Beyond Meat Burger and Impossible Burger 2.0

[Huston55]

I think it's interesting the way they package Beyond Meat. Morningstar Farms is like fake meat in a box. Beyond Meat looks like real hamburger. Psychological marketing works. It's probably a great product if you're looking to satisfy eating a hamburger craving without eating a hamburger. Beans and rice work just fine for me. Getting the protein is what's important.


Once in a great while, I'll splurge on a small prime cut filet mignon. I'm not attracted to beef other than that, no matter what form or disguise it comes in.

In our Safeway, it’s also in the meat display case, right next to the hamburger.

 

[brewer12345]

I'm not attracted to beef other than that, no matter what form or disguise it comes in.

For all that my freezer looks like Noah's ark, I really have no interest in beef. I might eat it once a year.

 

[Rianne]

For all that my freezer looks like Noah's ark, I really have no interest in beef. I might eat it once a year.

Please explain that. What meat do you have in your freezer?

 

[brewer12345]

Please explain that. What meat do you have in your freezer?

I am a hunter and I enjoy being in the field, even when the weather is "less than ideal" (went on a 2 night camping/hunting trip last weekend next to a 3000 acre frozen lake and endured near zero temps and high winds during part of it). Since I like being in the field in pursuit of game, I tend not to be too picky about what I hunt even if I have a hard time actually connecting (geese) or the hunt is physically strenuous/cold. My hunts are frequently mixed bag (might bring home as varied a haul as squirrel, carp, rabbit, jackrabbit, dove, duck and snipe in one day). Off the top of my head, the freezer has: pork, chicken, turkey, quail, merganser (duck-ish bird), coot, dove, cottontail, jackrabbit, fox squirrel, Abert's squirrel, blue grouse, cackling goose, mule deer, elk, teal. Might be a few others that escape me at the moment, but no beef.

 

[ER Eddie]

No thanks. I think it's important to avoid vegetable oils (canola oil and sunflower oil). I'm also not happy to see potato starch, maltodextrin, citrus fruit extract, and modified food starch listed -- these are all just basically code names for sugar. I'm not a fan of pea protein rather than animal protein. And I can do without having bamboo chips in my food.

In general, I think avoiding processed foods is one of the most important things we can do for our health. I try not to eat anything with more than about 3 ingredients.

 

[Rianne]

I'm also not happy to see potato starch, maltodextrin, citrus fruit extract, and modified food starch listed -- these are all just basically code names for sugar.

These ingredients turn into glucose in the body and can up glucose levels in the blood. Starch does that. DH food scientist (Phd). Although, they are in minute amounts. The role they play in flavoring, mouth feel, shelf life are all a concern with processed foods. But, many of the chemical additives to processed food help eliminate salmonella, e coli, listeria, c botulinum, campylobacteriosis. Food companies like to prevent lawsuits. Fresh foods cannot guarantee prevention to these food borne illnesses. One can only take precautions, plastic gloves, wash like crazy, sanitize cutting boards, cook fully etc.

I'm a non processed food person, DH eats lots of processed foods. I try to stick to the basics, eggs, beans, rice, fresh fruits/veggies and frozen veggies. Meat every so often.

 

[joeea]

No thanks. I think it's important to avoid vegetable oils (canola oil and sunflower oil). I'm also not happy to see potato starch, maltodextrin, citrus fruit extract, and modified food starch listed -- these are all just basically code names for sugar.

Hint: Read the nutrition information on the label. It will tell you how many carbs per serving you would be eating.

 

[Chuckanut]

While I am not a big one for what I consider factory made foods, from what I have heard eating an Impossible Burger is worth wandering off the farm.

 

[redduck]

Thanks for the tip, Midpack. I tried a The Beyond Burger patty for lunch today (bought a package of two patties at Pavilions/Vons). The patty looks very much like hamburger. It was well-seasoned and smelled good after cooking. Easy to cook. Not exactly like a hamburger tastes, but I thought it tasted quite good. From reading the posts in this thread, I have no idea if this product is healthier than eating hamburger.

 

[Eagle43]

We've been eating the BMB for a year or so and really like it. Also, Beyond Meat sausage is good. Taste and texture in both are good. Never had the impossible burger.

That said, I like real hamburgers. There's a local hamburger place called Kincaids which serves the best burgers, and I'd wager if you like burgers you would love these. Popeyes chicken and shrimp are hard to beat. Also Popeyes red beans + rice and potatoes + gravy are excellent sides.

 

[Midpack]

We've been eating the BMB for a year or so and really like it. Also, Beyond Meat sausage is good. Taste and texture in both are good. Never had the impossible burger.

That said, I like real hamburgers. There's a local hamburger place called Kincaids which serves the best burgers, and I'd wager if you like burgers you would love these.

I don't have any problem finding great (gourmet) burgers, and I do eat them about once a month. But it's nice to have a healthier (than ground beef) alternative at home. I've never had a chicken, turkey or black bean burger that I thought was a decent substitute - they taste like pretend burgers to me. YMMV

 

[redduck]

I had the second patty today. It was as good as yesterday's. I figure eating these instead of ground beef burgers cuts my chance of contracting mad cow disease by at least a third (just an uneducated guess).

 

[FIREarly]

Beyond meat is delicious! Learned about it from Whole Foods. The ground "beef" mixed with 365 salsa is really good!! FYI, 365 salsa is the Whole Foods brand salsa.

 

[zippy2020]

We haven't tried the Beyond Burger, but have tried the Impossible Burger. It does have the texture of ground beef when cooked. There is a very slight starchiness to it, but the flavor and texture overall is very good, as close to ground beef as one can come.

Two things about it:
1) it seems to cook faster than ground beef, so times need to be adjusted.
2) it can be difficult to get that dark "crustiness" to the exterior. If you don't achieve that, the IB patty tastes like the old-style soda fountain burgers, especially if it's a thin patty instead of a thick one.

