generally small with straight-edge cuts and have a medium color with slight red highlights here and there. They look every bit the quick and tempting snack bites they are. This jerky looks nice and appetizing.
Consistency (A-): Bite for bite this jerky is quite well made. The moisture is consistent, and the salty and slightly smoky-sweet flavor holds true throughout the bag. The pieces are uniformly thick and the meat is well trimmed. The Sundance folks make a quality product with clear attention to ensuring that every bite is a good one. Well done!
Overall Impression (B): This is a solidly tasty jerky from our friends in BC. The jerky is wildly salty in a delicious way and is made with the sort of attention to quality that really makes eating it quite a joy. It’s nothing fancy, just a straightforwardly tasty treat. So if you find yourself in the Great White North and run across a bag feel confident in picking up a bag and digging in. It’s a good eat. Enjoy!
Howdy!
Today we’re openning up a bag of Pacific Gold Original Beef Jerky, picked up at the local Costco here in Frisco, Texas.
One of the Oberto Sausage Company brands, Pacific Gold is a mainstay at Costco. In keeping with the ‘big box’ model, the Costco packages are a half-pound each and sport a zipper closure so you don’t have to fret about polishing off the whole thing in one sitting. The packing declares this to be a “Premium Jerky”, but is it really all that good? Let’s see what you get with this one:
Taste (B+): This is a sweet jerky that first greets you with a nice, and slightly fruity, brown sugar flavor. It’s a smooth sweetness complemented with a salty smoke flavor and a bit of garlic and pepper. It’s very well-balanced and the sweetness and spiciness combine nicely to both enhance and accompany the flavor of the quality pieces of premium beef. It’s genuinely tasty stuff!
Texture (A-): These jerky pieces are naturally cut along the grain. It’s tender, but not particularly moist, so pieces bite off easily and chew with an enjoyably substantial feel.
Smell (B): The jerky smells smokier than you’d think, based upon the taste. It has an almost sour note in its scent that’s definitely intriguing, but not especially enticing. You can make out a bit of the fruity scents, too, but most of all it’s the smoke. It smells good and is an inviting aspect of this treat.
Appearance (A-): With large natural cut pieces sporting a dark brown color imbued with red in its depths, the jerky’s irregularly shaped pieces are real eye-candy. It looks like small-batch jerky from days gone by and is truly easy on the eyes.
Consistency (A): This is an excellently prepared jerky. The pieces, despite their intentionally irregular size and shape, are expertly consistent in terms of their flavor, texture, and thickness. The fine folks at Oberto have really shown their skill here delivering a jerky that is tasty and enjoyable from beginning to end.
Overall Impression (B+): This is a very well made and genuinely tasty jerky. You’ll love its complex sweetness and the fantastically well-match spices that complement it. It eats well and is just a real treat waiting to be enjoyed. On your next trek to your local Costco take a look to see if they have some of this delicious beef jerky and pick yourself up a few bags. You’ll be glad you did. Eat well!
Howdy!
Today we’re having a bag of Texas Best Smokehouse Sweet Honey Beef Jerky purchased in their store in Italy, Texas.
Texas Best Smokehouse Sweet Honey Beef Jerky
The folks at Texas Best Smokehouse make a veritable cornucopia of meaty treats including an impressive array of jerky. Their Honey Bison Jerky was a clear favorite, so how does its beef counterpart stack up? Let’s see what you get with this one:
Taste (B+): This is some tasty jerky. While the name would suggest a predominantly sweet flavor, this jerky starts its work in your mouth with a kick of soy sauce and pepper. It’s a bit punchy. After a bit you register the taste of some quality, lean beef and the brown sugar sweetness that accompanies it. The balance isn’t what you’d expect, but it is very tasty.
Texture (A): The jerky is lean and moist, but still slightly tough. You’ll work a bit to tear off a bite but it chews easily and feels great.
Smell (B+): With a relatively low-key aroma, the scent of beef is intricately accompanied by a slightly peppery smell and combination of soy and brown sugar. It blends together pretty well and is generally enjoyable.
Appearance (A): This jerky is an exceptionally dark brown with only a slight redness and a distinctive sugary sheen. The pieces are cut along the grain and while a few of them are little more than a couple bites most are fairly substantial. It’s also distinctive that none of the pieces show any discernible straight edge cuts, really enhancing the natural look of this visually fantastic jerky.
