Round 1: grilled
Is it cake??
If the way food LOOKS is the main metric you use to judge it, then I feel bad for your taste buds.
I feel like a lot of you never had a good hamburger in your life
The best hamburger I’ve ever had didn’t look like it would be.
Just as a note, my stepfather had the best burger of his life right before his first case of food poisoning.
We should make a “just alright food” community
Could be a sister community of https://dimlylitmealsforone.tumblr.com/
Lemmy has a different ides of what counts as food porn.
Yeah this’d be like TastyFood in the old place. But I always thought FoodPorn was too unrealistic. Like, every bun had to have that glossy brown sheen or it was crap, etc.
I mean people want to see extraordinary food, where else to go? I guess we don’t have any chefs on lemmy.
No, OP still made those burgers fuck after the pic
This is like real porn vs. AI porn.
I think that’s more a reflection on amount of content producers than anything else.
I don’t mean any disrespect to OP because that looks good and I can’t cook for shit, but I agree with you that this isn’t the sort of content I would expect.
Question… This is from someone who didn’t surf Reddit at all, never saw foodporn on reddit. I only used to frequent 2 subs regarding apps I use. From the comments on here it seems foodporn was like high end, artistic professional chef type productions on Reddit. When I first came to this community on Lemmy all I saw in the About sidebar was “Your favorite food in the world!”, that’s it. No mention of some special presentation, or that it had to be profesional chef style dishes, and that paper plates, fast-food , takeout etc didn’t qualify. Is this community supposed to be a recreation of uppity foodporn sub from Reddit? If so wouldn’t that be explained in the sidebar? I was taken back by many of the judgemental type comments here, not only about my posts but also towards other people’s.
I think your post was mostly well received. I wouldn’t worry about it man. Hope you didn’t take my comment the wrong way. I don’t think lemmy should be/doesn’t need to be a reddit clone. Communities will figure themselves out.
OK thanks… Your post was fine, you seemed reasonable that’s why I asked… Appreciate it
And seriously having literally no idea what foodporn meant before… I saw the name of the community and seeing porn as part of the name I definitely didn’t think it meant high end food dishes 😂
Imo impossible meat is superior to beyond although nutritionally it’s a mixed bag. It introduces a decent amount of carbs (9g per 4oz) and has over 5x the sodium of beef. But it also has a bit of fiber and a either comparable or more vitamin/mineral content than beef. Protein is comparable to 80% ground with 20% less caloric content
Beyond is similar.
They’re both basically vegetable proteins with binders and fats and some flavorings. The big game changer flavoring is leghemoglobin which both use. It’s a protein isolated from soy that is very similar to certain enzymes from bovine muscle. Impossible got the fda to approve it in 2019 and it was challenged; there are some concerns on whether it is safe to eat. I’m not super well read on the issue but from what I’ve perused the issue is one of a lack of long term testing and not of any direct concern.
The textural difference between the two is because beyond uses isolated pea protein, which gives it a texture that’s a bit chunkier and imo more sausage like, and impossible uses soy protein, which imo is more like a cheap burger patty you’d get at McDonald’s.
The fats are typical fats like coconut oil or sunflower oil to recreate the fatty part of beef and this is the current weakness of the products imo. Coconut oil is used because it tends to stay solidified at room temp so when you’re making patties it feels like there are chunks of beef fat. In practice this is weird because they are far too hard and aren’t dispersed enough throughout the product; I believe this is why these fake meats tend to stick to the pan much easier than actual burgers cooked in a skillet.
The binders are big scary words like methylcellulose which is also a source of fiber and can be used as a laxative so people latch onto that and freak out. But it’s only used as a binder to help it hold everything together here so it’s like a tiny amount that just provides a bit of fiber that you probably desperately need if you’re having burgers for dinner. Fun fact: Certain preparations of methylcellulose (a4c) turn into gels when heated so you can use them to make hot ice cream! It’s pretty weird to eat, like a normal ice cream base that solidifies when you put it into boiling water
The other ingredients are stuff like beet juice for coloring
Final fun fact: technically impossible meat is not vegan because animal testing was done during its development.
