Western's Smokehouse Snack Sticks

Western's Smokehouse has been in business since 1978, when it was founded by Sam Western, a man who built a career as a butcher. Originally starting as a local meat market, Western's Smokehouse struck it rich when it introduced it's first meat stick, "Western's Hot Dogs".

Renaming them to "Snack Sticks", the company expanded to meet demand by building a larger facility. Production of snack sticks remains as the company's primary focus today.

In addition to these 1 ounce sized snack sticks, Western's also offers them in 2 ounce sizes called, "Big'un" as well as a line of natural snack sticks, both of which we'll review later.

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Crazy Horse Jerky - Million Dollar Bacon Jerky

Crazy Horse Jerky recently developed their own Bacon Jerky. They sent us a sample for review.

Unlike other bacon jerky brands, Crazy Horse uses thick chunks of bacon opposed to thin strips. They use a hickory smoked bacon from a local butcher, cut into bite-sized chunks, then smother it with their blend of sweet & spicy seasonings. To finish it off, it's baked in a convection oven.

Crazy Horse Jerky is based out of Hellam, PA, run by Dave Wenrich and Cara Wenrich. The brand is known for its real wood smoked jerky, smoked in an old walk-in smoker, hand-crafted and small-batched in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

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Trader Joe's - Sweet Sriracha Uncured Bacon Jerky

Trader Joe's recently released a new flavor of uncured bacon jerky, "Sweet Sriracha".

Dubbed, "a sweet & spicy way to dress up thick, flavorful uncured bacon", it's yet another in a long line of snack foods paired with up the famous Thai condiment.

I had review Trader Joe's jerky years ago and found that I wasn't really a fan. But that was years ago. The brand has revamped its jerky line with cool new flavor ideas.

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Shiner's Stash Jerky - Bacon & Swiss

Shiner's Stash Jerky is a brand launched by Swen Altis, based out of Conover, NC. Marketed with the tagline, "Made in the foothills of North Carolina", Altis started Shiner's Stash in 2016 after a successful career as an executive chef, working in professional sports for major league baseball teams, hockey teams, and football teams.

Shiner's Stash uses 100% Prime Beef Eye-Round & Pork Loin, sliced thick and cut against the grain. They make all their jerky themselves, in their own USDA inspected facility, as opposed to contracting it out to a co-packer. They currently have 19 varieties of beef and pork jerky.

This Bacon & Swiss variety is described by company as a combination of, "leanest of Choice beef, Applewood Smoked Bacon, & Swiss", going on to say that its their, "Golden Seal of jerky".

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Dusty's Snack Sticks

Dusty's Snack Sticks is a brand owned by R&K Snacks out of Oklahoma City, OK. R&K Snacks is a jerky distributor that's been around for 23 years now, and is one of the largest beef jerky distributors in the State of Oklahoma, representing 24 different brands.

Dusty's Snack Sticks is the house brand of R&K Snacks. Dusty's is made using R&K's own original recipes in a USDA inspected facility. It's offered in four flavors, Original, Habanero, Peppered, and Bacon.

These snack sticks are distributed across the USA, presumably with heavier concentration in the Oklahoma area, and are available in convenience stores and can be purchased online.

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Jeff's Famous Jerky - Maple Brown Sugar Bacon

The guys at Jeff's Famous Jerky sent us packages of their Maple Brown Sugar Bacon Jerky for review. Read our previous reviews of Jeff's Famous Jerky.

Jeff's Famous Jerky officially opened for business in 2010 and is owned and operated by Jeff's Famous Foods, Inc., led by founder Jeff Richards and CFO Mike Aggarwal, out of Mission Viejo, CA. The company offers ten flavors of jerky, all hormone-free, American beef (or bacon), without added MSG or preservatives.

This Maple Brown Sugar Bacon Jerky is the company's flagship flavor in their bacon jerky line, and according to the is, "...perfectly perfectly highlighted with a light Maple Brown Sugar flavor that is sure to delight anyone who loves bacon." They go on to say that they use 100% real maple syrup.

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Jeff's Famous Jerky - Sweet Lemon Pepper Bacon

Jeff's Famous Jerky recently launched a line of Bacon Jerky, with their latest flavor being this Sweet Lemon Pepper. See the previous review of his Honey Jalapeno Bacon Jerky.

Jeff's Famous Jerky is led by Jeff Richards of Mission Viejo, CA. Jeff has been making beef jerky since the 1970s. His love for cooking took him into the restaurant business for over 20 years. In 2006 he started working on creating his own beef jerky brand, and just last year saw the launch of his new company.

This Sweet Lemon Pepper Bacon Jerky is described as having been 5-years in the making, said to be crisp like real bacon but without all the grease.

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Mike's Jerky - Bacon Flavored

Mike's Jerky recently released some new flavors, and graciously sent samples to us for review. See all of our previous reviews of Mike's Jerky.

This Bacon flavored jerky is actually a beef jerky seasoned to taste like bacon.

Mike's Jerky is a brand of Old World Beef Company based out of Albuquerque, NM. The company was started by Mike and Brenda Grier in 2008. The couple had been making jerky for many years and were always told that they ought to go into business selling it, except they were already busy running an RV dealership. But when the bad economy hit, their dealership went out of business, and that cleared the way for them to start Old World Beef Company.

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Jeff's Famous Jerky - Honey Jalapeno Bacon Jerky

The newest offering from Jeff's Famous Jerky is this Honey Jalapeno Bacon Jerky. Read our previous reviews of Jeff's Famous Jerky.

Jeff's Famous Jerky is led by Jeff Richards of Mission Viejo, CA. Jeff has been making beef jerky since the 1970s. His love for cooking took him into the restaurant business for over 20 years. In 2006 he started working on creating his own beef jerky brand, and just last year saw the launch of his new company.

This Honey Jalapeno Bacon Jerky is described as having been 5-years in the making, said to be crisp like real bacon but without all the grease.

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Lawless Jerky - Bacon Salt & Pepper

Lawless Jerky recently introduced some new flavors, and among them is this Bacon Salt & Pepper variety. See our reviews of their other flavors.

The company was created by a licensed attorney named Matthew Tolnick of Santa Monica, CA. He started making jerky during his days in college when he and his fraternity boys needed sustenance through long evenings of studying. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Tolnick moved Lawless Jerky forward as a fulltime business, producing jerky in a USDA inspected facility.

This Bacon Salt & Pepper is described by Tolnick as using soy-based bacon bits with kosher salt and black pepper.

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