Consistency (A): The folks at Texas Best Smokehouse didn’t leave anything to chance with this one. Every single bite was thoroughly tasty. The peppery kick and low-key sweetness are exacting throughout and the thickness was uniform without seeming mechanically so. It’s expertly well made stuff.
Overall Impression (A-): This jerky is a quality, tasty treat. The sweet beef flavor is good stuff, but the peppery kick is what you’ll remember. It’s a lean, delicious, expertly made jerky that’ll delight your mouth and leave you wanting more. Again it’s worth going out of your way to visit Texas Best Smokehouse to pick up a few bags of this delicious jerky of your own. Eat well!
Howdy, friends!
Today we’re tearing into a few pieces of Dussa’s Ham and Cheese Ltd’s Beef Jerky, purchased at their delicatessen counter store in the Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Dussa’s Ham and Cheese Ltd’s Beef Jerky
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We had a great time at the the Public Market. There was a cornucopia of fresh produce, baked goods, cheeses and, of course, meats! Dussa’s selection of cheese was quite extensive but their assortment of jerky was respectable, but not excessive by any means. From comments overheard while standing in line it seems they make some of their own meats and source others from area meat-wizards who likely sell to one or more of the Market’s meat vendors. While the Dussa’s beef jerky bore a striking similarity to the beef jerky we picked up from the counter across the way at Armando’s Quality Meats we purchased a sample anyway to see what we could see. While their similarities are significant, they thankfully aren’t quite the same, so it was the proper thing to do to conduct a thorough review of Dussa’s wares. Is their meat as tasty as their neighbors? Let’s see what you get with this one:
Taste (A-): This is a simply seasoned jerky that takes the already delicious piece of beef and carefully enhances it’s flavor without trying to distract you with flash or gimmicks. It starts with a general saltiness that’s a bit strong, but not overbearing. There’s a bit of a peppery flavor in there too, but just barely. And that’s about it. It’s a straight-up tasty, old fashioned beef jerky and it’s fantastic!
Texture (A): This is really great meat. It’s a comparatively moist and tender jerky. There’s no difficulty in tearing off your bite and, while it’s substantial enough to require some effort, it breaks down quickly and is easy to chew. The pieces are large and cut along the grain so it tears with great ease, too. It’s just a terrific, quality jerky.
Smell (B): First, you smell the beef. It’s meaty and savory. Then you smell… the beef, with a slightly salty scent that makes that beef smell even just that much more enticing. It’s simplicity. It’s done right.
Appearance (A): With the large, thinly cut cut pieces, this jerky looks really good. The meat is cut along the grain and sports a dark brown color with a subtle reddish undertone. It has a slight sheen, but only slight, that brings out the texture of the meat. It looks every bit as fantastic as it tastes.
Consistency (A): This is a fantastically well-made jerky. The thickness of the pieces is uniform throughout. The moisture and tenderness of the meat is also exactingly done. From bite to bite the salty-meaty goodness holds true and you can clearly tell that this jerky was made with a deep understanding of how to do it right. It’s an exacting example of how to make great jerky.
Overall Impression (A-): This is a seriously good jerky. Simple. No frills. Exceptional. There’s a special joy to be found in beef jerky that is first and foremost about the beef. The folks at Dussa’s have given us just that. It’s beef, elevated to even greater heights, with a careful brine and a lot of TLC. This is yet another reason to find your way to the Granville Island Public Market the next time your meat tooth starts to itch. Swing by the deli counter at Dussa’s Ham and Cheese, Ltd. and sample some of this fine beef jerky. Enjoy!
Howdy!
Today we’re opening up a bag of Simms Bacon Jerky from our local ALDI.
Simms Hickory Smoked Bacon Jerky
This is the third bacon jerky we’ve reviewed, the others being Trail’s Best Bacon Jerky and Wild Bill’s Bacon Jerky. After a few tasty, bacony bites, it was immediately clear that the taste, texture, and smell of this meaty treat was identical to those other bacon jerkies we’d previously reviewed. Tada! We’ve got another Monogram Meat Snacks, LLC bacon jerky! It appears that this Simms Jerky, the store brand for ALDI meat snacks, is manufactured by Monogram. It’s a tasty, smokey bacon jerky that makes a great snack.
So… the review hasn’t really changed. Take a look at the Trail’s End Back Jerky review to read the detail of what you get with this one.
Overall Impression (B-): This is real bacon, made into jerky, and if you’re a bacon lover you’ll enjoy this tasty treat. Buy some. Enjoy it!
Hello!
Today we’re partaking of a bag of Golden Island Grilled Barbecue Pork Jerky picked up at the local Costco.
