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Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

nytimes.com

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Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#341

Post by stevejb »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #229
alpaca128 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just out of interest, what's the reasoning behind a strict separation of the two? I understand it in the case of gluten free products because that can really have health implications, but when you are vegan for ethical reasons it shouldn't make a difference, right? But I'd say this is great news either way. I like meat, but when there's a way to get the same taste and texture without the bad consequences for animals…

> what's the reasoning behind a strict separation of the two? Some observant Jews choose a vegetarian option because vegetarian things are kosher by default. But if the veggie patty is cooked on the same grill as both meat and cheese, then the veggie patty becomes (according to some views) non-kosher. This is because kosher stipulates strict separation of meat and dairy: separate grills, separate sinks to wash any di…

I don't think that Burger King is getting a Kosher certification any time soon, so I would think that those who don't require a restaurant to be properly certified understand the risks that they are taking.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#342

Post by marzell »

Pfhreak wrote: post #2

April fools day is a tough day to make this announcement. But I'm genuinely thrilled to see this. Hopefully some non zero percentage of customers give this a try and reduce the amount of meat in their diet. That said, I don't expect that non zero percentage to be very high without a lot of marketing.

I think it's a great opportunity for exposure for these new meat alternatives, and also a potentially great income boost that will help them expand operations and secure their future business.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#343

Post by lifeisstillgood »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #276
scott_s wrote: post #174

The Impossible Burger is the best veggie burger I've ever had. I was a vegetarian for 10 years, and have now been a pescatarian for 8 years. It has been 18 years since I have had a proper cheeseburger, and since then I have had many thousands of veggie burgers. Cheeseburgers are probably my favorite food, and I haven't had one in 18 years. If someone told me that the world would end tomorrow, I would go out and eat a…

Veg ns often fail to understand how important texture is to meat eaters when it comes to replicating a meat product so that it will appeal to meat eaters. Additionally, a lot of veg ns are also extremely health conscious, and so they tend to avoid a lot of unnecessary fat in their diet. A lot of chefs will say "fat is flavor," which is true, but what's also true is that fat conveys flavor. It sticks to surfaces in pl…

(off topic) Is there any reason you seem to have replaced the a in vegan with an asterisk? It happened twice so I am guessing it was not a typo? I am just curious? Is it like x86 or something?

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#344

Post by sah2ed »

ebg13 wrote: post #271
joshgachnang wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes, you need something fast, cheap, and easy, so it's nice to have some fast food items in mind that have reasonable calories and macros. A great example is when I'm driving long distance, I'll swing by CFA if possible.

> I'll swing by CFA if possible. Uh... http://cfa.org ?

Chick-fil-A

https://www.chick-fil-a.com/

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#345

Post by el_benhameen »

jasode wrote: post #317
rednerrus wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Because I want to have a drive through vegetarian hamburger and I want it to have it anywhere in the country...

I heard the following business story about McDonalds salads and I don't know if it's true but it sounds plausible: Apparently, McDonalds salads are not directly all that profitable for them. So why do they offer them as an menu option?!? Because there is often one member in the car that would veto going to McDonald's if they didn't have a salad as an alternative to a meat burger. E.g. if mom vetoes McDonalds, they wo…

Makes sense. Sometimes the kid and I need something to do when it's dark or rainy and other things are closed, and the McDonald's down the road has a play area. Having something at least nominally healthy on the menu (nutrition of the dressing aside) makes going there an easier choice for me.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#346

Post by castig »

Pfhreak wrote: post #2

April fools day is a tough day to make this announcement. But I'm genuinely thrilled to see this. Hopefully some non zero percentage of customers give this a try and reduce the amount of meat in their diet. That said, I don't expect that non zero percentage to be very high without a lot of marketing.

Yes!

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#347

Post by notwhereyouare »

belltaco wrote: post #74
notwhereyouare wrote: post #11

I tried the impossible burger and personally didn't notice a difference. The boyfriend tried a bite, and liked it, but could taste something off. I'm kinda excited to see where both the impossible burger goes, and where other restaurants take this. Also for the price to come down, it was like $3 more than the boyfriend's burger

There's a version 2.0 with different ingredients that supposedly tastes even closer to real meat. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18855695 I tried version 1 and it tasted indistinguishable from meat.

I may have tried V2. I didn't actually try it until maybe early march

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#348

Post by scott_s »

alexmingoia wrote: post #338

If you want a cheaper alternative to the Beyond Burger or Impossible Burger, try MorningStar's "Meat Lovers" burger. IMO it's just as good, with 27g of protein and without as much saturated fat.

For me, there is no comparison - and I say this as someone with a freezer full of Morningstar Farm veggie burgers and has consumed thousands of that brand in my life. The Meat Lovers burger is basically just a bigger Grillers Prime. Before cooking an Impossible Burger, it looks like ground beef, and the resulting veggie burger has striations and the cohesion yet crumbling nature of a real burger. Both the Meat Lovers and Grillers Prime look basically the same before and after cooking. (So much that my parents affectionately call them "hockey pucks.")

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#349

Post by danans »

int_19h wrote: post #337
danans wrote: post #187

The most interesting thing about this particular announcement is that it may normalize plant-derived meat-substitutes among the typical fast-food-burger eating population, and not just the mostly-vegetarian folks (like myself) who will spend $10 on an Impossible Burger at a fancy sports bar. Within a decade this might just be normalized, and nobody will make much of it.

Yep. I'm not at all a vegetarian, but I will definitely try it, and if it's as good as they say, I see no reason to not prefer it. There's a small subset of the population for whom meat consumption is some kind of cultural statement, but most really only just care about taste, I think. If the same taste can be had in a healthier package and without killing anything, it's a win-win.

> There's a small subset of the population for whom meat consumption is some kind of cultural statement

There are actors in the cultural discourse that are already trying to make large scale meat consumption a cultural authenticity issue, especially if you read some of the nativist criticism of the Green New Deal [1]

I don't think that line of manipulation will go away, as it always will have some cultural currency with a subset of the population, but eventually the economics of the meat substitutes will win out, and "real meat" will become more of a special occasion thing, like truffles.

1. https://www.eater.com/2019/3/1/18246220/aoc-green-deal-burge...

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#350

Post by kevinmchugh »

jandrese wrote: post #107
BoorishBears wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mayonnaise and cheese alone probably add almost as many calories as a hamburger patty some of their burgers

Mayo and cheese might be skipped if the person is trying to be more vegetarian. I've always found mayo to be unnecessary and kind of gross on burgers anyway. It's only useful if your meat is lousy or you've overcooked it really badly.

Many high-quality burgers have mayo by default. Au cheval/small cheval come to mind. Mayo is useful for adding flavors, and can protect the lower bun from water-based liquid penetration that would weaken the structural integrity.
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