Beyond Meat Beast Burger review

Lerxst

Lerxst

spaghetti and blankets
Beefy flavored meaternative

http://beyondmeat.com/products/view/the-beast-burger

INGREDIENTS
WATER, PEA PROTEIN ISOLATE, OIL BLEND (CANOLA OIL, FLAXSEED OIL, PALMOIL, SUNFLOWER OIL, DHA ALGAL OIL), METHYLCELLULOSE, CARRAGEENAN, POTASSIUM BICARBONATE, CARAMEL COLOR†, YEAST EXTRACT, MALTODEXTRIN, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, TAPIOCA STARCH, SORBITOL, CALCIUM CHLORIDE, NATURAL FLAVORING, SPICES, SALT, VEGETABLE EXTRACT MIX (SPINACH, BROCCOLI, CARROT, TOMATO, BEET, SHIITAKE MUSHROOM), L-CYSTEINE HYDROCHLORIDE, BEETJUICE POWDER (FLAVOR AND COLOR), NATURAL HICKORY SMOKE CONCENTRATE, CALCIUM SULFATE, ONION POWDER, ONION EXTRACT, MESQUITE POWDER, SUGAR‡, POMEGRANATE SEED POWDER, FERRIC PHOSPHATE (IRON), PAPRIKA EXTRACT (SPICE AND COLOR), GARLIC EXTRACT, CYANOCOBALAMIN (VITAMIN B12)

beast_detail_burger.png


Two 1/4lb patties were $6.39 so as you'd expect w/ a non-subsidized engineered food product that everyone & their brother isn't buying, you're not saving any cash over buying ground beef.

I decided to do them on a griddle so that I would be able to get the flavor of the burger with out any influence from the grill. Packaging recommends 6-8 minutes on the stove top w/ a touch of oil (I just wiped a little coconut oil on the griddle but the burger also has it's own oils to mimic the maillard reactions & grease of meat that take during the cooking process), cook until brown.
Tossed a slice of Tillamook cheddar on each one about 3/4 of the way through & covered to melt the cheese. Served without any other fixins on a standard burger bun.

Appearance-wise it's a flat pre-made burger style patty, like a bubba-burger or maybe a mcdonalds burger on roids, w/ some faux grill marks. It didn't really look like a hand-formed burger as depicted above. After coming off the griddle, it looked pretty much like a standard old burger, glistening with some greasy goodness.

Taste & texture is about as close to a fast food burger as I've ever had in a meat-free version. Granted, I can't tell you the last time I had a drive-thru burger but this is really dang close to my memory. The texture was far superior to any of the alternatives that I've had as it had that almost slightly loose clumpy ground meat thing going on and had a 'chew' that was close to a beef burger patty.

Bottom line, it's a great meat-free replacement for a fast food style burger & if your a veg/vegan, you've got a new sheriff in town in veggie burgers you might be able to get at your local whole foods or grocery. It's close enough that you could probably pull a fast one on some non-discerning friends, especially with a couple additional fixings. Heck, I've had worse burgers at ball games & truck stops but that's not going to be enough to entice the dedicate carnivore
 
I’ll pick some up the next time I’m shopping for groceries. I do like the ground beef substitute from Beyond Beef for chili and ragus, but I haven’t seen it as patties. Is this more products from the same company?
 
"Mesquite Powder" not "Natural mesquite flavoring"

So literally sawdust.

I've eaten much worse though, I'm sure.
 
I'm curious as to what the fat, carb, sugar and total calorie count is.
Lots of products tout a relatively high protein number as an enticement to believe that it's "healthy" when in fact it's as far from it as possible.
There is so much more that goes into something being healthy than what little information is supplied to the consumer.
 
I have little interest in meatless burgers that taste like meat; it sort of defeats the purpose IMHO. I usually buy the garden burger type of thing.
 
Knox in Box said:
"Mesquite Powder" not "Natural mesquite flavoring"

So literally sawdust.

I've eaten much worse though, I'm sure.
Click to expand...


Every time you cook a burger over a grill, particulates from the charcoal smoke adhere to the meat, so your beef burger essentially has mesquite powder, anyway!
 
Gary Blanchard said:
I have little interest in meatless burgers that taste like meat; it sort of defeats the purpose IMHO. I usually buy the garden burger type of thing.
Click to expand...

Well, you probably also recognize you're not the target demo for these type of products.


Knox in Box said:
"Mesquite Powder" not "Natural mesquite flavoring"

So literally sawdust.

I've eaten much worse though, I'm sure.
Click to expand...

It might actually be liquid smoke mixed w/ maltodextrine and spray dried to create a food grade powder that can be used to add smoked wood flavor w/o adding moisture.


jp_nyc said:
I’ll pick some up the next time I’m shopping for groceries. I do like the ground beef substitute from Beyond Beef for chili and ragus, but I haven’t seen it as patties. Is this more products from the same company?
Click to expand...

probably if it looks sorta like this
feisty_crumble.jpg



They have another version that's supposed to be even more legit burger like & is packaged like ground beef to be sold in the meat isle and looks like a hand formed patty but the distribution is pretty limited so far. According to the reviews I've seen, it's even closer to ground beef flavor and texture in a burger. http://beyondmeat.com/products/view/beyond-burger
beyond-burger-tray.jpg

Pea Protein Isolate, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Water, Yeast Extract, Maltodextrin, Natural Flavors, Gum Arabic, Sunflower Oil, Salt, Succinic Acid, Acetic Acid, Non-GMO Modified Food Starch, Cellulose From Bamboo, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Beet Juice Extract (for color), Ascorbic Acid (to maintain color), Annatto Extract (for color), Citrus Fruit Extract (to maintain quality), Vegetable Glycerin.

they are positioning the beast burger as more of a sports nutrition food product and the beyond burger as the meat analogue
HOW IS THE BEYOND BURGER DIFFERENT THAN THE BEAST?
The Beyond Burger™ is a ready-to-cook "raw" patty that looks, cooks, and tastes like a fresh beef burger, and it will be sold in the meat section of the store. The Beast is a precooked frozen patty shelved with other frozen items. Our goal in creating The Beyond Burger™ was to provide the full 360° mouth-watering, juicy, and delicious experience of beef but without so many of the health, environmental, and animal welfare downsides of traditional animal-based meat. On the other hand, we developed The Beast with nutrient density in mind, working with Brendan Brazier, a rockstar plant-based triathlete to develop it. The Beast has 23G of protein and a slew of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and omegas to help support performance and recovery for especially active folks.



Anywho I think they've come the closest so far that I've experienced to creating a plant based ground beef substitute that could sway many people to consider including alternatives into their diet who wouldn't otherwise. Unfortunately, until you break that price barrier I don't know how practical that really is.
 
Gary Blanchard said:
I have little interest in meatless burgers that taste like meat; it sort of defeats the purpose IMHO. I usually buy the garden burger type of thing.
Click to expand...

I tend to go the garden burger route as well. They usually taste better. But now there are so many on the market that I can’t remember which ones are the good ones and which ones just crumble after cooking!
 
[QUOTE="Lerxst, post: 1387139, member:]Anywho I think they've come the closest so far that I've experienced to creating a plant based ground beef analogue that could sway many people to consider including alternatives into their diet who wouldn't otherwise.[/QUOTE]


I think a tour of any plant that turns cows into hamburger would be sufficient to accomplish that.
 
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