I tried the veggie burger made from "pea protein isolate" with beets for coloring - Beyond Burger. Taste is fantastic but the SMELL of it cooking really put me off. My SIL the chef uses it at his restaurant but the difference is that he has an open flat top grill and a powerful exhaust fan. My fan is puny and the burger in the little pan was not nice. The flavor though was so worth it - very tasty.

Naw, I think the thought of it scares me a little. I just can't imagine a fast food burger joint making a good veggie burger. Truth be told, I've never eaten any type of veggie burger. I just don't even like putting those two words together, ha ha! Guess I'm too much a meat eater. I've eaten tofu I liked, though, when prepared well : )

I make my own veggie burgers- they’re not hard, and tasty as well. Thinking about it, they would be vegan as well, though that’s not why I make them.

The ones I’ve looked at have a very high sodium content and also high in calories.

I am raising my own eggs, from my own chickens, so I have absolutely no reason to try faux eggs.

I do want to try whichever of the two burgers doesn't make TVP "meat". The Impossible Burger or the Beyond Burger.

I really don't like faux food. If it is TVP or such and a bunch of fake "spices" to make something taste like meat... count me out.

I make good veggie burgers that I can serve to vegetarian friends, that Taste Like The Wonderful Veggies They Were Made From.

artemis_ma, colleenoz, would either of you care to share your veggie burger recipes with us?

Jasdip - that's hilarious!!!! They look kinda dry, tho' ; - )

I've had two Impossible Burgers, one about a years ago in a local foodie burger place and one last week at Burger King. They are not bad - the first was definitely inferior to the real foodie burger we were comparing to, the second was somewhat inferior to one of the better fast food burgers but equivalent to or better than the "dollar menu" sort of fast food burger. I have not tried Beyond Beef burgers.

I see no reason to eat them for flavor or health reasons. Dietary or personal choice is what it is.

I'm interested for longer term environmental reasons. Eventually I think we (like, people generally) will need to be more efficient with food production. I see us (the "us" of the future, not necessarily us in the near future) eating real beef much more sparingly, while pork chicken and certain fish seem more sustainable. And veg-based "meats" will have a place.

Hey, if the alternative is Soylent Green, I'm all for fake meat.

Although, the efforts to develop lab-grown meat are interesting too.

So I'm glad these are being developed even if I might personally prefer to simply eat less meat including fewer "burgers". I only have a hamburger once every couple weeks anyway.

2ManyDiversions -- This is the most recent. I haven't written them all up. (It does include egg, since I have a flock in my back yard,.) I use a l lettuce wrap, simply for personal preference.

https://goatsandgreens.wordpress.com/2019/05/28/grilling-season-vegetarian-burgers/

My question is how do they stack up nutritionally? My next question is why is lab grown better than natural if you're a vegan? I don't have issues with the old style, homemade TVP they have at some Asian restaurants, and actually like saitan (tradition, Asian wheat protein with a modern name). Another question, what is the environmental impact of these creations?

ETA: John, I was thinking Soylent Green, too. But, then, didn't you post about some similar product called "Soylent?"

There is a liquid meal replacement called "Soylent" on the market now. It comes in single serving bottles, a couple flavors, and supposedly all you ever need do is drink a few bottles a day. No other eating needed.

My daughter keeps some around for when she's super busy and needs to "eat" without leaving her painting or whatever. It was invented for techies who supposedly want to sit at their computers coding 24/7 and don't have time to cook or even get take out. Takeout delivery services like Grubhub would seem to cut into that market.

I've tried it, it is inoffensive. I could see having a couple cases in the earthquake supplies, just for fun.

Not at all as creepily thrilling as I imagine the real deal Soylent Green, made from your former neighbor, the random guy you passed last month, maybe your ex-husband - yumm!

I read a sci fi story when I was little, It was set in a far-off future in which all natural foods and flavors have been lost from human memory. All food is synthesized and artificial, and new flavors sweep the globe like fashions and fads. The latest flavor takes over and a food investigator studying molecular patterns and history books finds the long-forgotten word that describes it. C-A-R-N-I-V-O-R-E. Then an even more addictive flavor captures the global imagination, and he starts researching it. Eventually he finds the word. C-A-N-N-I-B-A-L.

Yes, I read a lot of sci fi when I was little.

Eeew. You can have your thrills, but the disgusting truth is "IT'S PEOPLE!!!"

Thanks for identifying the product. I know gamers who do the can't move eyes to eat zombie stare. They usually have some peripheral actual human beings who shove one handed food at them. Coders are more likely to get up to stretch, go to the bathroom and grab something to eat. They have chicklet mats that cover keyboards so you can still use them which help with the the Rule of NRITK (no ramen in the keyboard), sometimes spelled NRIK, pronounced "nerk" or by some purists "nert'k". A pasty sad lot, the bunch of them. I can imagine that they like to pretend their meal replacement goo really is people. :(

vger

I just had a Chevy Pickup made with a Beyond Burger at the Filling Station in Bellingham, WA. Best burger I ever ate.

artemis_ma, thank you. Those do look quite good - spinach and black beans, seasoning. I like that you were focused on the taste, not trying to make them an actual beef substitute. DH would probably eat them without the lettuce, just as a patty. I'd like them with : )

Talked about it at coffee today. One guy admitted he'd tried one, but did NOT elaborate.

The other guys simply said .... 'ewww'

ROTFLOL!!!! and EEEEEWWW!

I've had a lot of good veggie burgers, grain based burgers and bean based burgers. All are a lot better than TVP or soy trying to be meat burgers. There are some good added nutrients in Impossible burgers but the protein by percentage is barely more than black beans. You could just as well have a nice, whole food black bean burger and a b-complex supplement pill. The difference is that the Impossible is supposed to have a better texture. Veggie burgers are just soft. Some are less or more soft, but they're soft.

Here's a thorough article about Impossible burgers. I only skimmed (was looking for the nutrition grid), but it talks about all aspects including environmental.

I just ate a meatball sub with cheese, marinara, and spinach, made from Impossible Burger. at a local restaurant. It was amazing.

The vegans and vegetarians I know (including the one in my house) practically did cartwheels over their first taste of a Beyond Burger; both brands are getting very popular here and BB is in regular grocery stores. (I just eat meat -- a burger once a week or every two weeks, from a higher end source).

John, that's utterly hilarious! ...and a little scary ; )

Funny, DH said a couple days ago Burger King had a new burger he wanted to try (fast food night again). I said, no, you don't. (DH would eat a veggie burger the same day pigs fly). Yes, he argued, It was supposed to be really good, he'd heard. I said 'The impossible Burger?'. Yes, that's the one!

I almost let him, too : - )