Thanks for reading my unprompted essay on the composition of modern vegan meat substitutes. This was brought to you by my failed interest in becoming a food scientist. Also you may note I don’t really discuss how they compare to meat and that’s because I don’t eat meat which by law I am required to mention in all posts about food
Seems like an absolute process. I’m not a vegan but it’s nice you guys have options when you’re craving a burger. I can’t wait until that lab grown meat hits the markets.
Honestly I think Beyond Meat/Impossible style burgers are aimed at meat eaters who want to reduce animal cruelty/their carbon footprint. It’s actually kind of annoying they’re so popular now, as restaurants that used to have creative vegan options now sell Beyond Meat as the only choice.
Vegans don’t tend to care if a veggie burger is “realistic”. Some find the idea of meat gross and don’t want to roleplay eating it (my wife says they make her feel sick). Even if you don’t mind, the longer you give up meat the less interesting it is as a flavor. I’d take one of those shitty frozen veggie burgers that are 90% potato over an Impossible burger.
If I ever go vegetarian I’d definitely just enjoy stuff like falafels, curries, halloumi and the million other options and not worry about reproducing meat.
I mean a nice portobello grilled up is a great alternative without the hassle.
A grilled portabella is better than any veggie burger I’ve had, and better than most beef burgers too.
I get impossible burgers often and can confirm. Not vegetarian, but I’ve massively reduced red meat consumption and impossible/beyond really hits the spot when I want a burger. It’s an option at tons of restaurants now which is amazing. I also get 10 packs of impossible burgers at costco for like $10, honestly incredible deal.
Even if you don’t mind, the longer you give up meat the less interesting it is as a flavor.
I think there’s a curve to this.
When I first became vegetarian there were no fake meat options. If you got something that looked or tasted like meat it was because there was meat in it. Gross and nobody wanted that.
But after 20+ years being vegetarian, it’s REALLY nice to have some other options. I still enjoy a garden burger or black bean burger if it’s the only non-meat option but I can’t remember the last time I bought it in the store. The rise in popularity of vegetarian foods and all the fad diets have made it so there’s tons of options now.
My meat eating friends all love both Beyond and Impossible. A few actually prefer it to a standard burger.
Now if we can just teach restaurants how to cook them properly…
Also between a industrial processed food and something like a falafel I would go for the second every time.
has over 5x the sodium of beef
I’m curious, I’ve never cooked with Impossible meat before, is the “meat” just already salted/seasoned well? When I make a burger I definitely add quite a bit of salt while cooking, wondering if that sodium is just it being pre-seasoned or if that’s before a (needed) good pinch of salt
It’s probably from the yeast extract which is part of the heme
To be clear tho it still doesn’t have all that much salt. It’s more that raw beef just barely has any. Both impossible meat and raw beef pale in comparison to the salt content of the final burger, where the sodium content skyrockets from things like ketchup, pickles, seasoning the patty during cooking, the salt content of the bun, etc
And imo you should still salt/pepper an impossible patty after formation. As mentioned, while the salt content is higher, it’s still not terribly high, and imo it benefits from a bit more. In my experience it’s not like meat and you can salt whenever you want (whereas with beef you generally want to salt patties absolutely last minute to avoid giving the meat a lightly cured texture)
Oh yes it does have enough salt to stand on its own. I never add salt to either Beyond or Impossible brands. I might add other seasoning if I’m trying to hit a flavor profile (liquid smoke, cajun spices, curry, etc).
You can just plop it out as-is and it’ll cook up nicely. Just don’t squish all the liquid out of it. I’ve had some nasty versions because people get away with poor cooking skills with reql meat and these don’t tolerate the same abuses.
How do you know someone is a vegetarian? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.
