REVIEW: Pepperidge Farm Goldfish – Cheddar Bacon Puffs

Rating: ©©©© chips  (lip-smacking)

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Comments:

From the depths of the salty-snack-sea comes the latest wonderfully cheesy venture from everyone’s favorite little golden gill’d swimmers.  Except for this time around Pepperidge Farm’s Goldfish have decided to do some laps in the deep end of the pool and try their best at backstroking their way into the cheesy puff industry (which is definitely not easy to do)!

We noticed the other day that someone over at the Impulsive Buy made the comment “bacon can be an assertive flavor and, if not treated with care, will stomp all over your sandwich, maple-glazed doughnut, or, in this case, cheese puff.”  Well, we say that there are too many snacks out there who claim to bring the bacon, and just don’t deliver on the promise.  So as far as treating that bacon with care……

“To pork with that!!!”   Give us BACON!!!  Like that silly dog on tv says “Bacon, bacon, bacon!”  Bring on the smoky, salty, piggy flavor!!  Go pork, or go home. Take us to “Porkapalooza” please!

Luckily for us Mr. Golffish Puff has brought that bacon in full force.  Just one glance over to the ingredients list and it is clear that Pepperidge Farm was not messing around with the promise of delivering on that bacon flavor.  Vegetarians beware, these are not for you.  The ingredients include: dehydrated pork stock, natural smoke flavoring, and bacon flavored pork fat!?!  Let’s repeat that: dehydrated pork stock, natural smoke flavoring, and bacon flavored pork fat!!! Need we say more?!?  Even with all of that porky goodness, we actually thought that the bacon presence was not too overbearing, and integrated rather nicely with the salty cheddar cheese seasoning.  If you like bacon flavored snacks, we’re quite certain that you would most likely enjoy these.

The texture of these Goldfish Puffs is reminiscent of some long lost cheese puffed snack that we consumed quite often during our youth.  We’re talking about the classic Planters Cheese Balls!!  Anyone else out there grow up devouring those perfectly pop-able cheese rounds?  If you loved them, you’re going to love these!  The Goldfish Puff’s texture is slightly dense, and crunchy, with a more toothsome mouth-feel than your typical, light and airy, industry cheese puffs (ie. Cheetos, Herr’s, etc.).  These Puffs are a bit more than double the size of the original Goldfish Crackers, and they are perfect for popping one at a time, or even a handful, into your mouths.  Either way, the bag probably won’t last that long.

Not only do these puffs taste great, but it felt like we also got our daily intake of protein from them as well.  We didn’t quite love them as much as the Buffalo Wing flavor, but still a great puff.

For two different perspectives on these new Goldfish Puffs make sure to check out:

The Impulsive Buy

Junk Food Guy (JFG appeared to be as impressed with these as we were!  However, we cannot agree with his comment that these Goldfish Puffs taste anything remotely close to Herr’s Bacon Cheddar Puffs.)

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.

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REVIEW: Ruffles Ultimate – Loaded Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins

Rating: ©©©-1/2 chips  (notable)

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Comments:

“Now With Deeper Ridges”?!?!?

Ruffles Ultimate wavy ripple potato chips were already what Chip Review has declared the deepest ripple-y-ridged potato chips we had ever laid lips on, and now they are supposed to be even more wavy???  Wow!  That’s all there is to say about that “WOW!”.  Sadly, upon opening said ‘Deeper Ridged’ potato chip bag, we came to discover that these Ruffles were no Ultimate, or deeper ridged, than any of the other flavors we had tasted.  That being said, the Ruffles chip ripples are so deep that our tongues could barely reach the bottoms of their potato chip canyons!

These Loaded Bacon & Cheddar Potato Skins mark the fourth flavor of Ruffles Ultimate potato chips that we have tasted and reviewed.  So far, we would rank them as number three, among the four, right behind Kickin’ Jalapeno Ranch and Sweet & Smokin’ BBQ, and ahead of Tangy Honey Mustard respectfully.  Like all of the flavors before them, these chips do not go lightly on the seasoning, however, the flavor recipe is only satisfactory at best.  All of the necessary flavor components are present, but together, the combination, underwhelms.  We taste a lot of smooth sour cream, some bland cheddar cheese, some onion, representing the chives, and then of course, the fake, sweet, smoky and salty bacon aspect (that always reminds us of Baco Bits).

