The Good: Inexpensive, Good bacon flavor
The Bad: Not very maple flavored, Not great on the health front
The Basics: Uncle Ray's Maple Bacon potato chips are a pleasantly diverting potato chip, even if they do not consistently embody both promised flavors.
Today is one of the hottest days in my neck of the woods so far this year. As such, I've been drinking quite a bit of water and to add some electrolytes, I've started enjoying some salty snacks with my frequent hydration. Tonight, that took the form of Uncle Ray's Maple Bacon Potato Chips. My wife picked up some bags of Uncle Ray's Maple Bacon potato chips recently when I was away and I have generally enjoyed them.
However, when it came time to review the Uncle Ray's Maple Bacon potato chips, I realized that the flavor of the chips was more truly Barbecue Bacon, not Maple Bacon flavored.
Basics
These Maple Bacon potato chips, are a potato chip made from Uncle Ray's, a Michigan-based salty snack manufacturer. The Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's chips are coated with a moderately-flavored salt on most of the potato chips. This could have been a great flavor if the chips were more uniformly flavored, though the salt is pretty constant.
Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's come in a 3 oz. bag. At a regular price in the $1.19 range, they are competitively priced with other salty snacks.
Ease Of Preparation
Uncle Ray's Maple Bacon are simple to consume; all you need do it open the bag and remove the potato chips from it! There is no trick to eating Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's; they are a snack that is ready to go from the bag to the mouth.
Taste
Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's potato chips smell strongly of bacon. The Uncle Ray's Maple Bacon have a slightly sweet afterscent to them; the aroma is much more dominated by the smell of bacon than actual maple or even the smell of the potato chips.
In the mouth, the Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's potato chips taste fairly strongly of bacon. The meaty, greasy and salty flavor is quite recognizable and delicious. Unfortunately, the flavor of maple is not at all present in the chips. Instead, a few of the chips have a vaguely sweet flavor that manifests under the stronger, meaty flavoring. The net result is a chip that tastes more like barbecued bacon than maple bacon.
The Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's have a strong, generically salty aftertaste that lasts in the mouth for several minutes after the last chip is consumed.
Nutrition
Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's are a fairly natural snack, with, surprisingly, none of the ingredients being unrecognizable! The primary ingredients are potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt. This has a shelf life of only a couple months, so it is not the ideal salty snack to stock up on.
Each 1 oz., 13 chip, serving of Uncle Ray's Maple Bacon has 170 calories, ninety of which come from fat. There is a single gram of dietary fiber. While there are only 10 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein, the Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's potato chips have a whopping 250 mg of sodium, which represents 10% of one's RDA of sodium, which is more than many potato chips. There is a smattering of Potassium, Vitamin C, and Iron, but no other vitamins or minerals. This is not a health snack. There is a dietary note that the Maple Bacon includes milk ingredients, which prevents them from being Vegan compliant, at the very least. The allergy warning also includes soy and wheat.
Storage/Clean-up
Kept in their bag, Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's will remain fresh for only a few months – the bag I bought last month had an expiration date of July 20, 2017 – so this is not an ideal flavor to stock up on. Once the bag is opened, it must be resealed, lest they get stale. I've not had to deal with issues of freshness for my Uncle Ray's potato chips because usually once they are opened, I consume them fairly fast!
Cleanup is simple as well. Maple Bacon Uncle Ray's are a dry food, but because they are salty, greasy, and easily broken, they will require one to wash their hands afterward and should be wiped up to clean up.
Overall
Uncle Ray's Maple Bacon potato chips are flavorful, but not exceptional. They hit the spot on a hot day, but the lack of a true, distinct sweet maple flavor undermines them some.
For other salty snacks, check out my reviews of:
Snack Factory Dark Chocolate & Peppermint Pretzel Crisps
Good Thins The Oat One Sweet Oat & Flax snacks
Better Made Cheese Waffles
6.5/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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