Beyond Meat and the world of transition foods

[gracoman]

Eat your greens!

Beyond meat is not a philosophy, at least not in this case. It is a meat replacement company that I've been following for a while now. By meat replacement I mean transition foods, not a new way of life. However products like these are marketed they are no substitute for whole foods. What interests me most is their use of pea protein isolate as the protein as opposed to the ubiquitous soy protein isolate which everyone should avoid like the plague.

I've tried a few of their products out of curiosity and convenience but have really been waiting for their much touted Beast Burger to appear on the shelves. Well, they have arrived with their 16g/fat, 2g Sat fat, 480mg sodium, 23g protein per serving , and carrageenan.

Aside from pea protein isolate, there is another important difference between these burgers and others. The vitamin content. Not only do these burgers contain Vitamin D (Take a supplement. You are likely vitamin D deficient) but also B12, an essential vitamin mostly found in meat these days. It takes about 3 years to deplete your existing store of B12 after removing animal products from your diet so don't worry too much about that right now.

Transition foods are great for their convenience when convenience is what you need.

The long awaited Beast Burger frying in a bit of EVOO



Dressed Beast Burger between slices of Ezekiel 7 Sprouted Grains Bread



Not bad. A little pricey at $5.32 (if I remember correctly) for 2 patties but some of the best commercial frozen vegan burgers I've had.  The pea protein makes it a winner.

[gracoman]

Beyond Meat. The Future Of Protein-Making Meat Directly from Plants

I don't agree with all of the statements made in the above video but I do understand they are all about marketing.

[Deleted]

I haven't found a burger or sausage replacement that was palatable. If you recommend I'll try this one. I've had success with some of the faux chicken products and some of the meatless crumbles for things like tacos or pasta sauce. I recently found a soy chorizo product that is damn good mixed with gardein crumbles as a taco filling. They also sell a meatless meatball thats really very good with marinara and pasta.
gardein.com/
www.caciqueinc.com/products/cacique-soy-chorizo/

[gracoman]

Mar 20, 2016 13:44:24 GMT -5 @packinheat said:

I haven't found a burger or sausage replacement that was palatable. If you recommend I'll try this one. I've had success with some of the faux chicken products and some of the meatless crumbles for things like tacos or pasta sauce. I recently found a soy chorizo product that is damn good mixed with gardein crumbles as a taco filling. They also sell a meatless meatball thats really very good with marinara and pasta.
gardein.com/
www.caciqueinc.com/products/cacique-soy-chorizo/

I like Grillers from Morningstar Farms but they are made with eggs

You aren't at the point yet where you are not looking for meat replacements.  If you don't think of these as burger replacements (because they are not) but as something else with the same condiments you may feel better about them.  

Try Nortstar Cafe's Veggie burgers  because they are awesome.  Even the carnivores around me like them. Daiya "cheddar" non-dairy cheese will melt and lend a bit of cheesy texture and creaminess.

[gracoman]

Beyond Meat, the company that brought us The "Beast Burger" has announced its new Beyond Burger. The company is making some over the top claims about this new product and I'm more than just a little bit skeptical but plant based burgers are improving all the time. I'll try these first chance I get.

From the Beyond Meat web site:

How is The Beyond Burger different than the Beast?

The Beyond Burger™ is a ready-to-cook "raw" patty that looks, cooks, and tastes like a fresh beef burger, and it will be sold in the meat section of the store. The Beast is a precooked frozen patty shelved with other frozen items. Our goal in creating The Beyond Burger™ was to provide the full 360° mouth-watering, juicy, and delicious experience of beef but without so many of the health, environmental, and animal welfare downsides of traditional animal-based meat. On the other hand, we developed The Beast with nutrient density in mind, working with Brendan Brazier, a rockstar plant-based triathlete to develop it. The Beast has 23G of protein and a slew of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and omegas to help support performance and recovery for especially active folks.


Why is it in the meat section?

Great question. Part of our Future of Protein vision is to reimagine the meat section as the Protein Section of the store. In this way, we can help people on their journey to eating more plant-based by allowing them to purchase plant-based foods in the section of the store where they are already purchasing other forms of protein. No pun intended, but we are meeting people where they are in their food journey and offering an easy switch!

[gracoman]

Impossible Foods announce plans to bring the impossible burger to 1,000 eateries by year's end.

It's in the heme.

The article is misleading as the impossible burger is not lab grown meat.

A review- "In Manhattan, they sell them at a lunch joint called Momofuku Nishi. It costs the same as the other hamburgers there, which is to say around $12.

