While I'm primarily a meat eater, I will eat fake meat on occasion (long story, it has to do with being a JOOOO) and I've heard a lot about how good the new fake meats are. So today, I grabbed a package of Beyond Meat and made it for dinner.
While they utterly failed at creating an alternative to meat, they did an amazing job of creating a rubber substitute. I tasted the stuff raw, I tasted it when it first started to cook, I tasted it when it was done cooking. Each time, it was rubber. Flavorless rubber.
It's not even close to the existing fake meats, which often are not at all bad if you understand that it's not trying to taste like meat. Beyond Meat is pretty much inedible. The dog sniffed it and ate it, but it was like he was eating something he didn't really want. To test him, I took out a piece of the last cow we had slaughtered (sirloin, smoked last week) and he basically bit my hand off getting to it.
This stuff is fit for neither man nor dog.
Say....how come you have to abstain from meat....or eat fake meat?
Say....how come you have to abstain from meat....or eat fake meat?
I'm not the most observant person around, but I stick to the biblical elements of dietary restrictions. That means no pork, no shellfish and no mixing of dairy and meat. The biggest problem is the last one, cause lots of meat dishes have some form of dairy in them (whether it's a cheeseburger or even something as simple as milk in the bread that goes along with meat). I usually can get around it by either ordering something without the cheese or asking to have sauces left off, but if I'm in a hurry and I just need to grab something to eat, the fake meat is the easy answer.
WTF is fake meat made of? As a competition steak and bbq cook you can imagine I have never heard of such nonsense.
Say....how come you have to abstain from meat....or eat fake meat?
I'm not the most observant person around, but I stick to the biblical elements of dietary restrictions. That means no pork, no shellfish and no mixing of dairy and meat. The biggest problem is the last one, cause lots of meat dishes have some form of dairy in them (whether it's a cheeseburger or even something as simple as milk in the bread that goes along with meat). I usually can get around it by either ordering something without the cheese or asking to have sauces left off, but if I'm in a hurry and I just need to grab something to eat, the fake meat is the easy answer.
Interesting. Thanks.
Opens up a whole 'nother raft of questions! I suspect this is not the venue.
My dad talks about not being able to eat meat on Friday's.
Something about Lent too......I think.
We never did any of that stuff when I was a kid. Not sure if anyone does anymore.
No who’s being sentimental...
Say....how come you have to abstain from meat....or eat fake meat?
I'm not the most observant person around, but I stick to the biblical elements of dietary restrictions. That means no pork, no shellfish and no mixing of dairy and meat. The biggest problem is the last one, cause lots of meat dishes have some form of dairy in them (whether it's a cheeseburger or even something as simple as milk in the bread that goes along with meat). I usually can get around it by either ordering something without the cheese or asking to have sauces left off, but if I'm in a hurry and I just need to grab something to eat, the fake meat is the easy answer.
Interesting. Thanks.
Opens up a whole 'nother raft of questions! I suspect this is not the venue.
My dad talks about not being able to eat meat on Friday's.
Something about Lent too......I think.
We never did any of that stuff when I was a kid. Not sure if anyone does anymore.
I think the pope waived that rule.
Well who in the hell does he think he is??
You're thinking of no meat Fridays, originally started to support Peter the fisherman and his buddies.
Wasn't much of a penance in modern times, when I was a kid we'd go out for shrimp or something nice. Was said to have more meaning in Medieval times. But fast and abstinence rules still apply during Lent, not so much penance but as a reminder to examine your life.
Personally I'd have a hard time with the dairy/meat law. My buddy Jim would forgo pork but I don't think a nice, juicy cheeseburger.
Fake meat is becoming big business.
Not in South Dakota!
Does it pollute less per pound than those farting cows?
I think it’s made from pea protein. I tried it once, tasted boring.
SD is vegetarian. I make things with Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP). Made from soy. Comes as dry granules but once you reconstitute it with boiling water it turns out like ground beef. You can flavour it with artificial soup base and it’s not bad.
Wife is Russian Orthodox. They have four fasting periods in the year, the longest being Lent. For most, that’s no meat or dairy, though some will eat fish. She gets dispensation from her priest to have meat because of some dietary issues.
AFA fasting, it means abstaining from pleasurable things, too. Most include chocolate and alcohol, some go so far as to abstain from sex. I told her that wasn’t happening and it’s not been an issue, except in the three days she fasts prior to going to confession, which is only every 6-8 weeks..
Nothing so simple but I forgot, haft Google it. Can't sleep anyway. Standby.
Impossible Foods says 21 ingredients, this is among the top five:
"Impossible Foods uses genetic engineering to make ingredients that are essential to the taste and texture of its plant-based meat substitute: soy leghemoglobin (also known as heme) and soy protein. Soy protein replaced wheat protein as the main base for Impossible's second recipe, while soy leghemoglobin is responsible for making the patty taste like meat. "
so what's soy leghemoglobin?
Soy leghemoglobin is short for legume hemoglobin -- the hemoglobin found in soy, a leguminous plant. Leghemoglobin is a protein found in plants that carries heme, an iron-containing molecule that is essential for life.
And where do you get it for fake meat?
"In pursuit of the intended use in ground beef analogue products, the gene encoding a soy LegH was introduced into the genome of the yeast Pichia pastoris, enabling the production of high levels of soy LegH preparation (LegH Prep)"
IMHO less appetizing than "pink slime" (remember that one?).
Just think about it....when you eat some fake meat, you're saving the life of a fuzzy little animal with big brown eyes.
