Something to get all jerked up about 

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Debbie Regino, an employee at the iconic Whittington’s Jerky in Johnson City, hangs premium meat slices, that are cut with the grain, onto customized hangers that allows the smoke to easily pass through when it is sent into the brick smokehouses. � Photo by Mindy Poehl�

Jan. 26, 2006 - The name Whittington's is infamous to many people, and people often travel far and wide to get a taste of Whittington's jerky. With the main retail store located in Johnson City and a smaller store located in Fredericksburg, Whittington's Jerky is shipped across the world.

Whittington's Jerky has been open since 1963 and the owner, D.J. Whittington, was known as the "Jerky Man." 

"My father-in-law, D.J., owned the Johnson City locker plant. He did all of the slaughtering and processing for this area," Susan Whittington, owner of the store, said. "He won lots of awards and the one thing he was best known for was his jerky."

D.J. eventually sold the locker plant and sold all of his recipes, except the jerky recipe.

"We thought it'd be simplifying things if we specialized in jerky, but it did not," Susan Whittington said. "In 2000, we sold our products in eight stores. Now, were are sold in over 450 stores in the state and nation, and we are growing every day."

Whittington said they sell their products to buyers who are looking for a good quality jerky.

"It's a premium product. Consumers are asking for it," Whittington said. "Most of the time we outsell national brands. It takes lots of marketing on our part."

Whittington's jerky sells beef, turkey and pork jerky, and has seven different recipes.

"We sell turkey in case something happens in the beef industry. And pork was just a natural way to go," explained Whittington, whose favorite jerky is the original turkey.

The meat for the jerky is hand selected and made by hand.

"They find us the leanest cuts and we bring them here, hand cut them on a table, hang the pieces on customized hangers so the smoke goes through and through and smoke them in our brick smoke houses," Whittington said. 

D.J. designed the smoke houses that the Whittingtons still use to this day. The meat is smoked for 16 hours and is vacuum packed. 

"Vacuum packing is our preservative. Our list of ingredients is very short and we don't want you to taste preservatives," Whittington said. "Vacuum packing also gives our jerky a shelf life of eight to nine months."

Whittington's Jerky stores also sell unique Texas food items and gifts. They also make gift baskets that can be sent in the mail. The jerky sells for $7 for one-fourth of a pound. Whittington said they sell 3,200 to 6,400 pounds of jerky a week.

Susan and her husband, Sam, are the owners of the store, and they only employ 15 people.

"When we get big packages in, we call in a group of semi-retired women, called the "jerky girls" to help us. It's fun," Whittington said.

Whittington's is an icon in the Hill Country.

"It's got a wonderful history," said Whittington.

Their store performed deer processing for Lyndon B. Johnson and other dignitaries.

"We've seen so many different changes over the years. People visit the Hill Country from all over. I guess the longevity of our store, along with promoting it has opened us up nationally and worldwide," Whittington said. "We are still a mom and pop store and people love that. Other people's jerky isn't as good as our's because no one wants to put that much time and effort into it. We won't ever change our ways of making jerky."

For more information or to order your own jerky, visit whittingtonsjerky.com.