Thursday, November 20, 2008

World Kitchens - Teriyaki Beef Jerky, 3.5oz

World Kitchens - Teriyaki Beef JerkyDuring my visit up to Seattle earlier this month, I was walking through a QFC store to see what local brands of jerky they might have, and saw this 3.5 oz package of World Kitchens beef jerky. What really caught my eye was the pieces of meat viewable inside the package.

If you read my original review of World Kitchens that I did in May 2006, I gave them a dog treats rating. That was their "one pound" sized bag. The meat tasted somewhat rancid, as if it were mixed with some kind of internal organs, maybe liver, I dunno. I got the sense that it was a chunked beef jerky, because they were all small bite-sized chunks, but with other chopped stuff mixed in. The meat crumbled apart in my mouth, and didn't really give me a meat-like chewing satisfaction.

But this 3.5 oz bag had different looking meat inside. I'm not sure if the meat in this 3.5 oz bag is an updated meat consistency, or if it's always been different than their one pound bag. Nonetheless, it's a different jerky than the one I reviewed before.

Interestingly, there are two USDA Establishment numbers on this 3.5 oz bag, one for Knauss Foods, and another for Bruce Pac in Woodburn, OR. Bruce Pac is the actual distributor, and owner of the World Kitchens brand. This bag is also stamped, "Natural Style", where as the one pound bag I reviewed before doesn't have that stamp. But it's still stamped, "product of Brazil" on the bottom.


Sliced beef, water, brown sugar, sugar, salt, hydrolyzed soy protein, spice, papaya juice, vinegar, monosodium glutamate, powdered onion, powdered garlic, citric acid, soy sauce powder, sodium nitrite.


The tastes I pick up from the surface of these pieces is a medium level sweetness, and I think a hint of soy sauce flavor. Moving into the chewing, I can get more of a salty taste, and a pungent taste that resembles something of the ginger in teriyaki sauce.

Well, it's certainly a better jerky than the previous stuff I reviewed back in May 2006.

It doesn't have that liver-like meat taste that it used to have. In fact, it doesn't have any meat taste at all; I suppose that's better than tasting like liver. Well, I can taste some slight hints of meat, but it's something I have to think about to find.

In terms of teriyaki flavoring, I wouldn't totally consider this as having a teriyaki flavor. I can taste the sweet, and that pungent taste normally produced by ginger, and a slight bit of soy sauce. But I don't see those components marrying together as teriyaki. At least, if I were snacking on this as opposed to analyzing this, I wouldn't get the sense that I'm having teriyaki beef.

I'd say the dominant taste of this jerky is that pungent quality. I'm guessing that it's produced by the onion and ginger, or maybe in conjunction with another ingredient. But it's not a strong taste.

Coming in second, is the sweetness from the surface, and the third strongest flavor is that slight bit of soy sauce plus salt. And even in terms of saltiness, I don't really see this as being salty despite the 580mg of sodium per serving.

But all of those tastes are not strong. Overall, this jerky has a low-to-medium level flavor intensity. It doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't offer much enjoyment either.

Meat Consistency

These appear to be slice of whole meat, sliced average thickness, and in small to medium sized pieces.

This is a soft and tender style of jerky, with a slight bit of moisture. It's very easy to tear apart, particularly with the grain, and very easy to chew.

It has a rather mushy chewing texture, even the drier pieces tend to be more mushy than they are fibrous.

For the most part it's a clean jerky, leaving no residue on my fingers and no pieces on my lap. But I do note that there is a good deal of crumbled pieces sitting in the bottom of the bag.

I found no pieces of fat, tendon, or gristle.

Snack Value

I paid $5.49 for this 3.5 ounce package at a QFC store in Seattle, WA. That works out to a price of $1.57 per ounce, putting this in the average price range.

For general jerky snacking purposes, this offers a decent value for the price. But that's about all it offers, a decent amount of snacking value. It offers a low-to-medium level flavor intensity, and a lackluster chewing satisfaction. But overall, it doesn't taste bad.

As a teriyaki variety, it offers a poor value because I didn't get a sense of teriyaki flavor. If you're looking to spend money on a jerky that will give you a strong teriyaki flavor, you're not going to get much mileage from this.


I'm giving this a fair rating.

I think this 3.5 oz bag of World Kitchens teriyaki beef jerky is a better jerky than their one pound bag. I don't know if their one pound bag still has the same jerky that I reviewed two-and-a-half years ago, or if it's just like the stuff in this 3.5 oz bag. But overall I'd consider it below average in terms of taste and meat consistency. First, it doesn't offer much taste with its low-to-medium level flavor intensity. Second, it doesn't live up to its teriyaki advertisement. And third, it has a mushy chewing texture.

I could overlook the mushy chewing texture if the flavor was exceptional. But considering this jerky is somewhat light on taste to begin with, it needs a quality meat consistency to help push this up to a higher rating.

While I wouldn't buy this jerky again, it's at least something I can still eat and not pass off to my dogs. Though, it wouldn't bother me to at least share it with them!

A good beer to have with this would be a brown ale.

Rating: Fair

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1 comment:

  1. Longhorns Meats Company in Auburn Ca is selling your jerky,they take it of your package and package it in there bags and put there label on it,and tell the customers they made it. Longhorns Meats Company 13131 Lincoln Way Auburn Ca 95603 1-530-823-0275