Funky’s Meat Snacks is a small batch snack brand that offers a wide variety of beef jerky, meat sticks, seasonings, condiments, and specialty snacks with a bold, playful personality. Founded by Debby Funk during the COVID era as an extension of her gift shop and embroidery business (www.embroideryboutiqueknox.com), the company began by launching its first meat snack flavors in 2022 and has since expanded into numerous savory and spicy offerings.
Funky’s Meat Snacks focuses on flavorful, handcrafted products such as Sweet Korean BBQ Beef Jerky, Tennessee Whiskey Beef Jerky, Cowboy Cut Honeyed Pepper Beef Jerky, jalapeño meat sticks, and salt and pepper jerky varieties. The brand emphasizes fun flavor combinations, eye catching branding, and snack experimentation while maintaining a homemade, independent business feel.
This Funky’s Meat Snacks brand is distributed under the same name Funky’s Meat Snacks, located in Knoxville, Tennessee. This jerky is manufactured by Boyd Specialties LLC, and is located in Colton, California, making this a stock recipe.
The next review on Funky’s Meat Snacks will focus on a 2 ounce/56 gram bag of their Sriracha Pepper flavored bacon jerky. This jerky was kindly submitted for review by Owner Debby Funk.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Uncured Bacon – No Nitrites or Nitrates Except Those Naturally Occurring In Cultured Celery Powder and Sea Salt (Pork, Water, Salt, Turbinado Sugar, Cultured Celery Powder, Sea Salt), Sriracha Style Sauce (Chili, Sugar, Salt, Garlic, Acetic Acid, Ground Garlic, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Bilsulfite as Preservatives, Xanthan Gum), Teriyaki Sauce (Soy Sauce (Water, Wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Wine (Contains Sulfites), Sugar, Water, Vinegar, Salt, Onion Powder, Spice Extractives, Succinic Acid, Garlic Powder), Ground Pepper, Granulated Garlic, Cayenne, Ginger. Allergen Warnings: Soy, Wheat
The pork is not guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to roam about outside. Uncured bacon is used, meaning the bacon was not preserved with nitrates or nitrites. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Very Good (9/10) rating.
The liquid marinade used here is comprised of an average brand of Sriracha style sauce and a decent brand of teriyaki sauce.
There are some healthy ingredients added, such as cayenne pepper, granulated garlic, black pepper, and ginger.
The sugar level is extremely high at 12 grams of sugar per 56 grams of jerky to lose a rating. Our preference is 4 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky for a hot based flavor. The salt level is high at 1280 grams of salt per 56 grams of jerky. However, the salt level is ignored because minimally processed sea salt is added.
This jerky qualifies to have no sodium nitrite or any other similar unhealthy preservative. Instead, salt is the main preservative used, along with cultured celery powder with its naturally occurring nitrates. Admirably, this jerky has no MSG added.
Good (8/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
FUNKY’S MEAT SNACKS- SRIRACHA PEPPER BACON JERKY
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I smell sweet, and not much else. I may actually pick up on a slight bacon smell as well, but it’s light. The strips of jerky look just like most other jerky, the strips are medium in both size and thickness. As per almost all bacon jerky, it is quite moist, and it leaves a fair amount of oily residue on your fingers.
As I bite into the jerky, I immediately pick up on a few very bold flavors. The salt, pepper, and heat all are coming out in spades. Intense salt, intense pepper, and an intense sriracha kick as well. The sweetness is prevalent, but not a deterrent. Mild sweetness, mild garlic, and it is very clearly a bacon jerky. This particular make and model of bacon jerky is most definitely a significant cut above most other bacon jerky flavors, where most jerky makers use far too much sugar in their bacon jerky.
Another thing I would like to add is that most bacon jerky is soft and limp, but this one has a far crisper texture than most. I can find absolutely no issues with this particular jerky. Therefore, I am awarding a rare 10/10, something I seldom do when it comes to bacon jerky. Gentlemen?
Here is what Mark had to say about this Sriracha Pepper beef jerky flavor from Funky’s Meat Snacks: “Thanks Paul for the enthusiastic taste review. The only point I disagree with is that the sweetness is at a mild level. In my opinion, the sweetness is at a moderate to strong level. So much that the texture takes on a ‘candied texture’, which is surprisingly effective with this Sriracha based flavor. The flavor is described as being ‘Sweet & Spicy’ after all. Paul is bang on stating that there is a kick to this flavor. The heat would rate at a 2 out of 4, or possibly a 3 out of 5 on the heat scale.”
“As Paul mentioned, you can definitely tell you are eating bacon jerky, which is downright delicious. The overall taste profile, while dominated by heat and sweetness, offers much, much more. The familiar taste of soy sauce is in the background but by no means dominates the flavor, which is enhanced by an interesting blend of spices. Of all bacon jerky reviewed over the past 11+ years, this is my favorite flavor. A slam dunk, no brainer, unanimous Excellent (10/10) taste rating will be awarded. Take a bow Funky’s Meat Snacks, a very enthusiastic two thumbs up!!👍👍”
This 2 ounce/56 gram bag of jerky sells online for $10.00. That works out to $5.00 an ounce, which rates as an expensive price.
Expensive (10/10) – Taste Rating
Bag Review
This resealable plastic bag has a label affixed to the front and nothing on the back. The logo depicts owner Debby Funk introducing Funky’s Meat Snacks.
There are no slogans printed on this bag. Some facts printed on this bag are “Sweet & Spicy” and “Made in the U.S.A.”.
The only missing bag category is a blurb about this jerky or flavor. You are encouraged to follow Funky’s Meat Snacks on Instagram.
Order their jerky online: www.funkyssnacks.net
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