10 Chomps Grass-Fed Jerky Sticks Ranked
Pete Maldonado grew up digging the quick and easy, sweet and savory, on-the-go treats found in convenience stores like beef jerky sticks. In his adult life, he became a personal trainer and started training his eyes on food labels. Maldonado and business partner, Rashid Ali, were dismayed that the beef jerky stick offerings that were on the market seemed a little too manufactured. In 2012 they went into business for themselves, introducing Chomps. They were hoping to provide a new bite on an old favorite, but one using only the highest quality of ingredients and sustainably sourced proteins while leaving out all the bad stuff.
At first, there was one simple beef stick, but as fans started to flock to eat up more and more of these Chomps, the company expanded, adding new flavors to service these ever-hungry Chompions. Today, there are 10 flavors, wrapped up and packaged in a beautiful array of rainbow colors you can choose from. The fine folks at Chomps gave us samples of each, and we're here to tell you which are the Chompiest of the Chomps, and which are, perhaps, chumps.
Read more: 15 Tips For Making The Best Meatloaf
Salt & Pepper Venison
You had us at "salt and pepper," and then you kind of lost us when we saw the word "venison" on this stormy dark gray cloud of a wrapper. With an aroma that was more gamey than we would have liked, a bite of this flavor reveals a meat stick more reminiscent of a soft, thin salami than a beef stick.
The Salt & Pepper Venison stick does contain the three mentioned ingredients, including both black and red pepper, sea salt, and 100% grass-fed venison. Even though garlic powder and celery juice are also at play here, none of the ingredients really adds up to register much of a flavor profile worth remembering. These ones are purely for the intersection on the Venn diagram where fans of Chomps meet "venison or bust" carnivores. Perhaps this stick makes for a great snack in the forest during hunting season.
Original Turkey
The thought of chomping on a turkey meat stick conjures up thoughts of leaves blowing through the air on a windy autumn day while standing on the sidelines, watching a friendly game of neighborhood football. It's a nice thought, and so is the sound of only 60 calories in this whole stick (Chomps' venison and beef sticks have 90 to 100 calories). The brand has its turkey meat sourced from a family-owned farm in Minnesota that raises the birds without antibiotics or growth promotants in a free-range setting.
Peeling back the Original Turkey's plastic, we notice the stick has an orange rind smell to it, but we're not sure if the wrapper of the same color has any influence on that. One of the biggest differences between the turkey sticks and beef ones is the chewing consistency. The beef ones tend to be juicier, making for easier, tender bites, while the turkey ones are tougher for the teeth and have drier meat inside the casing.
Since this Original Turkey is the simplest of all the Chomps turkey sticks, it therefore has nothing much to spice up and disguise the fact that it's just not on the same level with the beef sticks. Knowing how awesome Chomps' line of beef sticks is, it's hard to ignore that the turkey ones feel like they're constantly bringing up the rear in this 10-stick catalog.
Habanero Beef
As the only Chomps product listed with a spice level of three, notated by three balls of fire on the label, the Habanero Beef flavor looks and sounds like one stick you should proceed to eat with great caution. However, its cool fuchsia packaging tells a different story, suggesting that there may be a spark within, but perhaps not one that will fully engulf you in flames.
With this Chomp having no discernible smell, there's an air of mystery of what a bite may taste like, but knowing this one hails from the beef family, it will at least have that going for it. Visible red specks of habanero peppers can be seen inside the meat, and chomping down on this Chomp reveals a lingering tinge of heat. While the spice is nothing that would sound off a three-alarm fire, there is enough of a kick here that it neutralizes the taste of beef in the stick. No water is required to accompany this one, which debuted in 2023, but keep an eye on that high sodium count, which logs in at 380 milligrams, compared with 290 milligrams for most of the other flavors.
Pepperoni Seasoned Turkey
Out of all the Chomp meat sticks on the market, not a single one of them is pork-based. But if you want to cheat the system, you should give the Pepperoni Seasoned Turkey variety a try. Wrapped in a sunny orange package, this stick that came to be in 2021 reveals itself to have both a citrusy aroma and one that matches its namesake — pepperoni.
Once we get past the usual tough nature and dry composition of this turkey stick, the added fuel of anise seed, chili pepper, fennel seed, and oregano help to elevate this snack from ordinary to tasty. The Pepperoni Seasoned Turkey stick has a sneaky smoky taste to it with a nice, peppery kick that pops up at the end of a bite. While we await for Chomps to release the real McCoy, a porky pepperoni stick, this turkey-based one will do just fine.
