Beef jerky is difficult to chew and also difficult to photograph in a manner that makes it look appealing, even if you dig out an old copy of The Maine Woods to use as a backdrop.

Still, this “blackstrap jerk,” smoked over pecan shells and free of nitrates, preservatives, and artificial coloring, has a flavor that’s easy to appreciate: sweet, umami, primal. It came from a smokehouse in, well, the Maine woods (not the same Maine woods, different ones).

To explain SAT-style, this jerky:gas station jerky::Kelly Clarkson:Katy Perry.