I had it with fries like a regular burger. The taste of the patty was like low-quality beef pretty well seasoned. The texture was a little stringy, but once again not out of the ballpark for beef. It had a slight bean-like aftertaste."

[gracoman]

I went through a Beyond Burger phase that lasted quite a long time. I didn't like them much at first but that quickly changed and I began having a couple always in my refrigerator for a quick and easy meal that was acceptable to my vegan side.

Vegan? Yes. Whole foods Plant Based? Not even close.

These things have plenty of fat and pea protein is a highly processed food. Granted, no animal fat, no heme iron, but fat nonetheless. Fat, salt and sugar are the enemies so I don't eat them anymore.

Smoked Beyond Burgers were my favorite



Beyond Burgers On the griddle. I liked to flatten them out a bit for more crust



First flip



With Daiya "cheeze" for added vegan fat and creaminess



One thing that always gets me is how everybody wants cheese on their burgers. By the time a burger is loaded with condiments (mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, pickle and whatever else - bacon and/or jalapeno come to mind - you can't even taste the cheese.

Any who, the real question is: Are Beyond Burgers acceptable to the community at large? I think they are. Let's be clear about this. The are not hamburger but they aren't bad either.  I prefer to make my own veggie burgers and cook them without any added oil in my air fryer.  These go well with fat free air fried "mustard fries".  Fat free Mustard fries are awesome but that's another post .

Sous Vide Burger Experiment

Give them a try. $5.99 for 2 Beyond Burgers is a little pricey but they won't kill you and may bring you a step closer to at least a Meatless Monday. Better for you and better for the planet.

[gracoman]

What's the skinny on Beyond Burgers and Impossible Burgers? 

Are these meat substitutes healthy foods or just more crap?

Beyond Meat or Beyond Health?

[gracoman]

For those not in the know, the fast food chain Carl's Jr has had Beyond Burgers on their menu since Jan of this year. There are no Carl's Jr's close enough for me to try one out but that changed earlier in the week because I was working a couple of blocks from one.

I stopped eating beyond burgers because they are high in fat, calories, sodium and made of highly processed pea protein. They are junk. But That's okay with me. Beyond Burger is not targeting vegans and/or vegetarians. Meat eaters are their target market. So while Beyond and Impossible burgers may mot be health foods, they are good for the planet. The planet I happen to live on. Everybody can eat themselves to death if they want. The less people there are here, the better off I'll be. Every little bit helps.

I'm also aware both Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger have changed, upgraded if you will, their products. The Impossible Burger 2 should start appearing just about everywhere sometime this year. Beyond Burger, not to be outdone, knows this and took appropriate action to hold onto their piece of the pie.

One big problem with the Beyond Burger, at least in my opinion, is they stink up your entire house when you cook them indoors. The smell lingers just like the smell of fried bacon lingers except its not a fried bacon smell.

Beyond Burgers taste okay, but just okay. So when I got the opportunity to try the new and improved version, and try it without cooking one in my house, I jumped.

Firstly, the Beyond Burger patty sold at Carl's Jr is much larger than the BB's I can buy in the meat dept at my local grocery store. The Beyond Star (at least that's what I think its called) is one big "burger". Secondly, it is fried on the same griddle as the meat burgers are. They are frying in beef fat. This is another indication Beyond Burger is not marketing this product to vegetarians. No self respecting vegetarian would go for that. Thirdly, they come standard with cheese and mayonnaise. I wasn't thinking when I ordered one and got the cheese and mayo. Fourthly, (is that a word?) and this is a good thing, each Carl's Jr Beyond Burger is made fresh to order. There are no BB's hanging out underneath a heat lamp waiting for the next schmuck to drive through. I waited in the parking lot in my truck for the Carl's Jr employee to bring it out to me.

This thing was great! Fantastic if you will. I don't know if it was the new ingredients, or the fact it was fried in other real burger grease, but I can't believe any meat eating burger fanatic would say this was a bad burger. One more little piece of the planet has been saved for me. Real progress has been made. Go to Carl's and try one. See for yourself. You won't be disappointed. Neither will I.

[gracoman]

Food manufacturers (yes, foods like this are manufactured) and restaurants are feeling the heat. Heck, Even that loud mouth Gordon Ramsey. The writing is on the wall. Has been for some time. But is it the people who still don't get it or is it the suppliers. This stuff almost all junk..

Real food is grown, not manufactured. If there is a list of ingredients on the package, you aren't doing yourself any favors by eating any of this stuff. Use it as transition food if you must. That's okay. But remember, what's good for the planet may not be good for you. This is an important distinction. Don't rely on any of this stuff. Read labels. Look for fat, sodium, sugar and processed ingredients.


