Hormel Square Table Slow Simmered Pork Roast Au Jus & Savory Sauce

Suddenly my webps are being accepted at a satisfying rate! Is the web (blogger) finally adapting to webp? Am I finally adapting to pre-cooked meat? Maybe. This was certainly pork and I like that it's safe and very quick to cook. The serving size (two meat blops) is also pretty decent, it made at least 3 portions for me, although I did add an onion also. Like the beef, this smelled a little like pet food (and looked it, might I add), and it was very wet. Too wet. But it tasted fine and looked better once it was all shredded. Actually fairly pink inside, but I didn't die. Could be tender-er, but that's how I always feel about pork. 

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Kingsford BBQ Baby Back Pork Ribs

These guys make charcoal, so surely they make a good rib! That tracks, right!? I originally went to the store to buy uncooked baby backs, but these were smaller and cheaper (though still extremely expensive) so I pivoted. They are also Fully Cooked which seems like a gross and bad sign, but good for safety and convenience I suppose. In the end I thought the sauce was pretty good -- it smelled like a cafeteria when cooking, which is actually good in my mind. Sweet and smokey. I could have cooked them a little longer than 12 minutes, though, and the backs were weird and unsauced -- also the membrane was still on there. But mostly good, makes 3 hearty servings. 

Overall
Cost: 3/10 [19$]
Taste: 7/10

Jack Daniel's Fully Cooked Pulled Pork

I saw this in the refrigerated section and thought "why not treat myself?", because it was so expensive (like 10$?) for this tiiiny package of meat. It tasted fine, but not great. I would probably not recommend this to you, especially if you are more than 1 human. Cooks very fast though.

Overall
Cost: 3/10
Taste: 6/10

Vermont Smoke & Cure Uncured Bacon Pork Sticks

OK, Blogger just updated their interface and it's weirding me out. Anyway, another flavor of meat stick! Supposedly no cumin in this one, and nut-free, so that's good. This is all pig meat, which is a different flavor than your beef/turkey sticks -- this tastes almost exactly like a ham slice, except it's cold and there's no pineapple flavor (I usually make a ham with a pineapple). It's kinda uncanny. I like ham fine, and it's cool to have a shelf-stable version, but I'm so used to the spicy turkey meat stick that it's weird to have one that tastes so plain, even if I like ham fine. Seems like with all the seasoning or juice in the ingredients that it should have a more....seasoned? taste, and it just doesn't. Also doesn't really taste like bacon, although maybe the difference between ham slice and bacon is just texture? But it's got a ham slice texture. Anyway, I'm not sure where this falls for me. I don't hate it but I don't see myself craving it ever really. Plus I think it's more likely to be cancerous than turkey is, right? (Is that right???)

Overall

Cost: 5/10

Taste: 6/10

Vermont Smoke & Cure Original Beef & Pork Stick

Hard to find meat without leaving the house, but this big pack of meat sticks came through for me. The texture isn't tough or chewy at all, with just a little bite. It's a tiny bit spicy but otherwise honestly not super flavorful. Tastes more like pork than beef, but it is subtle. Most importantly, they are Top-8 free, so no nut risk and no soy filler either. That's huge for my piece of mind right now, and so even though these aren't amazing, they are portable safe meat, which is amazing enough for me. Although the aftertaste of spicy is kind of nice!




Overall
Cost: 5/10 (A little over 1$/stick, which seems decent but is pricier than other snacks of course)
Taste: 7/10