Plant-Based Meat (Beyond Burger etc) - Thoughts?

spackbace on 14/02/2020 - 12:42
Last edited 14/02/2020 - 19:02

So by now I'm sure many have tried these from Grill'd, HJs, etc, but does anyone choose to buy them, and if so which do you prefer?

Beyond Burger Patties are currently $12 @ Coles, which is pretty pricey.
Woolworths has Next Gen2 Burger Patties for $7 (RRP $8) currently, which is far more palatable.
Are there others?

Has anyone tried the options available and what do you recommend?

A really good watch is Mark Rober's newest video on the subject

Oh, and let's have a poll!

How do you feel about plant-based meat?

Edit
Good to see an interesting conversation around it :) Have discovered that Choice has reviewed some of the options available, and scores seem on-trend with comments in here (looks like you should avoid the Alternative Meat Co Mince!). Might try the Next Gen2 Burgers this weekend and report back!

Poll Options

  • 258
    Haven't Tried Plant-Based Meat
  • 38
    Tried Plant-Based Meat, don't like it
  • 67
    Tried Plant-Based Meat, thought it was average
  • 212
    Tried Plant-Based Meat, like it
  • 36
    Tried Plant-Based Meat, continue to buy it
Food & Grocery

Comments

  • tryagain on 15/02/2020 - 10:33

    Surprised Kangaroo meat hasn't been mentioned, seems like a better option for us here in Australia both from an environmental and health perspective compared to the meat alternatives.

    • Zedsdeadbabyzedsdead on 16/02/2020 - 05:27
      +1

      I'll jump at the chance…

      • ThithLord on 17/02/2020 - 09:03

        Hop to it, Zed

    • Milk tea on 18/02/2020 - 09:26

      There's a whole thread about eating kangaroo meat atm on ozbargain.

      • tryagain on 18/02/2020 - 09:33

        Whoever started that is a champ!

  • barghunt1 on 15/02/2020 - 11:12

    I like the moving mountains and vegan factor burgers from Woolworths. I find moving mountains has a slightly better taste not by much though and not enough to justify the higher cost. I don't like that the moving mountain burgers don't allow you to freeze them so I'm forced to eat them straight away when purchased. Vegan factor burgers also come in a pack of 4 whilst moving mountains is a 2 pack.

    I've tried the alternative meat co. meat free mince. I liked it from a texture perspective but needed extra seasoning then I would normally use when using them for tacos. I also liked that they allowed you to freeze so I didn't need to use it all at once. Whilst these are vegetarian but not meat alternative I do also like the bean supreme mozzarella, tomato and basil sausages.

    I haven't tried the beyond burgers or the rebel whopper but hope to a some point.

  • MontyMacaw on 15/02/2020 - 12:02
    +1

    If you want to change to plant based food instead of the outdated and cancer causing food pyramid foods, it’s just like changing for regular soft drink to diet. It tastes different for awhile but over a short period of time your tastebuds adjust and you will be just as satisfied - provided you cook it as it is intended. As an experiment try going to a vegan restaurant that offers menu items that have traditional names for their plant based dishes like chicken or tuna for example. You should be pleasantly surprised at the taste. Now I’m not trying to convert anybody here so let’s not get into THAT mind numbing discussion. If you are curious for whatever reason give it a go. But remember if you can’t cook animal products very well it won’t be any different for the so called substitutes.

    • tryagain on 16/02/2020 - 08:13

      If you want to change to plant based food instead of the outdated and cancer causing food pyramid foods

      .

      Now I’m not trying to convert anybody here

      lol

      • MontyMacaw on 16/02/2020 - 09:26
        +1

        Well lol’d. I didn’t see it that way. It’s just part of my vocabulary like dirty filthy smokers. But again well lol’d.