That should make you sleep good at night, and maybe have a chance to bang that vegetarian chick that you know at work.
You are a braver man than I.
So liberals are going crazy for GMO fake meat now? TFF!!!
Just think about it....when you eat some fake meat, you're saving the life of a fuzzy little animal with big brown eyes.
Yes but at the same time you're putting a hardship on cattle farmers and their families.
Have you seen Conrad's kids? Talk about fuzzy little critters with big brown eyes.
So liberals are going crazy for GMO fake meat now? TFF!!!
Isn't that something?
And they'll be paying something like $140.95 per case of 40 quarter pound burgers per case = $3.52 per burger .
Or $14.08 per pound.
Just think about it....when you eat some fake meat, you're saving the life of a fuzzy little animal with big brown eyes.
Yes but at the same time you're putting a hardship on cattle farmers and their families.
Have you seen Conrad's kids? Talk about fuzzy little critters with big brown eyes.
Haha!
Thanks Charlie. Yeah....they be wild animals sometimes.
I reckon the meat and dairy restriction would be tough. Like was mentioned before.......cheeseburgers!
They have been a great investment...
Why do people that don't want to eat meat have to have fake meat? Seems like a lack of commitment.
And if you're not supposed to eat meat for religious reasons, does substituting fake meat start to erode the point of fasting/abstinence?
Now, if a person can't eat meat for real (diagnosed by a medical professional) reason, then fake meat makes some sense.
Why do people that don't want to eat meat have to have fake meat? Seems like a lack of commitment.
And if you're not supposed to eat meat for religious reasons, does substituting fake meat start to erode the point of fasting/abstinence?
Now, if a person can't eat meat for real (diagnosed by a medical professional) reason, then fake meat makes some sense.
First, I have to add to the initial report on the taste of the fake meat with a post script...the stuff ain't friendly to the digestive system (I won't give the ugly details).
Second, the bottom line, for me, on substituting fake things for things that religion prohibits is that it definitely doesn't make sense. Religion requires you to accept certain things even if they seem illogical, and that's why so many people leave religion. I've raised the issue myself when turkey ham first came to market and my grandfather refused to touch it, saying that if it tastes like ham, it is ham. The rabbi I spoke to said that the point of all of this is to bring piety into everyday life, and when you stop to think about food and whether it complies with religious dictates, you are fulfilling a commandment and that, in and of itself, is the justification for allowing fake things that are pretty much indistinguishable from the real thing.
Personally, I think that's a rather weak argument, but there's lots of things about religion that defy logic.
Everything about religion defies logic.
Those dietary prohibitions that started in the Middle East (kosher or halal) were originally based on avoiding things that could be harmful. Pork at that time was probably full of trichinosis, for example. And shellfish spoiled in no time in desert heat. Avoiding them made sense.
Today, however, none of it holds water. Meat is safe, period. Refrigeration makes even shellfish safe for days or even weeks.
I agree totally that eating fake stuff because the real stuff is forbidden is beyond silly. I once gave a NASA speech to a group of Seventh Day Adventists, and they proudly offered me some "meatloaf" made of soy something. I asked them if it tastes like meat and you eat it as if it were meat, why not just eat meat? They were not happy.
As to good or bad fake meat, we eat quite a bit of Morningstar Farms "sausage" that's soy based and it's darn hard to tell from the real thing. Delicious, in fact.
If you have an Aldi grocery nearby, they have black bean burgers in their freezer section that are great. They also have some sort of other meatless burger that sucks, so stick with the black bean burger. They are even good on the grill.
If you have an Aldi grocery nearby, they have black bean burgers in their freezer section that are great. They also have some sort of other meatless burger that sucks, so stick with the black bean burger. They are even good on the grill.
My wife bought some of those a few years ago, not bad at all.
I wouldn't replace ground meat with them but I have no issues w the bean burger.
Funny that it’s called “ground beef analog” not fake beef.
Dietary laws these days are more ritual, tradition. Some find it helps their spiritual life. Others not so much.
Funny that it’s called “ground beef analog” not fake beef.
No way in hell they should be able to call it that.
Say....how come you have to abstain from meat....or eat fake meat?
I'm not the most observant person around, but I stick to the biblical elements of dietary restrictions. That means no pork, no shellfish and no mixing of dairy and meat. The biggest problem is the last one, cause lots of meat dishes have some form of dairy in them (whether it's a cheeseburger or even something as simple as milk in the bread that goes along with meat). I usually can get around it by either ordering something without the cheese or asking to have sauces left off, but if I'm in a hurry and I just need to grab something to eat, the fake meat is the easy answer.
Sounds to me like you've got some "issues."
That's OK, they're yours, not mine.
I'll not chastise anyone for their choices, as long as they don't start on my choices.
Had an interesting discussion with the last Vegan, that was into me about my rarish steak.
Conversation turned to tofu/bean curd, their protein of choice.
Asked how they felt about genetically modified foods.
They stated that they didn't like it & stayed clear of all modified foods.
Asked them if they'd ever looked into the soy curd/tofu ingredients.
Mostly soy bean !
Asked them if they knew that 99% of all of the worlds sowbean is GM.
That was the end of the conversation.
I asked him an honest question and he gave me an honest answer.
So piss off youse lot!
I imagine that fake meat will end up being terrible for ones health. Like all the trans hydrogenated crap that we were lied to about for years. When I was in school we were fed lots of soybean burgers and they were terrible. Probably much worse for you than beef.
Remsen!
Congratulations! You have discovered how to vulcanize fake meat!!!
You’re going to be a millionaire!!!!