100% USDA Grade A Bull - Part III
*Full taste test video linked at the end of this blog post.
“What’s the other one taste like?” I asked, “Dog food,” they answered. And that, my friends, about sums up this entire Beyond Beef® vs. traditional beef series.
To give you a recap: Last week at the grocery store I purchased a pound of ground Beyond Beef®, a pound of regular ground beef, hamburger buns, salt, pepper and sliced cheddar cheese to create a plain and dry burger with fake meat and real meat. Many of my coworkers helped with my experiment and agreed to blindly taste test the two burgers and answer the question, “Which is fake meat?”
This experiment was inspired by a Burger King commercial. The commercial showed Burger King customers eating an Impossible™ Whopper® and acting pleasantly surprised that the Whopper® was made with Impossible™ meat. I hypothesized that the Impossible™ Whopper® wouldn’t taste much different than a traditional Whopper® due to the way Whoppers® are cooked and paired with added condiments.
Last week I said I proved my hypothesis, and this week I’m going to give you every disgusting and comical reaction to our blind taste test of a fake meat burger vs. a 100 percent traditional beef burger.
Beyond Beef® on the left, 100% Traditional Beef on the right.
Let’s start with Participant 1:
Participant 1 was extremely excited to partake in the experiment. They looked at the Beyond Beef® in its packaging and combed through the nutritional facts with me before I even started grilling the burgers. Participant 1 sat at the Western Ag Reporter’s conference table and put on their blindfold and anxiously waited for me to put the burger samples in front of them. Participant 1 first grabbed the burger marked with a green flag — the Beyond Beef® burger. They chewed for a minute, then made a disgusted face. Participant 1 began to talk and said “I hope this is the bad one because…” but their sentence trailed off as they felt the overwhelming need to vomit and made a gagging motion. I told Participant 1 they could spit out the burger if it was unbearable for them and they did. Participant 1 then tried the traditional burger and confirmed their original guess. Participant 1: Correct.
Participant 2:
Participant 2 reached for the Beyond Beef® burger first as well. They took a bite and chewed for a minute and said, “hmm,” while making an unsure face. Participant 2 took a drink of water to cleanse their palette and said to me, “I really hope that wasn’t your hamburger.” Participant 2 took a bite of the traditional burger and knew right away which was imposter beef and which was true. When asked what the Beyond Beef® burger tasted like, Participant 2 answered: “It was really dry, with a crunchy texture and a lot of salt — just not very flavorful.” Participant 2: Correct.
Participant 3:
Participant 3 actually smelled the burgers before they ate them and guessed the traditional beef burger to be the fake meat burger based off of smell. They then took a bite of the Beyond Beef® burger and said with a laugh, “I was wrong. It was this one.” Participant 3 continued with their review, “It had a crispy outside — but it wasn’t a good crispy. But then it was kind of like nothing. It was kind of like a blah-bland of chewiness.” Participant 3: Correct.
Participant 4:
Participant 4 reached for the blue-flagged burger (traditional beef) first. They took a bite and said, “That one’s not that good.” They took a drink and tried a bite of the Beyond Beef® burger. Participant 4 made a face which can only be compared to that of a toddler eating a lemon — sour. They followed up by saying, “That one’s also not very good. Mayzie, are you a very good cook?” Participant 4 casted their official vote for the second burger being made with Beyond Beef® — BINGO! Participant 4: Correct.
On the comment of me not being a very good cook…IN MY DEFENSE, I was going for the blandest burger I could make where all you could really taste was the meat (or fake meat). The next morning, I brought in homemade brownies for the crew and they all ate them without choking so this proves that I am at least a mediocre kitchen hand. Okay, back to the experiment results.
Participant 5:
Participant 5 had no knowledge that one burger was made with Beyond Beef®. I told them I had made two burgers with two difference recipes and needed to know which one tasted better — which technically speaking is not a lie. Participant 5 took a large bite of the Beyond Beef® burger first and started laughing. They took a drink of water, tried the traditional burger and shook their head. I asked which burger they liked better and Participant 5 pointed to the traditional burger and very definitively said, “That one.” When asked why they liked this one better, they couldn’t find an answer. “I don’t know,” they said with a shoulder shrug. I then told Participant 5 the first burger they tried was Beyond Beef® and not made with actual meat, “Yeah… I can tell,” they said. Participant 5: Correct.
Participant 6:
Participant 6 sampled the traditional burger first, took a gulp of water and then bit into the Beyond Beef® burger. They motioned to the side of the plate containing the traditional burger, “This is the beef,” they said. Participant 6 went on to say the traditional burger tasted better. I asked what the other one (the Beyond Beef® burger) tasted like and Participant 6 gave me a short and stern answer, “Dog food.” Participant 6: Correct.
PetGaurd Organic Vegetarian Vegan Entrée Canned Dog Food runs for a grand total of $41.88 + shipping for a 12 can case. PetGaurd Organic Vegetarian Vegan Entrée Canned Dog Food’s ingredients include: Water Sufficient For Processing, Organic Pea Protein, Organic Oats, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Quinoa, Organic Barley, Organic Brown Rice, Organic Potatoes, Organic Carrots, Tricalcium Phosphate, Organic Guar Gum, Organic Dried Peas, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Organic Apples, Organic Tomato Powder, Organic Flaxseed, Organic Dried Kelp, Salt, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Niacin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Ergocalciferol (Source Of Vitamin D2), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Folic Acid.
I bought a pound of ground Beyond Beef® for $7.88 when conducting this experiment. Beyond Beef’s® ingredients include: Water, Pea Protein Isolate*, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Cocoa Butter, Mung Bean Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Pomegranate Fruit Powder, Beet Juice Extract (for color).
Beyond Beef® on the left, 100% Traditional Beef on the right.
What can we conclude from this experiment?
Well, plant-based meat products really do taste different than 100 percent real beef. I also tried a bite of the Beyond Beef® burger and my consensus was that it had no flavor but tasted like it smelled — you can go back and read part II of this series to hear me describe the smell. If I have to relive that hellacious smell I will vomit.
We can also conclude that plant-based meat products also have a significantly different texture than real meat. Every one of this experiment’s participants described an undesirable texture — and I agree completely.
But probably the most interesting result of this study, to me anyway, is this: PetGaurd Organic Vegetarian Vegan Entrée Canned Dog Food is cheaper than a pound of ground Beyond Beef®. Based on the comparison of each product’s ingredient list, it looks as if PetGaurd Organic Vegetarian Vegan Entrée Canned Dog Food has more vitamins and nutritional value than ground Beyond Beef®.
Bottom line: get the dog food. Next time you feel the need to purchase plant-based, imposter meat — get the dog food. It’s cheaper, better for you and, according to Participant 6, tastes like a Beyond Beef® burger — get the dog food.
