Hunger Buster! Beef Sticks - Jalapeno

Hunger Buster! Beef Cut is a new brand of beef sticks produced by QuarterShare, LLC based out of Tulsa, OK. QuarterShare also makes the QuarterShare line of beef sticks and the Kratos line of sport snacks.

According to the company, what sets Hunger Buster! apart from the others is that they use 100% Midwest lean beef, is gluten free and sugar free (though this stick has brown sugar in the ingredients). They also limit the sodium content to no more than 250mg per stick. In keeping line with the QuarterShare company philosophy, Hunger Buster! gives back 25% of all sales to charities in the form of food.

Hunger Buster! beef sticks come in three flavors, this Jalapeno, an Original, and Smokey Sweet.

Ingredients

Beef, water, jalapeno pepper, sea salt, brown sugar, encapsulated citric acid, celery juice, black pepper, red pepper, garlic powder, coriander.

Taste

The first several bites into these sticks reveal a cleaner flavor than most leading brands of meat sticks. Not as oily or greasy as others. Immediately, there's a light spicy heat, enough to register as "mild-medium" on my personal heat scale (level 2 out of 5).

The dominant flavors in this Jalapeno variety is a tanginess along with the jalapeno falvor. The jalapeno has more of that pickled/marinated flavor than the fresh flavor. There's also that classic beef stick flavor of meat.

As far as the low sodium claims go, I'd have to agree that these sticks feel a little less salty than other brands of sticks, but not by much.

Meat Consistency

Each bite into a stick yields a very light crunch or snap of the casing. From there it's a soft, sausage-like chew with nothing stringy, unchewable or crunchy. It's also quite a clean handling beef stick, leaving only a light stickiness on my fingers.

These sticks are easy to bite through, easy to chew, and result in a smooth, meaty chewing.

Rating

I'm giving this a good rating.

This Jalapeno Hunger Buster! beef stick provides a tender, meaty chew with a tangy, spicy flavor of jalapenos, that will definitely bust that hunger without putting in a lot of calories and carbs. It has all the making of a quality meat stick, offering a light crunch when biting, an easy chew, with nothing but pure meat. It's also clean handling and even tastes clean too.

I do like the jalapeno flavor in this; I can definitely taste it unlike other brands where it can be hard to identify. I stayed away from going full five-stars because it didn't quite give me the "wow factor" that I need in a five-star rated product. Otherwise, it's a good stick worthy of a buy.

Rating: Good

Where to buy:

• Hy-Vee Stores, Price Chopper, Reasor's Foods (Oklahoma), Wal-Mart Sporting Goods (April 2014).

For more information:

• http://www.hungerbuster.com