One wonderful thing about most Wisconsin gas stations is that among the usual offerings of Redbull and desiccated hot dogs rolling in place is the abundance of great cheese curds and meat sticks. As we were heading into Northern Wisconsin, I knew the gas stations would not offer such specialties but the more prosaic Slim Jims and mass-produced meat sticks. Not interested.
After a disappointing turn in the local gas station in Iron River, I found I had a few bars on my smartphone and immediately looked up the Iron River chamber of commerce. Jim's Meat Market: "Famous for the "Pepper Sticks" this meat market is a must for locals and visitors!" That sounded promising. It was off the main street, but only a half mile away.
We drove on a road with minimal signage. There are little signs for Jim's here and there and then suddenly you come across a big building with aluminum siding that looks new and clean. Inside is pretty sparse but Jim and his wife are there to help you out.
We got a pack of the cheddar pepper sticks; it was about $7 for a pound! That's an amazing deal since you get like four sticks for $6 bucks in the Twin Cities and our pack had three or four times as many. We also got a pack of pepperjack brats; unlike the regular brats that you can buy by the link, this came in a frozen pack of 7 for about $7.
The pepper sticks were delicious; more dry like langjager and very peppery, a little spicy. The texture and taste reminded me a bit of pepperoni, only with chunks of cheese. It was hard to stop eating them. We were camping, so we had to cook all the brats that night. They are loaded with cheese as well and were delicious. I haven't met a brat I don't like. These were harder to cook since they were raw. If we weren't bike camping, it would have made the cooking process easier with more tools on my part.
Jim was a little cranky but answered all my questions. Count me a fan. read more