Golden Island Beef Jerky - Chili Lime

Next in the series on Golden Island Beef Jerky is this Chili Lime variety. See our previous review of their other flavors.

Golden Island Beef Jerky is a brand of Formosa Meat Co., Inc. based out of Rancho Cucamonga, CA. I had originally reviewed Golden Island back in 2008, but just recently the company unveiled a new package design, reformulated recipes, and eliminated the use of preservatives.

This Chili Lime beef jerky was among the flavors I had reviewed back then (see old review).

Ingredients

Beef, corn syrup, soy sauce, garlic chili sauce, chili lime seasoning, sugar, lemon emulsion, soybean oil with citric acid, salt, crushed red chili pepper, potato starch, lime concentrate.

Taste

The first thing I taste from the surface of these pieces is a significant lime flavor, followed by a light sweetness and saltiness. There's a touch of spicy heat building.

The chewing flavor starts with a light natural meat flavor along with a mild, saucy flavor mixed into the meat. The spicy heat builds up to a light to medium level.

For being dubbed a "Chili Lime" variety, it seems to hold up. I do get a lot of the lime flavor particularly from the surface of these pieces, and I do get a light to medium level heat from the chili pepper, but I don't get much of the chili pepper flavor.

Otherwise, the flavors that define this jerky most of all is the lime flavor off the surface and the natural meat flavor. There's a saucy flavor in the meat, but not something at all like soy sauce. It's probably a combination of the soy sauce, garlic chili sauce, and soybean oil.

There's also a very light tanginess noticeable in the chewing, likely due to the lime and lemon ingredients.

The level of heat in this is noticeable, but still light. I'd rate it on my personal heat scale as "mild medium" (level 2 out of 5).

The level of saltiness in this feels to be moderate.

Overall, it's a very citrusy, tangy, lime flavor with a lightly saucy natural meat, and a light to medium level of heat. I don't pick up much chile flavor.

Meat Consistency

These are slices of whole meat, sliced into small to medium sized slabs, and sliced to a medium thickness.

This a dry jerky with dry surface feel. There's a fair amount of flexibility but will crack apart with some bending. Chewing is overall easy.

The chewing texture starts out feeling soft and tender, but still dry. There's almost no chewing resistance, breaking apart easily in the first few chews. It takes on a meaty feel right away, and when chewed down to a soft mass, it feels very much like real meat, but dry.

I don't see any visible signs of fat, however I do see significant streaks of gristle on several of these slabs, and they have a tough, rubbery chew. Otherwise, no real stringiness encountered.

As for clean eating, it's mostly clean. My fingers don't pick up much residue at all save for a flake of red pepper or two.

Snack Value

Golden Island sells this Chili Lime beef jerky at Costco Stores nationwide. But you can also buy it online from their website at a price of $6.00 per 3oz package. If you buy six packages, shipping runs $5.30 when delivered to Southern California. That works out to a price of $2.29 per ounce.

For general jerky snacking purposes, at the $2.29 per ounce price, it's a fair value. I'm getting a satisfactor flavor, fair meat consistency, and good chewing texture. Compared to other major brands, this has a similar snackability for a similar to slightly higher price.

As a Chili Lime variety of beef jerky, at the same $2.29 per ounce price, it's also a fair value. I'm getting a lot of the lime flavor and a light to moderate chile pepper heat, but none of the chile pepper flavor.

Rating

I'm giving this an average rating.

This Chili Lime beef jerky from Golden Island offers up plenty of tangy, fruity, lime flavor, and a light to moderate amount of spicy heat, but very little chile pepper flavor.

It does give off some light natural meat flavor, and there's a light saucy flavor mixed in as well. But overall, I didn't find the overall flavor as savory and fulfilling as the company's Mandarin Orange. This Chili Lime doesn't seem to define itself above the average lot of major brands.

I also found too much crunchy, rubbery gristle on these pieces, so much so that I just nibbled the meat around them.

Rating: Average

Buy this online:

• http://www.goldenislandjerky.com/