Jalapeño Turkey
While the Pepperoni Seasoned Turkey stick proved that turkey could be an enjoyable snack option, if flavored right, the jalapeño version that was introduced in 2018 takes that notion another step further. The lime green wrapper here signals go, as in go right ahead and give it a try. Fans of turkey will be thrilled with it, and those who lean more on the beefy end of sticks won't be disappointed.
With real jalapeño peppers encased in this stick -- bits of its dark green skin can be seen mixed inside -- this one not only kicks it up a notch but also provides quite a kick. While the Habanero Beef didn't fully impress because the heat overwhelmed the rest of the stick, this Jalapeño Turkey one hits just the right level of spiciness. That makes it not only the best of the turkey bunch, but also a super solid stick that anyone should grab.
Taco Seasoned Beef
The Taco Seasoned Beef is a true standout flavor over all its brethren because no other one is remotely similar to it. All the other flavors have some common bond that lends itself to comparison to another, but this south of the border flavor is a fiesta all its own. That's quite an accomplishment for a new flavor that isn't even a year old.
It's pretty in purple packaging, and when the Taco Seasoned Beef stick is unleashed from it, it's as if a packet of actual taco seasoning has arrived on the scene. This stick itself has an orange tint to it, and that is due in part to the utilization of paprika, which allows the color to permeate and adds to the meat stick's uniqueness. Chew after chew, it starts to feel less like a beef stick and more like tackling a compacted bowl of delicious room-temperature chili. Perhaps this one could be dipped in sour cream or served with a side of cornbread.
Jalapeño Beef
The Jalapeño Turkey stick proved to be best of the turkey bunch, and so when all of the same ingredients -- the one exception was swapping out cultured celery powder for celery juice -- got the beef treatment, you know we're in for a treat. This one also has bits of jalapeño physically present on the inside, and the mild spice it provides assists in giving the Jalapeño Beef stick a peppy punch to try again and again. We're not sure if this flavor is the same as the Chomps' old one that once went by the name Hoppin' Jalapeño, but if it is, it's one of the oldest in the catalog, going as far back as 2015.
We actually were on the fence for quite awhile in trying to rank this one compared with the Taco Seasoned Beef stick. The two sticks run close, not necessarily in taste, but definitely in likability. Ultimately, we gave the nod to the Jalapeño Beef for its slightly more approachable flavor. Since Chomps incorporates jalapeño quite well, we're now beginning to wonder if the lowly venison one would be better served with a pep of that pepper.
Original Beef
Anytime the word "original" appears in a product's name, you get a sense that this is where it all began. That is certainly the case with Chomps' Original Beef stick, although it was initially known as "Original Flavor." As the first product that caught on for the company, it became such a torchbearer that it led to more and more flavors that try their best to follow in its footsteps. But when you want to get back to square one and recommend just one stick as a best example for the brand, the Original Beef is the one to shout out and hand out.
Most people used to think of the Slim Jim brand when a beef stick came to mind, but Chomps' Original Beef would like to have a word on that topic, and it rightfully deserves a seat at that thought table. Even if you didn't know the more natural and ethical background of how this stick got from farm to mouth, there's no denying that in the world of beef sticks, this is one stick to reckon with. Simple, beefy, and with a light salt taste, the Original Beef should now be the standard to come to mind first and foremost.
Sea Salt Beef
As we just discussed, since there is such greatness in the simplicity of the Original Beef stick, it's hard to even imagine how one could improve upon such a solid product. Well, in 2019, Chomps took another simple step forward, expanding on its original flavor and upping its sea salt quotient. It's worth noting, though, that both flavors register the same 290 milligrams of sodium.
The ingredients between the Original Beef and Sea Salt don't appear to be all that different, although this latter one is one of the few Chomps sticks devoid of coriander as an ingredient. The flavor difference between the two is pretty subtle, and in a blind taste test, it may be hard to tell them apart. Still, the Sea Salt stick, which has an enticing odor of soy sauce, has just a little extra oomph to make it the next best thing.
Italian Style Beef
With an aroma of tomatoes and ingredients that include ground oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and ground basil meshed into the beef, the Italian Style Beef stick feels like a Sunday family dinner over at Nonna's house, where she has been busy cooking up this beauty all day long. This savory Italian Style Beef flavor tastes like bits of sausage one might find in a favorite pasta sauce, but the stick allows you to eat it completely mess free.
The Italian Style Beef made its debut in 2019, alongside the Sea Salt Beef stick, and that's proving to be quite the banner year for Chomps flavors. Seven years into the company's existence, it was able to outdo its solid Original Beef flavor. In our minds, this Italian Style Beef stick measures up as the best of the best. Buy this tasty dazzler early and often. Bravo, Chomps!
Read the original article on Daily Meal.
