I've been chewing on this review for awhile. The supermarket had a sale on the 2 pound bag of Sugar River "Original Spicy Snack Sticks, Ends and Pieces" and I've been munching on it for a few weeks. Also, we recently stopped in at the organic food store to get some good stuff for my infant daughter. They had a meat-less soy snack called "Jerquee" and some grass fed beef sticks by Thousand Hills Cattle Company. I choose the beef sticks...duh.
Thousand Hills Cattle Company
Cannon Falls, MN
Uncured Beef Sticks (Original and Minnesota Spice flavors)
Noteworthy ingredients: 100% Grass Fed Beef
Taste: Just not much flavor. Kinda like summer sausage. The "Minnesota Spice" variety has some black and red pepper, but it doesn't add much the the experience.
Texture: Soft casing. Texture is quite wet when I first opened the package. Because it is uncured, this must always be refrigerated. I let it sit in the fridge for more than a week to help it dry age a little. Also, texture was occasionally grisly, with those slimy things getting stuck in my teeth.
Overall: "No Nitrites of Nitrates Added. Except for the naturally occurring nitrates in celery juice and sea salt." I appreciate the good intentions of this product, but it wasn't very good. I'm throwing away the rest of them.
Sugar River Meats
New Glarus, WI
Original Spicy Snack Sticks, Ends and Pieces
Noteworthy ingredients: Beef, Mechanically Separated Chicken, Molasses Powder, Rice Bran Isolate or Rice Flour
Taste: Very similar to a Slim Jim. The flavor intensifies as you chew, as if you are grinding it down to its essence. The molasses adds a pleasant aroma.
Texture: Papery casing. Again, similar to a Slim Jim, but a little more substantial. Consistent, dry, firm texture. I wonder if the Rice Bran/Flour contributes to its dry consistency?
Overall: So this is alot like a Slim Jim, but without the sleaziness of a strip joint. It is cut into 1-2 inch pieces and its easy to keep nibbling on just one more piece. That I've rationed it to last a few weeks is quite an accomplishment.
The Verdict: Sugar River wins big.
Have you tried either of these? Let us know what you think of them in the comments.
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I picked up a bag of these, not really knowing what they were. in the shrink wrapped package, they didn't really look like much.
ReplyDeleteThe price was good, Even if they turned out to be doggy treats, so, I picked them up. I'm glad I did! They taste a lot like a slim jim, and I like slim jims. good find!
I bought a 2lb bag of the Sugar River snack sticks, what a fucking bargain. I wish I would have bought a few more bags. $3. What a deal. haha
ReplyDeleteI buy 2 pound bags locally here in Maine for $4.95. Wat a GREAT deal. Taste just like Slim Jims, except no where near as fatty and greasy.
ReplyDeleteGreat product!
Sadly, I'm addicted to the Sugar River "Ends and Pieces!" I just can't get enough of them! And 2 lbs. for $4.95 I just can't pass it up!
ReplyDeletewhere is this company? i bought some of these at a gun show and wish i would have bought a semi truck load ...how can i find more?
ReplyDeleteYes I have my husband got it at the Gun Show in Hickory. PLEASE PLEASE tell me how to order some more? Please he got the Original Spicy 2 lbs. bag. Thanks Wanda
ReplyDeletefound a 2lb. pkg at our Wise Buys $9.98 and under store here in roseville, ca....around $5.00...I had to do a double take to make sure I didn't have a bag of dog treats...hehe...they wash down well with a cold brewski...
ReplyDeleteSugar river used to be the best but they r really greasy now. I've bought 2 packages and both got fed to the dog there quality control is slacking or they just don't care anymore. I'll never buy em again put the whole bag in a Ziploc put it in the fridge and come back a few hours later and there is an inch and a half of grease along the whole bottom of the Ziploc and they all r in one grease chunk just nasty I really want my money back does anyone reading this have a number or any info on how to get ahold of sugar river
ReplyDeletePicked up a 2lb package at Cabelas for 10 bucks. Not impressed with the greasy/mealy texture and hot-dog flavor. Strangely, this bag of ends and pieces contained long, up to approx 5 inch pieces. I wonder of they are all packaged this way but called ends and pieces to fool buyers into thinking they are getting a great deal on some wonderful food, in the same way you can buy Gouda cheese or thick-cut pepper bacon ends and chunks.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the recent comments - these things are nasty. My daughter tried one and won't eat another one. They are dry, tasteless with a paper-like casing. I actually ended up with big pieces of casing that I had to spit out.
