Majority of the American population love chips for snacks. In fact in a list of the most popular snacks in America, chips are the majority, click here. However, chip snacks have recently found a competition in the presence of meat snacks in the market. In every American household, chips are easy to find, but currently its popularity has slowly gone down and meat sticks are on the rise. Meat sticks have been produced way before but due to the slow growth of its market, the meat stick industry has not flourished, not until 2017 when the market retails sales on it dramatically went up. This goes to say that people really love meat sticks, where choices range from beef, pork, games, and venison,.
One factor that had a huge effect on the boom of the meat snack industry was the development of machines that helps in mass production of the products. In the past, making meat sticks was mostly manual, including cutting them. Also, it had a slow growth in the market. Due to the very manual process production was less so it does not reach out to many customers, but mostly it was confined to the local market only.
Large scale processors were very cautious in putting out an investment that would have helped in mass production due to its slow growth in the market. Today, it is different. Meat snacks are a fad and it has become the favorite snack of the American population today.
Are meat sticks good for you?
Meat snacks are made from beef, pork, game, venison. Since they are made from real meat, they are packed with nutrients, protein being the most known. Most meat snacks are made from lean cuts of meat meticulously processed and packed to ensure that these can be stored and are good food for everybody.
Snacks for School
Chips and crackers may have been outdated; meat sticks are now the favorite school snacks for kids. Mommies have been choosing these over chips and crackers. Mothers are now conscious of what their children eats, even when they are in school. Mothers are also carefully reading food labels now more than ever, and since meat snacks contain a lot of nutrients such as protein, they contain healthy fats, and also include good levels of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc and omega-3s; they have surpassed chips and crackers in children’s snack boxes nowadays. Meat snacks have become a convenient way of introducing these nutrients to kids. https://www.eatthismuch.com/food/nutrition/beef-sticks,4679/ listed the nutrients found in a beef stick.
Best for Hikers
Meat snacks are also convenient source of protein for hikers and mountain climbers. It is perfect for this kind of activity where energy is much necessary and lightweight carry-ons are of an advantage. Meat snacks are lightweight, there are some manufacturers that pack them individually, they are high in protein and sodium; protein boosts energy and sodium regulates body hydration. One has just to be careful with expiration dates though.
Are Meat Sticks Palatable to the Taste Buds?
You must be wondering if it would taste as good as potato chips. Potato chips really taste good but meat snacks taste good, too. Processing these snacks included marinating, smoking, spices such as garlic, pepper, brown sugar, fruit flavors, and a lot more other spices depending on the producers. These are made of lean meat, beef, pork, venison, turkey, etc., with a little fat that enhances flavors even more and makes it juicy. Some manufacturers can make them as good and as tasteful with salami-like and chorizo-like flavors. Most of these snacks are marinated for a period of time so the flavors seep into the meet, before smoking. The smoke adds more flare to the marinated meat.
DIY Meat Snacks
This is one kind of snack that you can do at home if you have the interest in the kitchen. Making your own mean snack is the best way of getting the flavors that would satisfy you most. You can add more spices, and experiment on flavors to your liking. Doing this at home does not necessarily mean you would need to acquire special equipment, an oven will do; no need for a food dehydrator or smoker, if you do not have them at home.
Choosing the meat for your DIY meat snacks is important, the meat has to be tender and the most lean you can find. Fat in meats cannot be preserved, it will turn your meat snack rancid quickly, and you cannot store it for a longer time, meaning it is not a good choice if you plan on making these for a hike.
The meat must be thinly sliced for best results. TO be able to do this, you do not really need a cutter, just freeze the meat so it is easier to cut it into thin slices.
And since people fancy having meat stick snacks here and there, you can probably make money out of your own homemade meat snacks if you would like to do some entrepreneurship once you have find your own flavor. Who knows, doing it once or twice at home will lead you to doing business later on. Remember, meat snacks started from kitchens of small houses before it became to be the big business that it is today.