One small detail, or issue, that a handful of us at Chip Review had with these chips, was something we like to call “false advertising”.  Maybe more accurately, “slightly misleading advertising”.  You see, there has to be some reason that Ruffles would deliberately enlarge and highlight the two ingredients BACON & CHEDDAR apart from the Loaded Potato Skins flavor name.  Why?  Because those two ingredients are the best!  And, Ruffles had us believe that were to be accentuated and emboldened, but alas, the chips are simply fake smoky, sour cream and cheddar potato chip.  Eatable yes, but not very reminiscent of the warm, fatty, cohesive, and ultra comforting loaded potato skins!

In the end, at the very least, Ruffles Ultimate chips sure are a lot of fun for our mouths to crunch on.  However, we will forever prefer a bag of Ruffles good old original ‘The Works’ over these any day of the week!

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think. Agree or disagree, let us know.

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REVIEW: Deano’s Jalapenos – Cheddar Jalapeno Chips

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

Comments:

A few months back, we reviewed the original Deano’s Sea Salt Jalapeno Chips, and we definitely thought they were lip-smacking, and lip-scorchingly, good!  We warned you straight off that you better make sure to grab your bottles of milk, and your icy popsicles before tackling these chips!!  And, the same goes for these Cheddar Cheese flavored ones (don’t you dare say we didn’t warn you!!).

Deano’s Jalapeno Chips “…are the brainchild of Doehne “Deano” Duckworth, owner of The Cactus Café in Stowe, Vermont. As jalapeno-flavored potato chips became more popular on the market, Duckworth thought, why not skip the potato part and make chips out of the jalapenos themselves?  He used the Cactus as a tasting ground, with loyal customers acting as testers and food critics as he perfected the recipe. The chips are still handmade in small batches and packaged in re-sealable bags for restaurant-quality flavor that can be enjoyed anywhere.” (www.deanosjalapenos.com)

Initially, the bright yellow cheddar cheese coating provides a nice salty, tangy and slightly creamy quality to the chips, even slightly tricking us into believing that the cheese would be adding enough of a counter balance to subdue the heat of the jalapeno chips.  However, as so very rarely happens, we were wrong and suddenly Deano’s Jalapeno Chips take hold, and our mouths are officially on fire!!  Eating these chips, is basically like eating jalapeno chiles.  Well, technically we are eating jalapeno chiles.  For the majority of you (and us) out there these chips are simply too hot to eat on their own.  But, if you enjoy your spicy foods, then you may very well love Deano’s Jalapeno Chips; again, be warned – these are not for amateurs!!

The chips themselves are thin slices of jalapeno chile peppers, dusted in cornstarch, and fried just like traditional chips.  The result is unlike any other chips we have tried on the market.  After the initial, and short lived, taste of salty cheddar cheese, the jalapeno flavor is upfront, authentic, and powerful.  The chip’s texture reminds us a lot of those crunchy, fried onion straws that our grandmas were always sprinkling all over their casseroles as we grew up in Northern Minnesota.

In the end, we must admit that we actually like the Original Sea Salt version a bit better, as the bright orange cheddar cheese dusting really did not do anything for us.  We liked the purity of the other chips.  That being said, these would probably go really well with some type of homemade Chex mix, or mixture of nuts, or at least something to help subdue the heat from these things!!

As always, these are our thoughts. Agree or disagree, make sure to let us know.

Chip provided to Chip Review from Deano’s Jalapenos for review

Deano’s Jalapenos Official Website

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Chip Rating…..

Kettle Brand Bakes – Aged White Cheddar Potato Chips

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

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RATING: Blair’s Death Rain – Cheddar Kettle Cooked Potato Chips

Rating: ©©©©-1/4 chips  (lip-smacking)

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RATING: Tim’s – Cheddar & Sour Cream Extra Thick & Crunchy Potato Chips

Rating: ©©©-1/4 chips  (notable)

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Rold Gold – Baked Cheddar Mini Sticks Pretzels

Rating: ©©-3/4 chips  (tolerable)

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