The Impossible Burger folks bought an old pasta factory in Oakland, CA and moved operations there. The expanded manufacturing facilities will allow them to begin roll-out of retail "by the pound" sales starting in 2019 in a gradual roll-out.

 

[Doc Holiday]

My minor concern about Impossible Burger 2.0 is that it uses heme (presumably to give a taste of blood/juice) that is produced by genetically modified yeast.

FWIW, I'm a physician and agree that fresh red meat is less likely a harm than processed meats (including "natural" ones that use celery or beet juice as preservatives, which turn into nitrites that are the most obvious concern).

Given that I have a teenage daughter who has become vegetarian (like a lot of teenage girls!), we eat very little meat. For us, it is mostly about health and the rest about not killing animals if we don't need to. (No problem whatsoever with hunters).

 

[FREE866]

I love them both!

Plant based protein is clearly the future. Tyson Foods is actually coming out with a version soon which is shocking and then today I saw this:

https://vegnews.com/2019/2/jeff-bez...stment-to-create-next-vegan-impossible-burger

 

[TempusFugit]

We normally prefer Morningstar Farms Garden Burgers when we make burgers but at the Epcot food and wine festival last year we tried the[FONT=&quot] IMPOSSIBLE™ Burger Slider with Wasabi Cream and Spicy Asian Slaw on a Sesame Seed Bun.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]We liked it a lot and are looking forward to seeing this product in the stores.
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[zedd]

I would be curious to understand your motivation for avoiding beef. I'm reading into your post, I assume that's what you are doing.

I raise beef. I finish them on grass and all the beyond organic apples they want. If your only exposure to beef is of the corn/grain finished variety in the supermarket , then yeah I can understand where you are. Beef finished in a feedlot is a crime.

All beef STARTS on grass. How they are finished matters.

 

[explanade]

So when meat is marketed as grass-fed, it's only the last couple of months?

Or do you have to get organic to get beef which is fed grass throughout its life.

Is free-range chicken from animals which were cooped up most of their lives until let out to roam for the last few weeks or months of their lives too?

 

[audreyh1]

So when meat is marketed as grass-fed, it's only the last couple of months?

Or do you have to get organic to get beef which is fed grass throughout its life.

Is free-range chicken from animals which were cooped up most of their lives until let out to roam for the last few weeks or months of their lives too?

Grass fed beef - only ever eaten grass. Never in a feedlot. Never fed corn which actually makes cows sick and requires treatment with antibiotics.
Organic beef - Different criteria - the feed is organic.
Free-range chickens - always free-range, never caged.

 

[Rianne]

I would be curious to understand your motivation for avoiding beef. I'm reading into your post, I assume that's what you are doing.

I raise beef. I finish them on grass and all the beyond organic apples they want. If your only exposure to beef is of the corn/grain finished variety in the supermarket , then yeah I can understand where you are. Beef finished in a feedlot is a crime.

All beef STARTS on grass. How they are finished matters.

What happens in between STARTS and finished?

 

[zedd]

My method is grass-finished, as described above. I vaccinate and worm but never use steroids. Antibiotics are used to treat a specific problem and never as a blanket strategy. Our beef live a good life and are harvested on the ranch by a mobile abattoir. No stress from being chased, herded, loaded on trucks and shipped across the country.

The other method is CAFO - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation. Hundreds, actually thousands of animals are concentrated in huge densely packed feed lots. Disease would be rampant if not for the mandatory use of steroids and antibiotics. The animals are force fed grain (usually corn) and protein (fish byproducts or chicken manure, whichever is most cost effective.) Additionally they are fed supplements to make the feed palatable. This is where non-grass finished beef comes from as found in the supermarket and restaurants.

If you care about what you eat and want to know how your food is produced, get to know your farmer

 

[Midpack]

Update: We tried the Beyond Meat Hot Italian sausage tonight, and a couple nights ago. It’s an even better replacement than the burgers in terms of looks, taste and texture in our view. We’d go so far as to say if you used the Beyond Meat Italian sausage in a dish, no one would know it was meatless unless you told them. Wow!

Again, for those looking for non meat protein alternatives. Not a thread to debate meat vs non, please start another thread if you want that discussion.

 

[brewer12345]

My method is grass-finished, as described above. I vaccinate and worm but never use steroids. Antibiotics are used to treat a specific problem and never as a blanket strategy. Our beef live a good life and are harvested on the ranch by a mobile abattoir. No stress from being chased, herded, loaded on trucks and shipped across the country.

The other method is CAFO - Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation. Hundreds, actually thousands of animals are concentrated in huge densely packed feed lots. Disease would be rampant if not for the mandatory use of steroids and antibiotics. The animals are force fed grain (usually corn) and protein (fish byproducts or chicken manure, whichever is most cost effective.) Additionally they are fed supplements to make the feed palatable. This is where non-grass finished beef comes from as found in the supermarket and restaurants.

If you care about what you eat and want to know how your food is produced, get to know your farmer

I have taken to buying meat straight from the farm, specifically pork. I drive past a gigantic feedlot and a big dairy on the way to my hunting grounds. No way I am eating that stuff.

 

[Huston55]

Update: We tried the Beyond Meat Hot Italian sausage tonight, and a couple nights ago. It’s an even better replacement than the burgers in terms of looks, taste and texture in our view. We’d go so far as to say if you used the Beyond Meat Italian sausage in a dish, no one would know it was meatless unless you told them. Wow!

Again, for those looking for non meat protein alternatives. Not a thread to debate meat vs non, please start another thread if you want that discussion.

Excellent, we’ll have to try it. We normally buy “Field Roast” veggie sausage and love it.