  • Cluster on 15/02/2020 - 12:44
    +2

    My takes on the vegan meat products I've tried:

    Beyond Burger - Really good. So close to real beef that I wouldn't mind switching permanently. But the price is insane! Higher than organic grass feed beef. 8.5/10

    Moving Mountains burger - Okay, but it's mainly made of mushrooms and doesn't taste like meat. 5/10

    Not Chicken Chicken - I made the mistake of trying to put this in a curry. It dissolved. Not buying again. 3/10

    Herb & Sons sausages - Decent enough. Tastes like cheap sausage (which is 50% filler anyway). 6.5/10

    Fry's burger patties - This product has been around for many years. It's 'okay', but for some reason the creators chose to put cloves in it. Ugh. 4/10

    Impossible Burger - Haven't tried it

    There was also a fake smoked salmon product at Coles, heavily discounted. It tastes a little bit like smoked salmon, and kinda looks the same, but the texture was very rubbery. 3/10.

    Costco sells a 'Garden Burger' that doesn't pretend to be meat. Just lots of mixed up vegetables. I sometimes bake some of those and eat them on their own with a bit of tomato sauce. Quite nice.

  • bbaskin on 15/02/2020 - 13:16

    Had an impossible burger in Singapore. Definitely one of the best burgers i hve had of all time. Tried a beyond burger here in sydney and it was only a 4/10

  • Wampus on 15/02/2020 - 13:21
    +1

    I've chosen to eat a couple of vegetarian meals a week, but I tend to just have dishes that don't have meat, like a mushroom risotto or a paneer or vegie curry, rather than using a meat substitute. I reckon it's a good thing, and it's good for my health too.

  • Hvrd on 15/02/2020 - 13:30

    I have the beyond burger on the bbq during special occasions as it is pricey, to me the taste is good & has a similar texture to meat.

  • plmko on 15/02/2020 - 13:50
    +2

    Could not care less what they have used, the burger is all about tasting like a burger.

    In otherwords it needs to be Umami, sometimes cheesy, sometimes sweet and sometimes sour.

    Those that demand a particular meat or this that are gravely misguided about what a burger is about. A burger really doesn't have to be anything but be a burger.

    To put simply, burgers are a garbage food. And they are better that way, sooner you realise that and accept it the better you can enjoy your burger.

    • ozhunter on 15/02/2020 - 14:08

      To put simply, burgers are a garbage food

      Does it have to be?

    • SBOB on 15/02/2020 - 14:29

      To put simply, burgers are a garbage food.

      Well… allow me to retort…

      no, they aren't/don't have to be…
      A burger can be amazing, but it wont be from places like McD or HJ…

  • Strikes on 15/02/2020 - 14:59

    Make a curry with mushroom, it surely feels like meat. Also, you can make a burger patty with vegies and wheat and corn flour but make slightly chewy, you will surely get that meat feel.

  • Waldo000000 on 15/02/2020 - 15:42

    The Beyond one with jalapenos/chipotle is my preference now at Grill'd.

    It doesn't taste exactly the same as animal meat, but who cares? It just tastes "good", and that's what I want 🤷‍♂️👍

    Btw, check out https://reducetarian.org.

  • Uchuujin on 15/02/2020 - 16:11

    Had the Impossible Burger twice. Reminded me of a whopper at triple the price. Same texture and taste as a processed meat patty. Would probably never pick it intentionally again, but wouldn't say no if i had no other choice. Will just say i was impresed at the progress more than the flavour lol. It's still betteer than the local stuff i've tried, though the HJ burger is close. Havent tried te Grill'd one yet though.

    Personally i find that most faux meat just tastes like crap. The best vegan food i've had was just damn good veggos cooked well; no need for fake meat or alternatives. I am looking forwards to the proliferation of lab grown meat. Would definitely be one of the first in line to try that.

  • BakerBen91 on 15/02/2020 - 16:33

    I tried a few different patties and the Beyond Burgers at Coles are hands down the best you can buy hence the price, although i wouldn't pay $12 for them. Fry's Quinoa & Brown Rice Protein Burgers are my favourite and most eaten ones at $6 for 4 patties ($5 on special), they are especially nice when fried crispy. Even though I work at Woolies I cannot stand any of their products except the Unreal Co. Chicken Sliders which kind of taste like bland southern fried chicken. the V2 patties are pretty good but do have a taste to them.