Ingredient list for Engine 2 Italian Fennel Plant Burgers:
Brown rice
Garbanzo beans
Salt
Spinach
Caramelized onion
Red Quinoa
Roasted garlic puree
Sundried tomatoes
Fennel
Ground Flaxseed
Fennel seed
Thyme
Sage
Black Pepper

Total fat 1gm (1% daily value)
Saturated fat 0
Trans fat 0
Polyunsaturated fat .5gm
Cholesterol 0
Sodium 85mg (4% daily value)
Carbs 19gm (7% daily value)
Dietary fiber 4gm (14% daily value)
Total sugars 1gm
Added sugars 0
Protein 4gm

Beyond Burger VS Impossible Burger

[gracoman]

This April, April 2019, the Red Robin chain of burger restaurants added the Impossible Burger to its menu. The closest Red Robin to me is about 30 min away so I'm not going to break any speed records in getting there to try one but I will most certainly get there sooner or later. RR seems to have the same deal going on as Carl's Jr does with the Beyond Burger. Impossible burger is served with plenty of dairy-based cheese and probably cooked on the same griddle or grate (I have no idea if their burgers are griddled or flame broiled) as their meaty counter parts. Doesn't matter. It's part of a quickly growing world wide trend that I'm happy to see.

[gracoman]

So Beyond Meat's new burger and sausages have finally come to my town. I've been waiting for this, but not with high expectations in the health department.

Here they are

The burgers promise to be "now even meatier".  Whatever that means.  What I see through the packaging is globules of plant based fat.  Hmmmm...

The "Italian Sausages" look a lot like cheap hot dogs.  You know, the kind you eat when yer broke.  Hmmmm...

I don't know what these things are but I'm going to find out so stay tuned.

[gracoman]

The new "meatier" Beyond Burgers frying hard in my 12" carbon steel skillet


They look better, they have better texture and they are thicker. The new and improved version is indeed new and improved. And they didn't stink up my house nearly as much. The new Beyond Burgers should appeal to a wider audience. Slap on a little cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato, mustard and ketchup and they are a great alternative. That's how I served them. Still not ground beef but the improvements keep inching their way closer.

I wish I could get my hands on a couple of Impossible Burgers for a comparison. They should be available soon at least that's what I keep hearing. But I know Impossible Burger is having issues with keeping up with the demand.

The competition between Beyond Burger and Impossible Burgers is driving these improvements. Good for water conservation and a step towards ending vegetable and lettuce contamination via cow manure run off. Methane reduction. Land usage etc.

The Beyond Sausage, Hot Italian Style, has got the flavor but not much heat. They also lack the texture of honest to goodness Italian sausage. They are closer to the texture of hot dogs which will have to change if these are going to really take off with the meat eating crowd. Not bad though. We ate these plain in hot dog buns to get a better idea of what they actually are. Grilled with onion, peppers and perhaps topped with melted mozzarella or provolone, these should be acceptable to just about anyone. I'm not feeling them in pasta sauce though but I will try that. The Beyond Sausages were also expensive where as the new Beyond Burgers have dropped in price. I believe the 4 pack of sausages was pushing $8.00. $2.00/sausage is kinda steep

Beyond Sausages frying hard in the same skillet I cooked the burgers in. Browning any Beyond Burger product is absolutely necessary and I prefer them all well done.


Sorry but no plated pics. I had a rough day at the "office" and really just wanted to eat and go to bed but you get the idea.

Now here's the kicker. Look at that grease after frying in a ungreased fry pan. Health food it ain't.  Marbled Juiciness translates into fattier heart attack food.

[gracoman]

I'm frying the second two Hot Italian Beyond Sausages for use in my world famous pasta sauce for dinner .

A long, long time ago, I learned, from Italian Grandmothers, the hallmark of great Italian cooking is to keep it simple, use few ingredients, but make them the finest ingredients money can buy. I always use some of the finest imported DOT San Marzano tomatoes available. I always use some of the finest imported olive oil (for me, this is from Spain not Italy) and now I will use the finest domestic pea protein based faux Italian "sausages" in place of the finest pressed tofu I normally throw in.

That's right....

Stay tuned again

[gracoman]

The olive oil

The DOP San Marzano Tomatoes
Oh these tomatoes... a simple sauce made from these tomatoes, a bit of fresh garlic, fresh basil and Italian parsley is to die for. And no added salt.