Beyond Buger: A first taste review!

A few weeks ago, I had decided to give the Beyond Burger a bit of a try. Normally, they are pretty expensive compared to the other vegetarian options and well... we have a butcher nearby that does some really great burgers made with good and ethically sourced meat. However, despite that... we (my wife and girls..) are trying to transition to a diet that has less meat... or at least less quantity and better quality if we do eat it.

Now, with Beyond Burger recently in the news with a huge spike in stock price (about 10x from the IPO price) and their competitor Impossible Foods also taking a bit of the limelight... I thought it would be a good idea to revist the experience and my initial thoughts. These patties (I picked up two packs of 2, total 4 patties) were on sale as they had expiration dates for that day (or the day after)... which put them in a more competitive price region, and I was really curious to see how the fake meat revolution was shaping up.

Now, for me... I do love the vegetarian alternatives to meat... however, most often I do prefer it if they are not trying to imitate meat... but are instead just good vegetable based dishes. I have tried some things from the Vegetarian Slager (butcher) and it is nice... but I really wish they weren't trying to imitate the texture and taste of chicken or mince or whatever it is that they are emulating. However, I do know that there are many people who do like the texture and taste of the meat based dishes, and so trying to approach from that direction is a good way to capture more people into the "eat less meat" movement.

When you first pull them out... they are packaged in a similar way to meat patties. They have a similar colour and almost the same squishy feel... however, the texture is just a little bit off... the patty doesn't quite hold together in the same way as a mince patty, it does fall apart a bit easier... however, there is an oiliness to it that does resemble the meat burgers.

The almost perfect cylindrical shape of the patty is a little bit off putting... it reminds me of the terrible supermarket patties that always make me feel a bit ill, instead of the really nice ones that are made by the butcher!

Cooking it in the same way as a normal meat based burger seems to work well... there is a similar oiliness that comes out of the burger, probably a nut oil of some sort... the smell is completely different though, very very nutty... I quite liked the smell, it reminded me of a nut loaf but my oldest daughter really thought it smelt quite bad. Different tastes....

It was a touch hard to tell if it was cooked properly, so these are cooked a bit more thoroughly than I would cook a meat burger... It is strange that it seems to be a bit pink on the inside... and when you cut it open, it definitely has a different texture to a normal meat burger, more granular somehow. There is a really nice crisp and tasty edge to the burger though!

So, apart from the slight difference in patties... everything else is the same for a nice outdoor burger evening. In case you were wondering... I'm the mustard guy... my wife has no sauce... and kids drown their burgers in tomato sauce.

The rucola that we had this time were from the local bio famer's market... oh wow, they had a serious kick to them!

So, how did it taste? I have to say, it was great as a vegetable burger! It was quite nutty and had a really nice crunchy texture to it... partly from my overzealous cooking... However, it wasn't a meat replacement (or fake meat) as so much of the headlines had been describing it. There is no way that you would mistake this for a meat patty, it is great... but it isn't a replacement for many people who were hoping for a fake meat burger.

I understand that they are going to be continually refining the recipe and trying out different textures and ideas... including fake bleeding... which is all a bit weird. So, a mixed reception from me... a great vegetable burger, but a failure as a meat replacement. I personally hold more faith with the lab grown meat... I personally think that that will be the way forward. Vegetable burgers are interesting and quite tasty... but they are spending too much effort in recreating something else, a noble cause and worthwhile if they succeed, but ultimately I think they should just stick to creating the best vegetable burger imaginable!