The testing team sampled 13 different flavor profiles before settling on Jalapeno Lime and Maple Teriyaki.
The Jalapeno Lime combines jalapeno, lime and garlic flavors with grass-fed beef. The sticks are then smoked with maple wood. The Maple Teriyaki combines Vermont maple sugar, sesame oil, ginger and garlic. The beef is then smoked over corn cobs.
“Taste and texture are the driving factors for all of our products,” said Chris Bailey, founder of Vermont Smoke & Cure. “The challenge with grass-fed beef is to find ingredients that complement the natural flavor profile of the meat, which some consumers perceive as gamey. Our goal was to create a great tasting grass-fed stick without masking the natural flavor of the meat with loads of salt.”
The beef sticks are free of antibiotics, added sodium nitrite, and free of allergens like milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soy.
“From our start more than 50 years ago, we have been committed to using responsibly sourced meats,” Bailey said. “Consumers are increasingly aware of where their food comes from and how it’s made, and the grass-fed sticks are an important addition to our product line.”
MEAT+POULTRYprofiled Vermont Smoke & Cure in June 2016.