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across this site looking for their website to contact them about how disappointed I was in this product.
I saw them for the first time at Cabella's last week for 10 bucks. Although they looked kinda good, I was hesitant to buy them for that price, because I was afraid I might not like them and have a 2 pound bag of trash that I paid 10 bucks for.
ReplyDeleteSo yesterday I am in Sportman's Warehouse, and I see them for $6.99, plus it happened to be 10% off everything weekend. So I buy a bag.
I agree with others that they taste like Slim Jims. I would probably recommend these maybe for hunting or gatherings of friends type activities, but not for one person. They will make you sick if you eat more than a few of them at a time, and a 2 pound bag is a lot. Just too greasy, salty, preservative-rich and unhealthy for one person to be eating out of a two pound bag.
Found them at Cabella on our Arizona trip. I found this site while looking up where we could buy more! Enough said.
ReplyDeleteWE LOVE SUGAR RIVER! I buy the Sugar River Beef and Pork Snack Sticks Ends & Pieces. They come in a 2lb package and are really good! I do have some difficulty finding them available all the time, so I do stock up and store them in the freezer when I can find them on sale especially! I get them on sale for $4.99 for the 32 ounce package. My only issue is that the do tend to be a bit greasy, but I resolve this issue by spreading them out onto paper towels and wiping off the excess. Takes a little work, but SO WORTH THE EFFORT! I then store them in a zip-lock bag in the fridge. They taste similar to a "Slim Jim", and for me at least, are not as "spicy".
ReplyDeleteI love "Sugar River" beef sticks! We got a bag of them for Christmas this year, and they didn't last long in our family of four. Highly recommended!
ReplyDeleteThey sell Sugar River here in Maine for about $4.99 per 2lb bag. They also sell these special "Pepperoni" sticks, also 2lb, for $6.99. I tried a few a year and a half ago and bought another recently, but I'm not sure what to think.
ReplyDeletePrimarily, I'm concerned with the ingredients. Being a scavenger, though, it's hard to turn most anything down. Some chemical in the beef/mechanically separated chicken stick just makes my mouth explode in an unnatural way. Hurts the teeth to chew on for too long, as well. It also seems ridiculous that there is so much fat in them. I agree with the above posters about finding entire pieces of casing.
On the other hand, the Pepperoni Sticks, which I haven't tried yet, looked enticing but equally revolting. I have never seen so much grease in my life. I picked up a bag and literally got slimy grease on my hands -- through the plastic.
I would recommend avoiding Sugar River snacks because of how addictive they are, even if you're not the biggest fan of the flavor. It feels like my gums swell and that can't be good. The food contains the coloring Carmine, which is made from ground up insects, and an impressive host of preservatives. I do agree that dogs would probably love it. Again, they can be really rough on the teeth. I cut my gums trying to get pieces of meat un-stuck.
These are fucking nasty!! The meat tastes greasy/fatty,, and the meat skins are not chewable! I ate 6 pieces and wound up with a chunk of un-chewable chunk of sawdust shit in my mouth! I will never recommend,, nor purchase,, this shit again. DISGUSTING!!
ReplyDeleteThese ar fucking gross! I swear they are made or cow brains and cow hooves! When I'm done puking I'm throwing the entire package in the trash! OMG my ex could cook better than this,, and she could burn water!
ReplyDeleteThese things are nasty is 100% correct taste like grease and can't chew the skin would never recomend anyone to buy this product!
ReplyDeleteWhere can we buy these in iowa?
ReplyDeleteIn the midwest, Rural King stores have them, and they're on sale this week (Feb 16-22, 2014) for $3.99/2 lb. bag.
ReplyDeletevery interesting post.this is my first time visit here.i found so mmany interesting stuff in your blog especially its discussion..thanks for the post!
ReplyDeletepaleovalley beef sticks reviews
I like the product of sugar River ends and pieces. I just don’t understand why so much oil. In my opinion it’s not a snack food when you need several napkins just wipe the dripping grease off your hands . Without an exaggeration I could probably get a teaspoon of fat from one little piece. It taste good but the grease is ridiculous .
ReplyDelete