Slim Jim Monster Honey BBQ Beef Sticks have appeared on the snack food scene fairly recently. Not only do I appreciate the bigger 1.94-ounce size. While like all Slim Jim smoked beef sticks, this is a highly processed, highly seasoned beef product, this barbecue-flavored meat snack effectively quells hunger pangs during the afternoon portion of the work day, and is a great evening food to savor when it’s too early for bed, but too late to eat heavy, slowly-digested foods.
Benefits, Pros, Advantages, And Features
- I’ve often thought of Slim Jim meat products as beef pepperoni sticks, because they taste a lot like pepperoni. This honey BBQ flavor is no exception. In fact, the honey BBQ is quite weak; so weak that the original Slim Jim flavor by far dominates in this snack. Indeed, there’s not much difference between Slim Jim Honey BBQ and the pepperoni flavor of the Slim Jim Original. They certainly have the pepperoni grease. But their texture is somewhat less oily and more spicy. Again, no appreciable difference from the original sticks.
- A flavor like beef jerky, these honey barbecue beef snacks are less chewy than the dried beef jerky strips, which I appreciate. While I enjoy beef jerky strips and chew infrequently, I also like the near-identical taste of those products that’s found in a honey BBQ Slim Jim without having to exercise my jaw muscles so much, just to be able to swallow the meaty morsel.
- Pieces of this snack lodge in the teeth far less often than beef jerky.
- The Slim Jim form of salt-preserved beef never requires refrigeration; not even after opening. So it keeps several months in your pantry. The best-if-used-by date falls roughly three months out from the purchase date. But they’ll stay fresh and pleasant-tasting for much longer than that if kept cool.
- This bigger size of the original Slim Jim is awesome, and definitely satisfies the appetite after eating just one monster meat stick.
- These longer sticks, measuring in at clost to a foot in length, taste nearly the same as the original-sized ones with their gently smokey and spicy taste, although there may be small differences. Perhaps this is due to the amount of meat you can get in one bite of the larger (three eights of an inch roughly) diameter monster beef treats.
- I’ve never gotten tired of the Slim Jim honey BBQ flavor, no doubt because it tastes so much like the original Slim Jims, and as a result, brings all that goodness with it into this flavor. Put these away for several days, then eat them again, and you will probably notice that they taste just as delicious as when you stowed them.
- Kids like these snack treats, which entices parents to like them also, since they have far less added sugar than candy bars or other sweet items.
- The spicy juice that oozes when you bite certain parts of the stick is a delightful and sensational addition.
- This snack is not too hard to find, though it’s not nearly as popular as Slim Jim Original.
- There are no bone stones in this snack on which to break a filling. They do a great job of weeding out that junk from the beef during processing.
- This beef snack product has a pleasant yet subtle aroma that mirrors the actual taste closely. So smelling these sticks of meat can flood the mouth with water, as the smell portends of the gratifying experience to soon come to the mouth.
- This product is well-loved at parties. It speaks loudly of class to your guests, and they’ll like knowing that you were willing to spend a bit more than just for chips and dip to please them. Slim Jims certainly step higher than potato chips in that regard.
Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns
- As noted, this is a highly processed food with a large list of undesirable food additives, including dextrose, salt, corn syrup, and lactic acid. It’s also rich in sodium at 860 milligrams per serving, and 300 calories to boot. These numbers render this product a once-in-a-blue-moon treat in my house, though its deliciously satisfying beef and spice flavors might seduce you into eating it more frequently than that.
- 25 grams of fat per serving, and 10 of those grams come from saturated fat. Indeed, the Nutrition Facts label on the wrapper paints a pretty doleful picture of Slim Jim beef sticks as a healthful food. The honey BBQ sticks appear no healthier than the originals.
- A nearly $3 cost for two ounces of seasoned meat seems exorbitant, especially since you can get over double the weight in king-sized Milky Way candy bars for a similar cost.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving size: 1.94 oz., one stick.
- Calories: 300. Calories from fat: 225.
- Total fat: 25 grams, 38% DV.
- Saturated fat: 10 grams, 50% DV.
- Cholesterol: 30 milligrams, 10% DV.
- Sodium: 880 milligrams, 35% DV.
- Total carbohydrate: 3 grams, 1% DV.
- Dietary fiber: 1 gram, 4% DV.
- Sugars: 0 grams.
- Protein: 12 grams, 24% DV.
Product Rating
I’d suggest that you try Slim Jim Monster Honey BBQ Beef Sticks. But don’t do so for the honey or BBQ flavors as these are almost too weak to taste. Still, I’d rate this snack at 91 of 100. It tastes great, even if it tastes too little like honey barbecue.
Where To Buy Slim Jim Monster Honey BBQ Beef Sticks
Look for this product in bigger gas stations, 24-hour convenience stores, and in grocery shops large. They come in a yellow and red wrapper with the white backing and black and white text. There’s also a deep blue rectangle near the top with “Honey BBQ Flavored” in yellow letters. Enjoy.
References
- BBQ Flavor on Wikipedia
- Slim Jim Snack Food on Wikipedia
- Where To Buy Slim Jim Monster Honey BBQ Beef Sticks
Revision History
- 2015-01-15: Fixed typos, rearranged category and tag assignments, added whitespace, and repositioned the ads.
- 2012-04-24: Originally published.