Just kidding, most vegetarians I know are really cool and non-judgmental about others’ eating habits. I’ve actually reduced my meat intake just by hanging out with a vegetarian friend that always went out of their way to make me something with meat when we ate together, and to return the favor I would always make vegetarian dishes when they ate at my place. And then I just sort of got into the challenge of making tasty veggie dishes! I would say I’ve halved my meat consumption over the last year because of it.
I upvoted your post 1/2 way through just for the sheer effort of information. (and did continue reading, I just have nothing of value to add)
This was very fascinating. Do you work in the industry?
I wanted to very badly but then life happened and now I have a whole other career!
I still cook a lot though and I have a lot of weird powders and additives and machinery for stuff. I have a whole ass refrigerated centrifuge that can spin 3 liters at a time so I can isolate my own pea and soy protein in quantity! It weighs like 350 pounds and it’s from the 80s but fuck it, it’s super cool and I was able to get it for $25 from a lab I interned at. I can’t make soy leghemoglobin at home though at there’s no commercial supplier I’ve found so far so I have to still buy impossible or beyond meat if I want it, bummer
Hopefully there will be more food nerds on lemmy. I am only an amateur food nerd, there are way better ones out there
I hope to see more of your essay comments on food posts in the future. This is the kind of engagement I live for.
Man that’s so cool. Have you tried cooking anything else with it (if you can’t make patty)? Also is there any interesting reading material you could recommend me?
You can basically use it any way you would use ground beef, bolognese, meatballs, curry, tacos, whatever
Read on food and cooking by McGee and ratio by ruhlman to start
Oh, also one more question, is pea protein nutritionally equivalent to ground beef or would you start missing something if you treated it that way?
Pea/soy protein itself as they’re just isolated proteins isn’t but the full product impossible/beyond is pretty comparable
Methylcellulose is also used as an egg white substitute in vegan cocktails! It foams up in a very similar way to egg whites and has little.to no effect on the flavor. It’s often prepared as a syrup to make portioning easier as you only need small amounts to achieve the foaming effect
It’s an excellent foaming agent! Methocel f50 foams will last a lot longer than egg foams too
Just make sure you get the right kind though. Usually if you get “methylcellulose” it’s f50 but there are a lot of different types with different properties. The a4c variety I mentioned for hot ice cream will make foams but won’t work as well and is better for gel applications. But there are a lot of varieties of methocel and many are only subtly different from each other
Wonder if they can use it for firefighting foam instead of PFOAs.
Alternately, I wonder how good of a foam PFOAs will give my cocktail.
That’s pretty disgusting ultra processed shit.
What defines ultra processed? Are chicken nuggets ultra processed if I simply purée a chicken breast, add salt, shape, bread, and fry? I’ve turned it into something that is completely irrelevant to its original form. Is sausage ultra processed because I added nitrates? Is nitrate free sausage not ultra processed because I used the loophole where I added celery juice for its natural nitrate content instead of adding them directly?
When exactly does it become ultra processed? When a chemist gets involved and gives things proper names that freak you out?
Are you one of the kooky types that freak out when they see “sodium stearoyl lactylate” on the label of their sandwich bread even though it’s safe to eat and objectively makes your bread better and last longer? If so I’m sorry that you insist on eating bread that is not as soft and goes stale in 2 days
unlike the not disgusting animal farming process: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23817808/pig-farm-investigation-feedback-immunity-feces-intestines
That’s US. Everything is shit there.
Yeah, unlike the totally non-disgusting way meat is processed
It’s not processed.
What? You dumb?
Absolutely, I am a complete idiot. I pointed out to you that a simple & obvious search results in multiple definitions & examples of how meat is processed. I thought that would result in you understanding that meat is, in fact, processed. In hindsight, that was extremely stupid of me and I feel very dumb.
Wut? Do you even read, bro?
I do eat meat, quite frequently.
Impossible is the only meat substitute I’ve had that I couldn’t immediately tell the difference with, in either flavor or texture. If the price is ever on-par with hamburger (ideally cheaper), I will switch without hesitation. I will highly recommend it to anyone that’s vegan (yes, yes, I know) or vegetarian.
