Jack Link’s Sasquatch Hot Furious Big Sticks Review

Jack Link’s Sasquatch Hot Furious Big Sticks have appeared recently at my local convenience store. I’ve tried a few of these since. These have slightly more meat than the monster-sized 1.94 ounce Slim Jims, I love the bigger, 2.2-ounce size, including this hot-spiced version. I believe that the Sasquatch line is intended to compete with Slim Jim’s Monster series.

While this flavor, like all the other Jack Links snacks is a highly processed, highly seasoned beef stick, these flavorful treats nonetheless, completely stop hunger pangs during the work afternoon. Plus, the Jack Link Sasquatch-sized flavors are a great night-time snack to enjoy when it’s too early to go to bed but too late to eat anything really heavy. But watch out for the extra heat in this Hot Furious beef stick, as they’re quite sizzling on the tongue and I think that they may upset sensitive stomachs if eaten too late in the evening.

The heat of that pervasive kick taste is lightning-speed apparent in the first bite as I munch on one of these while jotting down these thoughts. Like Slim Jim’s Jalapeno Monster beef stick, the mouth heat is much more noticeable here than in the more mild Tabasco flavor sticks. These Dare jalapeno beef snacks taste much more like the original flavor Jack Links than did the Slim Jim Tabasco ones, and more like a hot Mexican taco salad. Thus, the Sasquatch Hot Furious sticks distinguish themselves from the original flavored Sasquatches. So do not eat these if you’re seeking that original smoked beef flavor. Now this stick still sports a mildly smoked flavor and aroma. But the heat dominates way more than the more mild, smokehouse taste.

Benefits, Advantages, Features, and Pros

Kids love these snack treats, which is nice since they have far less added sugar than candy bars or other sweet confections. However, some children may cry at the kick, and kick back at you for serving it. Many children though, are not repelled at all by the bit of extra jalapeno pepper warmth in this Hot Furious flavor.
This product makes little mess of the child’s clothing and hands, although you may have to wipe off the oily juice that sometimes oozes from the really fresh sticks.
These big stick snacks are much hotter, though less chewy than beef jerky. While I enjoy jerky chew and strips occasionally, I also like the often more diverse and modern, abroad-tastes of Jack Link’s Sasquatch flavors without having to open and close my jaw so many times, just to swallow the beefy morsel without it sticking in my throat.
Indeed, Jack Link sticks are way easier to chew up and swallow than beef jerky, and that’s true even with the extra heat of these Hot Furious snacks.
This hotter variation of the Sasquatch snack from Jack Link sticks, still matches the original-flavor in terms of texture, chewiness, and color. So, since I like the original flavor so well, much of that good feeling comes forward into the newfangled flavors like this heated one.
Stringy bits of this beef snack stick in the teeth far less often than those of beef jerky. Any advantage the original-flavored stix have over beef jerky is also true of these Hot Furious sticks.
The aroma hides well the heat flavor. In fact, these sticks smell virtually identical to the originals. So their more aggressively spiced taste can indeed take you by surprise if you’re expecting the scent of these to match their taste. It doesn’t.
I can’t imagine ever becoming burned out on this Hot & Furious flavor. Returning to eating these after a spell always feels as enjoyable as the first time.
That spicy juice, though a bit irritating, is a delightful and flavorful feature of this stick snack, though it requires soap and water to completely get off of the fingers and lips. This stick may ooze more of that juice when bitten than the corresponding Slim Jim Monster sticks. But not offensively more.
This product has a pleasant, non assuming aroma of smoked beef that mirrors the scent of the original-flavored Sasquatch sticks So smelling this can turn the mouth water on, as the aroma portends the satisfying experience to come at the first bite. But the scent does not clue you in as to how hot the taste will be. So brace yourself and consider yourself forewarned.
They cellophane wrapping is indeed air-tight, keeping the aromas and flavors inside from getting out, and any odors and flavors outside from getting in.
Nonetheless, this wrapper easily peels off when you’re ready to dig in.

Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns

Any flavor of this product is a highly processed food with a sizable list of undesirable (in my opinion) food additives, including dextrose, salt, corn syrup, and sodium nitrite.
Hot & Furious Jack Links are also rich in total sodium at 820 milligrams whole stick, and 300 calories to boot.
These numbers restrict this Jack Link’s snack at my house to a once-in-a-blue-moon treat, though its satisfying beef and extra spicy flavors can entice you to eat it way more frequently. It does this to me occasionally.
26 fat grams per Sasquatch stick, and 10 of those is saturated fat. Indeed, the included Nutrition Facts label paints a pretty negative picture of this product as a healthful food. But it is however, an excellent-tasting food.

Ingredients List

Beef, mechanically separated chicken, water, salt. Contains 2% or less of rice bran isolate, corn syrup, spices, dextrose, flavoring, fructose, molasses powder (refinery syrup, cane molasses), hydrolyzed vegetable protein (corn, soy, wheat), paprika extractives, smoke flavor, lactic acid starter culture, sodium nitrite.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size: 1 ounce, 28 grams. Servings per container: About 2.
Amount per serving: Calories: 150. Calories from fat: 120.
Total fat: 13 grams, 20% DV.
Saturated fat: 5 grams, 25% DV.
Trans fat: 0 grams.
Cholesterol: 30 milligrams, 10% DV.
Sodium: 410 milligrams, 17% DV.
Total carbohydrate: 2 grams, 1% DV.
Dietary fiber: 0 grams, 0% DV.
Sugars: 0 grams.
Protein: 6 grams.
Vitamin A: 0% DV.
Calcium: 2% DV.
Vitamin C: 0% DV.
Iron: 4% DV.

Our Rating

We’d recommend this spicy prepared-meat snack, says my taste buds, though the high fat and sodium content reduces my rating a bit. Thus, I’d award a 90 out of 100 rating.

Where To Buy Jack Link’s Sasquatch Hot Furious Big Sticks

Look for this snack food at larger 24-hour convenience stores and bigger grocery outlets. They come in a yellow, orange, and red wrapper with the white backing and black and white text.

References

Revision History

2015-02-05: Moved this post to the Tom’s Diet Quest blog, added whitespace, adjusted ad placement, and tweaked the content.
2012-05-09: Originally published.