  • Loopenip on 15/02/2020 - 17:28
    +1

    Hungry jack's rebel whopper or whatever was 50% of your recommended sodium (however reliable that is though I dunno)

    Which meant you ate 2 burgers that's it for salt for the day… My issue is that they seem to pump em full of salt to compensate for flavour or something and God knows we already consume too much sodium

  • IHateFrasierCrane on 15/02/2020 - 18:19
    +2

    If I want meat, i'll eat meat.

    If I want veggies, i'll eat veggies.

    I love a beef burger. I also love, more than anything, a palak paneer curry with vegetable samosa.

    Pretty simple for me.

  • ozbargainsam on 15/02/2020 - 18:48

    I was in the US for work recently and the town had one of the few chains (Clover Food Lab, a vegan-only joint) with an Impossible Meats meatball sub, and while I kinda loved it the first try (I couldn't really tell it wasn't animal meat), the novelty really wore off by the second time. Also, the price was astonishing, something about AU$22, but work was paying so I wasn't really complaining (but still…)

    • Cluster on 16/02/2020 - 00:32
      +1

      To be fair, there is no novelty in meat either. People who go to fast food places aren't expecting gourmet meat cooked to perfection by a chef. If a plant based product tastes good enough, then I'm good to go.

      But as you say, the price of these products is outrageous. Beyond Burger patties retail in excess of $50/kg at Coles. That is sheer lunacy. Make it $15/kg and I'll never eat a beef patty again.

      • ozbargainsam on 16/02/2020 - 00:54

        Wow yeah; $53/kg. I guess it's basically like buying into bleeding (pun somewhat intended, but yet it doesn't bleed) edge technology.

        I'll admit, I'm kind of curious now to try it out - just once - to compare. But that sodium level. Yikes.

  • Miss B on 15/02/2020 - 19:54
    +1

    When I first became vegan I tried a lot of burger patties trying to find the one that I could use when I really felt like I was missing out on meat. The Linda McCartney ones are my favourite supermarket ones. I don't have them very often. My weaknesses are the Fry's mini sausage rolls and the Gardein fishless fillets. My favourite meals now are things like mushroom risotto, stir fries with tofu and veggies or curries. Eating out at Malaysian restaurants is the best.

  • Ceri on 15/02/2020 - 20:48

    Tried few plant based meat.. They arent great. Rebel whopper is like 60% of real whopper which isnt bad but Im not a burger person.. Also they are.more exxy without HJ vouchers lol

    Generally mushroom based one tastes better, but Im still waiting for lab-grown meat.

  • Jagd on 16/02/2020 - 03:11
    +1

    After reading the ingredients of Plant-Based Meat. It is far safer just eating meat than digesting half the ingredients they add into that stuff.

    1/ Plant-Based Meat uses more land per kilo to produce than meat.

    2/ Plant-Based Meat ingredients would be worse for you than meat.

    3/ If you want something that looks and tastes like meat, try meat.

    • tryagain on 16/02/2020 - 08:20
      +6

      1/ Plant-Based Meat uses more land per kilo to produce than meat.

      Do you have a source?

    • Gavstar on 18/02/2020 - 10:13
      +1

      2.2 animals die per 100kg of useable protein from cattle. 55 sentient animals die per 100kg plant proteins….

      If you care about animals should you eat beef rather than pulses?

  • myusername on 16/02/2020 - 09:35

    i guess we've progressed along the processed meat evolutionary timeline to this point.

    like at first it was meat, and then as time progressed and things became more about the bottom line figure, different cuts were possibly used, as the saying goes "lips and a##holes" to the point where people were actually dubious as to the real percentage of meat being used in production.

    is this transparency finally? 'hey it's not meat we admit it'

    or just a vegan option?