I’ve also had some soy wings that are very, very good, better than real wings. Then again, I don’t actually like real chicken wings that much.
The meat alternatives will only get better as time goes on and market demand grows. A burger or nugget is really not an impossible (lol) to recreate item; most of the meat texture is lost by the processing involved.
A burger is obviously ground and a nugget is usually chicken that’s ground to almost a paste then shaped and breaded. At that point it’s finding something that can approximate the texture of the mushed up meat goo and then finding something that can convincingly flavor it. That’s why impossible was so adamant to get leghemoglobin cleared by the fda, it really is by far the best option. If not that your other options are basically trying to recreate a “meaty flavor” with spice blends and msg which is how the older meat alternatives worked
The much bigger challenge is finding something that can texturally approximate intact muscle (eg wings or steak). As you’ve said there are decent soy wings and there are steak strip things and such but these are generally passable. They taste good and are fine as a meal but they aren’t the same in the way an impossible burger is reallllly close to a burger. Lots of people trying though! Jackfruit, tvp, seitan, pea and soy protein, etc. but none of them come close to the mouth feel and texture of a wing or steak. Someday, maybe. I hope someone figures it out; I haven’t had meat in like 20 years or so but I do miss the texture of steak from time to time and wish I had something that could recreate that
Not as experienced as you, but I find ground meats can be substituted out no problem. I’ve got jackfruit, soy, and mushroom alternatives on the menu that all have specific niches, but can still work across the board.
My current testing is sausages. Breakfast ones in particular make a large part of my diet, so I’m hoping to find off the self instead of making them.
Only thing stopping me from buying Impossible over beef is the cost. Soon as it’s comparable in price I have no problem switching.
No idea where in the world you are but in the US there’s a chain Grocery Outlet that I often find both Beyond and Impossible for like half off and it’s great
You can see the difference even visually. WTF are you talking about?
Since I don’t usually eat steak tartare, the raw appearance isn’t relevant to me. The cooked appearance is close enough to not be noted.
(I like tartare, but finding a butcher that is fully trustworthy is difficult where I live.)
The photo in the post shows a huge difference in appearance.
Thanks for the interesting write up.
Why are you required by law to say you don’t eat meat?
I think it’s a joke based on the stereotype of vegans being very outspoken about it.
It was a bad joke
I really enjoy BM’s burger personally. Taste is good but the real kicker is the texture and how it really has some body to it. What’s the consensus on them?
Better than most fake burger patties but still a big ways back from Impossible
I personally think the flavour is off but the texture is good, I personally prefer impossible burger
Impossible taste is nearly a replica of beef. And when you surround it in burger toppings, it could trick me
It’s not a replica. Have you people ever tried proper burgers at all?
I don’t think I’ve seen them around yet in my country, I’ll have a look around to see if I can get them to try
I’ve only had the Impossible Whopper, but I thought it was way too salty. Is it like that when you buy it in the store too?
The impossible whoppers are too thin and dry. Store ones are more like a normal 1/4 patty
I always put only pepper on my burgers so I didn’t notice
No they add extra salt to the whopper I too did not really enjoy the whopper
Good to know. Thanks.
Impossible burger is usually more salty than beef even before cooking. Not enough to be salty tasting, but if you’re trying to eat a low sodium diet they have a fair bit more than real beef.
More preservatives than a McDonald’s Happy Meal. No thanks.
I’ve had them before. The flavor is a bit different and the texture is a little softer, but it’s pretty close. All in all, they taste very good and they’re filling like a normal burger; albeit a little expensive compared to meat.
There was a period in 2020 and into 2021 beyond meat was cheaper than ground beef.
I am a vegetarian and do my best to avoid meat replacements, but I do miss meat balls and meatloaf. Beyond meat works well for both of those.
They are better now that they are not salty. For like a year they loaded them with a ton of salt.
I prefer the Impossible beef. I just think it tastes better.
Agreed. I bought Beyond Meat patties at Costco because mine was out of Impossible and I was sorely disappointed. Impossible or bust!
