The Best and Worst Jerky Brands for Your Next Road Trip, Ranked - Eater

"This Austin-based company puts out some of the country's finest jerky in any category, and this is my favorite American jerky at the moment. It's perhaps amusing that this stunner of a meat-free product is from Texas, the state that houses the bulk of the nation's beef cattle. But the dried mushrooms flaunt the ropy, toothsome mouthfeel of good Cuban vaca frita, and for the sriracha flavor, the 'shrooms pack a balance of heat and acidity while emitting a hint of smoke. The salty black pepper variety, by contrast, lets a faint mushroom flavor come through with more clarity. (For those who like something even chewier, the packaging recommends leaving the jerky out in a dark, dry place to tighten up the texture and create a more leathery mouthfeel.) Silicon Valley fake meat factories will always have a tough time engineering faux hamburgers that taste like real hamburgers, but this particular brand should serve as proof that high-quality mushrooms dried with care can exhibit eons more nuance than most commodity sirloins. Available via Amazon, or Whole Foods locations in the Austin area." - Ryan Sutton