Golden Island Grilled Barbecue Pork Jerky
Taste (B+): This is a delightful jerky. The pork’s flavor is first and foremost sweet. Sugar, brown sugar and corn syrup feature early in the ingredients and you can taste it in every bite. While sweet as can be it’s not at all overpowering. The sweetness is fantastically paired with the pork and the other flavors, a bit of citrus and wine, enhance the sugary goodness. It’s meat candy, truly.
Texture (A): This is a natural cut jerky cut along the grain. The pieces are moist, tender, and exceptionally easy to bite and chew. It’s a pleasure to tear off a bite and enjoy eating this jerky. It feels great.
Smell (B+): You can smell the brown sugary sweetness most prominently with this jerky. It’s an enjoyably sweet scent that clearly conveys much of the jerky’s flavor. You can make out hints of the other seasonings, but just hints, and it all comes together really nicely.
Appearance (A): Presented within the bag in a small plastic tray, you get a sense that you’re being offered jerky that’s worth a little extra attention. With a reddish, light-brown color and a glistening sheen from the sugary glaze, this jerky looks every bit the sweet treat that it is. The pieces are mostly large and of a moderate thickness and are naturally cut with mostly irregular edges. It’s a fantastic presentation and an even better looking meat.
Consistency (B+): The Golden Island folks have done some things exceptionally well with this jerky. First, the moisture of this jerky is exceptional. From bite to bite, beginning to end, every bit of this jerky was the model of tenderness. It’s impressive, to say the least, and shows great care and attention was invested in this meaty goodness. The flavor, too, held throughout the bag. The sweetness, with just those hints of sour, was a persistent treat. The only chink in their otherwise spotless armor is the gristle… and there was just too much of it. To be clear, it only effected maybe a fifth of the pieces in our bag and often not just a little spot of fat but rather a largish blob of unappetizing crud. We know that this is a normal part of the meat, but they clearly cut out the fatty bits in most of the pieces in the bag leaving the impression that some of the pieces just made it through without remediation. It’s not a critical flaw, surely, but it took away from their otherwise flawless emphasis on quality.
Overall Impression (B+): Yes, you want some. This outstandingly made and genuinely tasty pork jerky is the meat candy you’ve been craving. It’s sweetness is almost over the top and the amazing tenderness of every piece will delight your mouth again and again. If you spy some of Golden Islands delicious Grilled Barbecue Pork Jerky at a store near you, you know you’ll do right to pick some up and partake of it’s tasty goodness. Eat up and enjoy!
Howdy!
For today’s jerkyology adventure we’re digging into a bag of Wild Ride Cowboy Strips Hickory Beef Jerky purchased at the Southwest News Store while waiting to depart from Terminal D at DFW International Airport.
Wild Ride Cowboy Strips Hickory Beef Jerky
- Beef jerky is a staple travel snack for the jerkyologist so sampling the local fare is always an adventure when strolling through airports near and far. Previously unfamiliar with the Wild Ride jerky brand, and spying a few different flavors on the rack, it was a good opportunity to pick some up and see what they had to offer. The folks at Wild Ride are focused on offering tender cuts of ‘premium’ beef using a proprietary tenderization process and without any artificial ingredients or preservatives. It sounds good, but does it taste as good as it sounds? Let’s see what you get with this one:
Taste (B-): This jerky is true to its name – if you like hickory smoke then this is your meat. The natural hickory smoke flavor is absolutely over the top. Once your mouth acclimates to the smoke you start making out the rest of the jerky flavors. There’s a good bit of pepper, some garlic, which pleasantly accompany a bit of salt and sweet flavors, too. It’s a fun flavor, really, but the overwhelming nature of the hickory taste is a bit hard to handle for very long.
Texture (B): This natural cut jerky is tender and cut against the grain. Its easy to chew and is a fairly easy eat. The meat’s thickness feels enjoyably substantial, too. It’s pretty enjoyable.
Smell (B+): If you like the savory scent of hickory smoke then this jerky is the one for you. The hickory is like a parade in your nose… a very smoky parade. It smells great for what it is and, while that’s all there really is to it, it’s nice enough.
Appearance (B+): This jerky sports a dark brown color with a matte finish and subtle red highlights here and there. The naturally cut meat is sized in strips, though some of the pieces are scarcely more than a half-inch in length. There are the occasional bits of pepper and the like visible on the surface of some of the pieces as well. All told, it looks pretty good.
