The Popular Store-Bought Meat Stick Brand That Ranked Dead Last In Our Taste Test

At their most basic, meat sticks provide a satisfying hit of fat, salt, and an enjoyable chew (which makes for a fun road trip snack). And at their best, meat sticks can taste beefy, savory, and have a good, but not-too-tough bite to them. During our ranking of 12 store-bought meat sticks, we found that one unfortunate brand sank straight to the bottom, and it's an absolute guarantee you're familiar with the one I'm about to reveal to you.

That would be none other than Slim Jim. This surprised us too. Our taste tester had nothing but rough things to say about it, writing, "I'll admit that I wasn't able to swallow the bite I took from this unholy meat stick. I'd never tasted anything that embodied culinary hubris with quite the greasy, sweet, unidentifiable flavor of a Slim Jim." 

But that wasn't all. They continued, "A slick fattiness coated my tongue, followed by an unpleasant flavor that I can only describe as stale meat, two words that should never be together outside of a compost pile."

Those are rough words describing the brand you immediately think of when it comes to meat sticks, especially the one that perpetually lives as an impulse buy at the checkout counter. Sure, they're clearly still hot sellers, but when they're compared to other products on the market, anything is better than a Slim Jim.

You might be wondering what the difference between meat sticks and jerky is, then. Meat sticks are typically made with a seasoned ground meat that's stuffed into a casing and often smoked, while beef jerky comes from a whole slice of meat that's been marinated, cured, and then dried. Because you're essentially getting thinly sliced, whole-muscle cut meat without its natural moisture, beef or various types of jerky will almost certainly cost you more per ounce. 

That being said, some people prefer meat sticks over jerky for various reasons, one of them being the texture. Meat sticks are much easier to chew, thanks to the fact that they involve ground meat, though lots of people enjoy the lingering bite of jerky. Meat sticks can also contain more fat than beef jerky, as fat can go rancid during the jerky drying process. So it's mostly a matter of preference; if you like something with a fattier mouthfeel and an easier bite, meat sticks might be your thing. If you want something to gnaw on so you can enjoy it for longer, then jerky's your best bet.

If you are going to go the meat stick route, Slim Jim isn't our recommendation, but if you peruse the shelves, there are plenty of options these days. We say ditch the one that you think of when you think of meat sticks, because even though it's tried, we don't consider it necessarily true.