Monday, October 11, 2021

Gary West Meats - 50/50 Steak Strips

gary west meats 50/50 jerky
Gary West Meats recently released a new variety of beef jerky dubbed, "50/50" which is a reference to using 50% less sugar and salt from their standard recipe. We reviewed Gary West Meats several years ago, see their reviews here.

Gary West Meats is a brand of smoked meats that has been in business since 1966, operated by a company of the same name, based in Jacksonville, OR. It's a second generation-run family business first started by, none other than, Gary West. The company's meat products goes back further to Gary's grandfather Fred West, who taught the old family recipes to Gary. In 2004, West sold the business to his daughter and son-in-law. In addition to jerky, the company also makes smoked hams, turkeys, and sausages.

This 50/50 line is targeted to the health conscious and active lifestyle demographic, perhaps moving it closer to the Keto and low carb dieters. The package is also marked as, "Gluten Free".

Ingredients

Beef, turbinado sugar, water, salt, seasoning mix, pepper, garlic

Review

The first flavors that come into view are a light salt, followed by a light meaty character. The chewing brings on faint bit of sweet, but soon followed by the natural meat flavors. Finally, a hints of black pepper, and maybe a wee bit of garlic, become known.

For being marketed as having 50% less sugar and salt than their regular line of steak strips, it definitely does taste less salty and less sweet. Their regular line of steak strips had more of a buttery character, perhaps due to the increased salt, whereas this 50/50 line still has a light bit of that buttery flavor, but delivers more natural meat profile.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is the natural meat flavors, with a touch of buttery palate, but mostly a light salt and faint seasonings of black pepper and garlic.

The chewing feels very meaty, and once chewed down soft, takes on a nice steak-like texture. They start out a little chewy, and feel just a touch waxy, but don't really take much effort to work over. I don't feel anything stringy or unchewable, and I don't see much in terms of fat.

Verdict

This new 50/50 line of steak strips from Gary West Meats perhaps brings out more natural meat flavor than the company's other line of jerky simply because there's 50 percent less salt and sugar in this recipe. It still manages to dish out a light seasoning primary of black pepper, and touches of garlic and salt. But, it has that classic, beefy, steak-like chewing texture that makes Gary West Meats famous, and still has a light bit of that famous buttery flavor found in their other jerky lines. Overall, it's about as simple as jerky can get with Gary West Meats, using low levels of sugar and salt, yet delivers lots of natural meat flavor and chewing texture.


gary west meats 50/50 jerky

gary west meats 50/50 jerky

Rating: Best (5/5)


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