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Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

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Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#261

Post by sehutson »

michaelmior wrote: post #189
ergothus wrote: post #26

I've been a vegetarian for the last decade and change, and I simultaneously think that finding a cheaper, appealing alternative to meat is both a fantastic opportunity for the world and a really difficult thing. I used to love meat when I was a meat-eater, and I'm a fairly picky eater that dislikes many vegetable options. (Green peppers are nasty and food-destroying in my opinion, which immediately removes over half…

> Green peppers are nasty and food-destroying in my opinion, which immediately removes over half the vegetarian options out there I'm a flexitarian, but I'm pretty veggie heavy and have been mostly vegetarian for significant periods of time. I very rarely come across foods with green peppers.

I never noticed it until I finally committed to going fully vegetarian (and thus, stopped considering the non-veg options as possibilities if the veg option was unappealing...making unappealing vegetarian options a lot more noticeable). It doesn't happen everywhere, but I know what he/she is talking about.

In sandwich shops and some places with tacos and wraps, it's not uncommon to find just one dish that's properly vegetarian - often some mix of peppers, onions, squash, etc. I've always been puzzled by it, considering they tend to be somewhat polarizing vegetables. Something like beans, potatoes, rice, even corn - those things are much more broadly appealing, filling, and probably cheaper, too.

I also find that a lot of places/people don't know much about vegetarian cooking and they seem to think the only way to cure the blandness is to toss in peppers and onions.

Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#262

Post by dualogy »

asciimo wrote: post #121
maerF0x0 wrote: post #16

IMO they need to not only replicate flavor, but also macro nutrient profiles and a few other things like omega3s and CLA found in grass fed beef. I think we're better off cleaning up the meat industry than trying to make plants into meat. Fixing things like CAFOs and our corn subsidies could go a long way to a more sustainable meat.

Animals don't synthesize nutritious substances that you can't get out of plants. They are inefficient filters.

They're extremely efficient at synthesizing phospholipids, EPA, DHA, carnitine, choline, creatine, taurine, coenzyme Q10, carnosine, just from grazing on cellulose all day.. well they're way better at it than all the vegans I know.

Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#263

Post by [deleted] »

prodigal_erik wrote: post #259
nicklo wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you not find it unethical to serve your in-laws fake meat without informing them? Wouldn't you be upset if your in-laws served you seitan that was actually chicken? *edit: I bring this up because many people do not react well to meat substitutes. Gluten and soy intolerance affects many people and serving soy or gluten-based meat substitutes without prior informed consent can induce adverse reactions. I do believe…

There are people concerned about how soy might disrupt the endocrine system, and who don't broadcast this concern the way vegetarians do. Tricking them into eating it anyway is definitely unethical.

[deleted]

Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#264

Post by dualogy »

MOARDONGZPLZ wrote: post #45
maerF0x0 wrote: post #16

IMO they need to not only replicate flavor, but also macro nutrient profiles and a few other things like omega3s and CLA found in grass fed beef. I think we're better off cleaning up the meat industry than trying to make plants into meat. Fixing things like CAFOs and our corn subsidies could go a long way to a more sustainable meat.

Out of the set of mean eaters who this market would target, I really think the subset that thinks about or considers omega 3 and CLA in their meat is minuscule. I'm a very health conscious omnivore and honestly didn't even know there were omega 3s in beef. Guess that's another excuse for me to eat hamburgers...

> I'm a very health conscious omnivore and honestly didn't even know there were omega 3s in beef.

Here's a rule of thumb, fresh fatty meats (incl. eggs) contain all human micronutrients except for Vitamin C and so called "phytonutrients" (that usually only make it past our livers/kidneys by accident, as far as could be observed so far in-vivo).

Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#265

Post by tremon »

jimktrains2 wrote: post #146
downandout wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Decent imitations of highly processed meat exist already I am a meat eater and I can tell you that, in my experience, this simply isn't the case. Your opinion is colored by the fact that you really, really, want it to be a decent imitation because you're a vegetarian. Every imitation meat product I have ever tasted has been immediately recognizable as such, and was almost inedible. Unfortunately, the idea of fake me…

> Every imitation meat product I have ever tasted has been immediately recognizable as such, and was almost inedible. I am a vegetarian, and have been for about 8 years. I agree that the taste isn't a duplicate, but inedible that's a stretcher? > Unfortunately, the idea of fake meat that people won't notice is, at least today, a vegetarian fantasy. And I never understood why. I like the taste of vegetables. Needing t…

I think the whole idea behind "fake meat" components is due to the lack of vegetarian dishes in Western cuisine (speaking specifically for NL here, don't know much about the rest of Europe or US). That situation is changing very slowly, but ten to twenty years ago there was almost nothing.

Still, these imitation components strike me as tacky or cheap knockoffs. Even worse, for me they signal that even vegetarians can't go without the taste (or structure) of meat. I really wonder if their availability is a net positive for reducing meat consumption.

I consider myself quite a meat-eater, but I do enjoy properly thought-out vegetarian dishes (like Thai or Indian vegetable curry's), and I'm a big fan of main dish salads (usually with Feta cheese, walnuts or raisins). Still, when I do need to "replace" meat, I'd much rather go with nuts (mostly cashew, pine and almond) than any of the meat imitations.

Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#266

Post by AnkhMorporkian »

markbao wrote: post #151
munificent wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the problem here is that "vegan" is used to describe two different things: 1. A product that has been changed to not use any animal products. 2. A product that already fits within those constraints. Products in the former group have a history of being noticeably worse than their non-vegan counterpart, so "vegan" carries the stigma of "tastes worse than it looks". That stigma then wafts over to products in the…

That's a great point. I wonder if there's an elegant/clean way to denote that something is vegan but not changed to be vegan. "Naturally fat-free" is good, and the sort of plant logo that some restaurants use at least avoid the word "vegan" which may help.

> I wonder if there's an elegant/clean way to denote that something is vegan but not changed to be vegan.

Naturally free of animal products?

Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#267

Post by tim333 »

madengr wrote: post #253

"So, he decided to use yeast instead. By taking the soybean gene that encodes the heme protein and transferring it to yeast, the company has been able to produce vast quantities of the bloodlike compound". So it sold out at Whole Foods, and it's GMO. LMAO.

They have a bunch of GMO stuff http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/faqs-gmos

Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#268

Post by pappyo »

anotheryou wrote: post #237
pappyo wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know why chuck, I was just being snarky. :) I'm not going to sit here and pretend to know what, the good people of Impossible Foods, are doing. Way over my head. What I do know is recreating nature is hard work, with limited success.

ah sorry :) alright. As a non native vegetarian I don't even really know what "chuck" is, haha...

Ho! A learning opportunity. I know you're a vegetarian, but maybe this might interest you...or someone.

The chuck sub-primal cut is the shoulder of the cow. As you can imagine, the shoulder gets a lot of use while the cow is alive, so there is a lot of connective tissue which makes the cut tough (fwiw the muscles that are rarely used are the most tender to eat) However, a cow being a cow and not a horse, there is a good amount of fat interspersed within the cut. So while the cut is hard to eat like a typical steak, it has a wonderful meat to fat ratio which gives it good flavor if cooked properly (think stews and roasts). That ideal fat to meat ratio, combine with the grind making it more palatable, the ease of (mass) producing, and low price point for the cut, make it the cut of choice by distributors.

Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#269

Post by tim333 »

nradov wrote: post #209
timdellinger wrote: post #17

Adding heme is a brilliant idea - and I think high amounts of iron would make it a great product. There are a few things that are important to watch to make sure you get enough of when you're a vegetarian, and iron is one of them. (Women who donate blood have their blood tested for iron, and are sometimes surprised the learn that they're low in iron.)

Excess iron consumption is a risk factor for heart disease. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140423170903.h...

Glancing at that I'm guessing it's just that people who pig out on steaks and burgers tend to get more heart attacks and it correlates with iron consumption.

Re: Bloody Plant Burger Smells, Tastes and Sizzles Like Meat

#270

Post by ergothus »

downandout wrote: post #260
ergothus wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your response is logical, but ultimately not true for me. As a vegetarian, I'm weird. As a picky vegetarian, I'm even weirder. That's fine, I'm used to weird, and I don't expect people to cater to my weirdness. For me, it's not about specific taste. When I went vegetarian, I lost the taste for red meat. Last time I had it (10+ years now) it was NASTY - I remembered it tasting good, but it doesn't meet (ha!) that memo…

>Last time I had it (10+ years now) it was NASTY - I remembered it tasting good, but it doesn't meet (ha!) that memory. You seem very self-aware, which I view as a rare and positive trait. So here's a question that I am genuinely curious about: in light of the fact that you said you remembered meat tasting good prior to becoming a vegetarian, do you believe that it is unpalatable to you now because it actually tastes…

Pretty sure it was specific to the actual taste my brain was receiving - I consider pork to marginally ethically worse than beef, yet pork retained its good taste to me (at least then, no idea now, but I assume that's still true). Chicken and turkey and fish likewise remained tasty, but red meat tasted very greasy, a touch bitter, and otherwise tasteless.

It was actually very weird - I'd smell it, and remember the good taste, then have some and be quite startled how bad it seemed to me. (and again, other meats did not have that reaction). I have no idea if this is a matter of personal chemistry, a more intricate mental gymnastics than the one you propose, or is actually commonplace. To this day, the smell of KFC original recipe will make me salivate. (I once found an Indian place that had a veggie Pakora that tasted JUST LIKE THAT BATTER. Man I miss that)

For background: I went full vegetarian for 6 months in college, but stopped when I was seeing stars constantly. It's easy to get decent nutrition with a vegetarian diet, particularly as I'm not active, but microwaved rice and beans and mac n'cheese (my college diet) wasn't healthy enough. So I returned meat to my diet and that's when I found I didn't like red meat anymore. I imagine I could've taught myself to like it again, but I was content with the other meat options and had no more health issues. After a few years like this I noticed that a few foods (e.g. lettuce, baby spinach) that were previously on my "ick" list were now palatable, so I started dropping a meat a year, giving my taste and lifestyle time to adjust. After a few years of that, I was fully vegetarian, and my diet has expanded, though I still have a depressingly large "these foods don't taste good to me" list.

Why do I think pork is marginally than beef? I grew up in a rural-ish* area, and have a lower opinion of cows than pigs, in terms of intelligence and awareness. I similarly think a turkey is smarter than chicken, but we are talking literal bird brains at that point.

* rural-ish = a large town surrounded by farmland. State College, PA, for the curious.

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