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, which is located in Colton, California, making this a stock recipe.
The next review on Funky’s Meat Snacks will focus on a 2.5 ounce/71 gram bag of their Sweet Korean Barbecue flavored beef jerky. This jerky was kindly submitted for review by Owner Debby Funk.
Ingredient Review
Ingredients: Beef, Tamari Sauce (Water, Sugar, Soybeans, Salt), White Sugar, Brown Sugar, Sesame Oil, Honey, Garlic Puree (Garlic, Citric Acid), Granulated Garlic, Granulated Onion, Sesame Seeds, Green Onion, Ground Black Pepper, Liquid Hickory Smoke (Water, Liquid Hickory Smoke Flavor), Ground Ginger, Mustard Powder, Allspice. Allergen Warnings: Soy, Sesame
This beef used is not guaranteed to be free of growth hormones or additional antibiotics. Also, the beef is not guaranteed to have at least partial free range access to graze on grass. As a result, the highest ingredient rating that can be awarded is a Good (8/10) rating.
The liquid marinade used here is comprised of a good gluten-free tamari soy sauce, healthy honey, very healthy sesame oil, and liquid hickory smoke.
Multiple healthy ingredients are added, including garlic puree, granulated garlic, granulated onion, sesame seeds, green onion, ground black pepper, ground ginger, mustard powder, and allspice.
The sugar level is extremely high at 11 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky to lose a rating. For a sweet based flavor as we have here, our preference is 5 grams of sugar per 28 grams of jerky. The salt level is high at 590mg of salt per 28 grams of jerky to lose another rating. Our preference is 350mg of salt or less per 28 grams of jerky.
This jerky qualifies to have no sodium nitrite, or any other similar unhealthy preservative. Instead, salt is the main preservative used. With more kudos to Funky’s Meat Snacks, this jerky has no MSG added.
Alright (6/10) – Ingredient Rating
Taste Review
FUNKY’S MEAT SNACKS – SWEET KOREAN BBQ BEEF JERKY
Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker
When I open the bag I smell sweet. I remember previous Korean BBQ flavors to be rather sweet, and it concerns me that this flavor is advertised as a “sweet” Korean BBQ flavor. The strips are medium sized and sliced rather thin. The jerky is soft as heck, and flimsy and full of marinade. My fingers are getting pretty oily from all the residue.
When I bite into the jerky, I taste mild salt, mild pepper, and garlic, and an intense, and I mean intense, sweet connotation, which I am NOT enjoying. I am also tasting some of the nuts, or rather nut oil, which is distributed throughout the jerky. I am NOT a fan.
Not only is this flavor too d*mn sweet, but it is also too nutty tasting. I can go no higher than a 6/10, I am truly disappointed with this flavor. Too sweet, too soft, and too nutty tasting. Gentlemen?
Here is what Mark had to say about this Sweet Korean Barbecue beef jerky flavor from Funky’s Meat Snacks: “Thanks Paul for the honest taste review. My experience with this flavor was quite different, as I totally enjoyed it. Yes, it’s true that this flavor is sweet tasting, which is expected for a Korean BBQ flavor, especially with ‘Sweet’ in the flavor name. One could easily argue though that the sweetness goes overboard. The nutty flavor is sesame seeds and oil at a bold level, which I am a huge fan of. On the other side, I can see why that aspect would put off somebody who is not a sesame fan.”
“The natural beef flavor has no hint of tasting processed. The soft texture is a non-factor, with Paul biased toward tough, dry textures. Plus, the beef is brisket, widely recognized as the best cut of beef for absorbing marinade. I thoroughly enjoyed this Korean BBQ flavor, though it tasted too sweet. With Paul at a 6 and myself at a 9, a Good (8/10) taste rating will be awarded.”
This 2.5 ounce/71 gram bag of jerky sells online for $10.00. That works out to $4.00 an ounce, which rates as an average price.
Bag Review
This black, 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.
No slogans are printed on this bag. Some facts printed on this bag are “Made in the U.S.A.”, “Sweet”, and “Natural Smoke Flavor Added”.
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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