  • arcticmonkey on 16/02/2020 - 09:46
    +1

    The Vegie Roast has been my favourite vegetarian product for several years: https://www.vegiedelights.com.au/products/vegie-roast-2/

    They stock it at Coles. Nice to have with roast vegetables and gravy. It's only about $7.

    The Beyond Burgers are great as well. Hopefully they will have some specials every now and then.

  • bizarredeal on 16/02/2020 - 12:28
    +1

    Why have plant based meat when plant based is vegetarian. Vegetarian food can be so tasty and have it a own identity. Not condemning meat. Let meat be meat and plants be plants.just marketing tactics to keep the traffic coming into stores. Dominoes have vegetarian, plant based and vegan. It's so confusing. They have covered all aspects such that they target all users just to be sure they don't lose customers.

  • 1Kenobi on 16/02/2020 - 15:02

    Beware mycoprotein (quorn) can cause allergic reactions.
    Unfortunately our childcare centre fed it to our child and it resulted in an allergic reaction.

  • striker5950 on 16/02/2020 - 18:26

    i tried it while my friend sat across laughing at me, honestly it tasted different (HJ) and i do prefer the original

  • abctoz on 16/02/2020 - 19:19
    +1

    heard its full of chemicals that will give you cancer not sure if true lel

  • FittyFitty on 16/02/2020 - 22:47

    Eating fake meat is a bit like getting it on with a blow-up doll; just saying ..

    • spackbace on 17/02/2020 - 11:10

      Do you have a 'special moment' with your beef do you?

      • FittyFitty on 17/02/2020 - 13:11

        Nothing quite like delivering a hot beef injection… :)

    • Miss B on 17/02/2020 - 16:40
      +1

      Kind of, it would be like using a blow up doll made of plant materials instead of a dead body that someone killed for you so you could have sex with it.

  • 7ekn00 on 17/02/2020 - 09:40

    Pass - no Vitamin K2, D3, CLA nor haem iron ;)

    Not to mention the other 20 processed ingredients combined with heavily processed seed oils ;)

  • narcoleptic-haze on 17/02/2020 - 12:03

    I am a bit of a stickler for fat content in products (the less the better for me), and I was disappointing to find pretty much all the plant-based meat free stuff has about the same or sometimes more fat than a similar meat product.

    I'll probably still buy them from time to time though - I particularly like the Moving Mountains hot dogs.

    • thirtysixd on 18/02/2020 - 12:02

      Yea its pretty bad

      I am a vego and have offended multiple family members by not wanting to eat fake meat
      Id genuinely rather eat meat (but only real meat which is a whole another argument)

      TVP based will be lower fat and healthier (less common though…)
      There is also a few burgers that use better quality fats (i.e hemp seeds) but these are normally marketed as veggie burgers not plant based meat

  • dansblackcat on 17/02/2020 - 14:58

    I have high blood pressure and the salt levels in most of the fake meats are way too high.

  • jimdotpud on 17/02/2020 - 17:32
    +1

    I eat meat. love a good burger. but if i'm in the mood for vegetarian, i'll eat a veggie patty, not something dressed up as meat. Costco have some awesome ones.. i like the "vegan garden burger" from there.

  • pegasusx on 17/02/2020 - 19:22

    I really hope this takes off and diverts away the the demand for traditionally produced / farmed meat. Especially the 'Chinese' culture. Every CNY it's just a massive feast for us and it's chicken,duck,fish,goose,beef,pork,lobster,prawns,goat,lamb, and any other animal I couldn't name. I sit there in the festivities and think how can this ever be sustainable..

  • Jackkkkkk on 18/02/2020 - 09:25

    I'm all for plant based food if it weren't so expensive. Agriculture around the world is killing off our planet and hope these plant based foods become the norm soon and meat becomes the expensive alternative.

  • Speckled Jim on 19/02/2020 - 08:45
    +1

    Good morning, Frank
    Soylent Green is people

  • ozhunter on 25/02/2020 - 07:32
    +3

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8038117/Butcher-sel…

    Lol

    It's a meat-based carrot. Maybe I could go vegan after all 😂

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