And it’s too bad…
People definitely buy up the impossible and ignore the beyond. They had the 10 pack on sale for $10 because it wasn’t moving. Wish I liked them more
One looks grey, the other red.
If they were cooked for the same amount of time, one of these is seriously “off”.
“Seriously off” is probably an exaggeration - I wouldn’t be surprised if you could observe just as big or even larger differences in colour of the meat just by using different breeds of cattle.
Also: one shrank when cooked, one didn’t 😬
…assuming they started out in the exact same size?
I mean, how else would you compare them unless they were the same size?
Did you not read the title or is this an attempt at vegan food bad?
I read the title. It said “vs”, so I logically thought it was a comparison? 😅
Alright, my bad. Calling it “off” sounded like you thought one of them had gone bad or were implying that it had. Both are colors that meat naturally takes when cooking and I think it’s normal for them to change colors at different rates
I understand, but my monkey brain tells me something is not right if meat is red or gray when I’m about to eat it. I guess my point is they’re not even close to replacing real meat.
I’m not vegan, but I’ll eat the hell out of a veggie burger if they finally nail it.
I’m an omnivore but I will smash a spicy bean burger in my face hole from time to time simply because they’re tasty… I don’t know if I like the idea of “meat replacement” - my brain just goes “why? I have meat… So I’ll eat that, why replace it?” I think the only way I’d switch is if it was actually better than a normal burger and priced comparatively.
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Wait… What???
The owner would invite me to fuck the cows sometimes. Whenever I finished with him…
The way this is phrased
What a rollercoaster
Jesus christ Lemmy
Sooo… rape then murder or the other way around?
A cow has to “artificial impregnated” every year so they lactate for
their babysomeones cornflakes and obviously to have a baby for the next burger.
I’d take both. Looks good to me
Both of these look pretty mediocre. wtf are you doing with the cheese? lmao
Melting it with the heat between thier thighs.
But who puts the cheese under the pattie?
Sociopaths, that’s who.
Who spells patty like that?
It’s funny how vegetarians/vegans are so in denial about their love of meat that they will spend endless amounts of money and effort trying to replicate it (and always miss the mark by a huge margin).
I don’t have any problem with meatless meals, I eat them often. But I also eat meat, because humans are omnivores and there is no better delivery system for the nutrients we need than a little meat here and there. Yes, most people eat way too much meat, but the solution isn’t to wipe it out entirely. And people talking about “ethical” and “poor animals”? Watch some nature documentaries. “We’re supposed to be more evolved/better/etc!” We’re animals, Karen, not some “god”-created, ordained, outside-of-evolution, special beings. Grow up, eat a burger, feel better without working yourself to death making some poor substitute for it, and join humanity. Which we are because we ate meat. You want to de-evolve into a lesser species of humanity by destroying actual meat and using a poor, inadequate substitute.
It’s pathetic. But of course, in-denial vegans/vegetarians will downvote this. Every downvote is further proof of your jealousy and hatred of reality.
I’m not sure how I am supposed to judge food based on pictures. It could look like dwarf barf, if it tastes and feel good it’s ok.
Wow. Can we please be more sensitive about little people? They are a small group that is usually overlooked. And just so you know, “dwarf barf” as you call it, looks the same as anyone else’s barf. Tastes the same too. A little sweeter, actually, because of all the little cookies they eat.
You had me in the first half, not gonna lie. It also made me notice that outside of rpg-based community what I said can be really out of place. Sorry about that :/
“I think they mean like, fantasy dwarves” -is what I was typing when I read the last sentence of your comment
Why are you on this community
To see nice pic of food. And you?
I can’t even tell which is which. Based on the beef patties I had last night, the right is the meat. But the left could be meat too - but cooked by a heathen on a very very low grill. But as you say, who cares if it tastes great? I don’t even need Beyond meat to taste like meat if it tastes delicious.
Gosh I love burgers. Meat, veggie, salmon…mmm
The one on the left looks like it’s been flame grilled, and the one on the right looks like it’s been baked in foil.
Which one is which?
