Round 1: grilled
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?
Who spells patty like that?
Sociopaths, that’s who.
I’m gonna need an explanation of your bun situation. From here that looks like you’re using extra wide english muffins or something.
Are we just glossing over the colour and plasticity of the cheese too?
Nothing is that orange and shiny
Pre-cut Cheddar definitely is
That looks like cheddar cheese.
What
That’s not fucking cheddar, that’s fucking plastic shite.
No, that’s cheddar. American cheese is way lighter in color.
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It looks like Kerrygold pre sliced cheddar or the like. Usually it gets a bit sweaty as it melts.
Melted cheese is, throwing cheese on the patty for the last part of cooking is what I do.
Found the euro
I eat a vegan “cheese” that gets funky vibrant colored when heated.
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Well you said nothing gets that orange, so I pointed out something that does and I’m wondering if maybe that’s it. Someone eating Beyond Meat might also eat vegan cheese right? The relevance seems pretty clear to me.
They forgot to cook the chips too.
I hate to just shit on things but overall this is a pretty sad looking pile of food IMO.
It could be home-baked buns, they are incredibly delicious.
It could be, or it could be hard tack. We need answers!
It looks like pita bread
Unlike most hamburger buns, that looks like bread.
Except the vegan option is equally or more unhealthy depending on what kind of ground beef you choose.
Oreos and Doritos are also vegan, just because somethings vegan doesn’t mean it’s healthy, pretty sure most people with a little bit of sense understand this already
They are not marketed as a healthy alternative. They are significantly better for the environment.
They’re not.
Significantly lower carbon emissions and significantly lower water usage. Where are you getting that they are not better for the environment?
But much healthier for the cow, which I think is the reason a lot of folks are interested. Those eating plant-based for health alone are probably more likely to go for a lentil or black bean patty than Beyond/Impossible Meat.
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.
Good job making them both look equally unappealing
Mouth must be broken bro
Sorry, the app I’m using only lets me view the post with my eyes, I can’t actually taste it with my mouth, so unfortunately even if it’s delicious all I can judge it on is how it looks.
A good photo of a burger: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Classic-Juicy-Hamburger-Recipe-Square.jpg
A bad photo of a burger: https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0a/20/a7/39/gross-burgers.jpg
Hopefully this explains my comment in a way that is easier to understand. It could be my fault though, maybe the general agreement is that this community is for photos of things that taste good but look bad?
I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, it’s not an attractive picture at all. That said, I though both of your photos looked delicious.
👍
One of these two costs about 150% more than the other and it’s not the hamburger.
One of those is heavily subsidized by your taxes, the other is less so. Steak would be $35/lb without subsidies.
One of these probably contains about 3 ingredients, the other, has 20 (and beyondmeat is one of the less bad meat alternatives with regards to this).
Water, pea protein*, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein, natural flavors, dried yeast, cocoa butter, methylcellulose, and less than 1% of potato starch, salt, potassium chloride, beet juice color, apple extract, pomegranate concentrate, sunflower lecithin, vinegar, lemon juice concentrate, vitamins and minerals (zinc sulfate, niacinamide [vitamin B3], pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], cyanocobalamin [vitamin B12], calcium pantothenate).
Really tame list of ingredients tbph. All the scary sounding ones are vitamins.
Like I said, beyondmeat is one of the less bad options. But let’s not kid ourselves that they’re automatically more healthy. They fall squarely into the ultra processed “foods” category.
Looking at the ingredients of some no meat meatballs from a supermarket and the fourth biggest ingredient is palm oil. They also contain methyl cellulose and dextrose whatever the hell they are!
shit like antibiotics to boot.
This may be true in some parts of the world, but not all.
Due to concerns about the potential risk to humans, the use of hormonal growth promoters for livestock is banned in the UK. Antibiotic growth-promoting feed additives have also been phased out - because of concerns about the potential spread of antibiotic resistance.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cattle-health#hormonal-treatments-and-antibiotics-for-cattle
Saturated fats have a bad name, but the real issue is excess, a burger now and then is fine, is when you have it as a regular part of your diet rather than a treat that it becomes problematic.
Strikes me here that the word “processed” just gets bent to prove a point about these specific foods. The main issue with it is it’s a pretty high-fat food. That’s a given, since its whole purpose is to emulate a burger. Anyone who’s eating any kind of “burger” that’s not a full blown veggie burger on a regular basis should cut it out. As for burgers in general, you’re probably marginally better off with pea/rice protein + canola/coconut oil than beef, though something like that doesn’t have like a blinking green neon scientific proof behind it.
That’s ultra processed shit. You shouldn’t eat that.
shit. You shouldn’t eat that.
All food in the US is shit.
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?
We should make a “just alright food” community
Could be a sister community of https://dimlylitmealsforone.tumblr.com/
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
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.
What kind of animal testing could they even do? Lol. Feed the burger to a dog?
The leghemoglobin was, yeah. Tested on rats for allergen safety to achieve fda approval. Not vegan because in testing like this the rats are both robbed of their autonomy and they have to be killed afterward (which they were, and almost 200 of them)
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
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
I hope to see more of your essay comments on food posts in the future. This is the kind of engagement I live for.
Thanks for the interesting write up.
Why are you required by law to say you don’t eat meat?
It was a bad joke
I think it’s a joke based on the stereotype of vegans being very outspoken about it.
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.
That’s pretty disgusting ultra processed shit.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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)
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.
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 can’t wait for lab-grown meat.
“From lab to slab!”
…without a stab!
But it tastes bad
Reminds me of Better off Ted
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
Had Beyond a few times, it’s really impressive. I’m not a vegetarian (sorry) but rather a meat reducer. Keep making stuff like this available and I and many people like me will have no more excuses.
No prob. Veggie here, we’re all just glad people are open to trying.
If there’s one hard rule I and others believe in, don’t waste your food, especially the meat.
Oh agreed, that’s well ingrained in me and seems quite ingrained in British culture in general (I think it has wartime origins, but more because meat was expensive). I and everyone else I know, if we’re out at a meal and getting full the first thing anyone does is start fishing around for the bits of meat to make sure they don’t go to waste.
I really like fake chicken, but fake beef just isn’t there for me yet.
IMO:
Fake chicken - almost indistinguishable in many cases
MOST fake beef (especially the likes of Quorn which I quite dislike) is nowhere near yet, I agree. Beyond though? I’m really impressed, I can hardly tell.
Fake pork i.e. veggie sausages - long way to go. Oddly enough Richmond seem about the best. Most are way too dense and heavy for my liking.
Every day is progress though
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?
I personally think the flavour is off but the texture is good, I personally prefer impossible burger
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?
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.
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
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?
Better than most fake burger patties but still a big ways back from Impossible
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.
More preservatives than a McDonald’s Happy Meal. No thanks.
They are better now that they are not salty. For like a year they loaded them with a ton of salt.
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