Consistency (C): This is the shortcoming of this otherwise quite enjoyable jerky. First, the ‘premium cuts’ of beef were generally quite tender and tasty, but more than a few pieces were scarcely edible with some serious gristle woven throughout. Secondly, while the smokiness of this jerky was dead-on consistent throughout the bag the rest of the seasonings seemed rather hit-or-miss. Some pieces seemed very focused on the garlic, others sported some coarse ground pepper, and some both. They were all tasty, but the variability leaves you wondering what the jerky was supposed to taste like all along. Lastly, for a jerky labeled as ‘Cowboy Strips’ some of the pieces would not likely pass muster in the strip department. Many of the pieces were, at best, small bite pieces, falling short of a ‘strip’ in any practical sense. We rarely quibble over variation unless it distracts from the basis of the jerky’s intended appeal and with this bag there was enough variability to take away from enjoying the jerky outright. Again, while none of it was bad per se, these things are the sort that generally distinguish good jerky from great jerky.
Overall Impression (C+): This is good jerky. The hickory smoke flavor really is delicious and the tenderness of the jerky was, for the most part, truly enjoyable. It would take very little for the folks at Wild Ride to tighten up the quality control a bit and elevate this jerky to the B+ or better it would otherwise earn. If you happen across a bag of this hickory smoked treat go ahead and indulge. It’s certainly worth trying and you’ll doubtless enjoy its exceptionally well-done hickory goodness. Enjoy!
Howdy y’all!
Today’s tasty treat is a bag of Armando’s Quality Meats Beef Jerky procured at their counter in the Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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Armando’s ‘s Quality Meats Beef Jerky
The Public Market is awash in all manner of tasty temptations, and jerky was well represented among them. Armando’s Quality Meats offered their own tempting variety of fresh meats and cheeses with a steady stream of customers partaking of their wares. The name sets the tone – Quality Meats – and they seemed to take their craft quite seriously. So, spying a bin of large pieces of beef jerky perched invitingly atop their meat counter, the clear opportunity was to buy some and give it the ol’ jerkyology treatment. So, does the meat live up to the name? Let’s see what you get with this one:
Taste (A-): This is simple, tasty jerky done right. This jerky has a predominantly salty flavor, with just a touch of sweetness to it, doing nothing more than accentuating a fine piece of quality beef. It’s a fantastic, straightforward jerky that delivers a wonderful beefy flavor through and through. The folks at Armando’s Quality Meats give you a straight road to tasty-goodness with this delicious treat.
Texture (A): This jerky is sincerely enjoyable to eat. The meat is tender and just slightly moist, tearing easily and chewing with ease. The pieces are large, cut along the grain, and have a satisfying heft to them even with the relatively thin cut of the meat.
Smell (B+): This wonderfully simple jerky sports the simple aroma of a salty bit of dried beef. You can really discern the quality of the beef used in this jerky by its fantastic scent. It’s truly enjoyable.
Appearance (A): Your eyes will tell you right away that this is REAL jerky. This dark brown meat shows off the texture of this fine beef with natural edges and a thin thickness, looking every bit the tasty, no-frills beef jerky that it is and that’s a really great thing.
Consistency (A): The folks at Armando’s Quality Meats show their stuff with this excellently made jerky. The thickness and moisture of the meat is uniform from bite to bite with every tasting as good as the last. They seem to understand the tasty potential of their fine beef and have expertly enhanced its goodness while preserving the innate flavor of the meat itself. It’s just fantastic.
Overall Impression (A-): Wow, what a wonderful treat this jerky is. Amid the sea of jerky flavors that can often distract you from the raw material that started it all, this beef jerky will put you in touch with the essential goodness that is real, unadulterated beef jerky. It’s not just tasty, it’s delightful, and it is a delicious and it is simple. There’s real skill in doing the simple things this well and clearly the people at Armando’s Quality Meats have skill to spare. If you find yourself near the joy and bustle of the Granville Island Public Market swing by their meat counter and pick up some of their outstanding meat. It’s a treat you’ll sincerely enjoy. Eat well!
Recent posts
- Monday ,23 May, 2016 Act fast – here’s an early access sale for some interesting Jerky!
- Wednesday ,20 May, 2015 Review: The Greenhouse Tavern’s Artisanal Jerky Plate (A-)
- Tuesday ,11 November, 2014 Review: Golden Island All-Natural Chili Lime Beef Jerky (A-)
- Tuesday ,4 November, 2014 Review: Golden Island All-Natural Five Spice Beef Jerky (C+)
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