Burger King is Testing a Vegetarian Whopper Made With Impossible Burger (cnbc.com) 187
Burger King is testing a vegetarian version of its Whopper that uses an Impossible Burger for its patties, becoming the first national fast-food chain to sell the plant-based burger. From a report: The Restaurant Brands International subsidiary is offering the Impossible Whopper at 59 St. Louis locations. The chain already sells veggie patties made by Kellogg's vegetarian brand, Morningstar Farms. To announce the launch, Burger King released a video on April Fools' Day that shows unsuspecting Whopper fans eating the version with the Impossible Burger and then exclaiming that they can't taste the difference. Silicon Valley-based Impossible Foods genetically engineers heme, a protein that makes the vegetarian-friendly burger taste like meat. The ingredient is also responsible for giving the patty red juices that make it look like it's bleeding, just like a piece of beef.
Ah, so White Castle isn't "national" (Score:4, Informative)
White Castle has been serving the Impossible Burger "meat" for months.
Re:Ah, so White Castle isn't "national" (Score:5, Informative)
Correct, there are 599 White Castles in about 15 states.
https://www.menuism.com/restau... [menuism.com]
There are about 13,000 Burger Kings.
https://www.google.com/search?... [google.com]
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Yes, but "all restaurants in the chain" selling IB's as a normal menu item for almost a year (with heavy promotion in-store) beats "59 restaurants in one city" as far as "testing".
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In the southeast of the US, we have Krystals....never tried a White Castle, but I'm guessing they're about the same thing..."rectum rockets", "gut bombs"....but great at 3am in the morning!!
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Based on comparisons from friends who previously lived in Chicago, they're quite similar.
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Well of course, because while one might chill at White Castle because it is the best, when out west, lacking other options, it's preferable to be fly at Fat Burger.
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1: In-n-Out
2: Fat Burger
3: Five Guys
4: Burger King
OTOH, for fries the best options, when _fresh_, are:
1: In-n-Out
2: Del Taco
3: Five Guys
4: Fat Burger/Burger King
(In-n-Out fries get a boost in my personal rating because i can get them animal style, but admittedly out of all the options they're also the fries that deteriorate most quickly if you get them to go.)
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Yeah, I think that McDonald's could get away with this on a Big Mac pretty easily, since the patties are pretty small and the sauce overpowers everything flavor wise.
A Burger King Whopper wouldn't have been my first choice, since it seems to have a pretty high meat to bun ratio.
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Not one in GA or a few other states so I would say not national. Same reason you wouldn't consider Waffle House national.
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>Same reason you wouldn't consider Waffle House national.
I wouldn't consider it's product to be food either.
Re:Ah, so White Castle isn't "national" (Score:4, Insightful)
In all fairness, White Castle has been serving "meat" for decades.
Seems pretty smart (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm still not sure if I would like the Impossible Burger as much as a real hamburger.
But like it more than a Burger King or McDonalds burger? Suddenly I find it a lot more believable.
Between that and the much better naming "Impossible Burger"s sounds much cooler than "Veggieburger" I could see this gaining some traction simply because of better quality.
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Let's hope so...
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Next step would be to reduce the number of ingredients for the buns from 47 to 6.
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that would be ludicrous burger
Re:Seems pretty smart (Score:5, Interesting)
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Agreed, can't wait until I can get it at the supermarket.
Re:Seems pretty smart (Score:5, Interesting)
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What makes you think that saturated fat is unhealthy?
Maybe you haven't noticed that that was 1950s science which was heavily flawed and we have moved on since then.
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These were better than the mass-produced fast food beef hamburgers I've eaten.
Is that like saying drinking pee tastes better than drinking purified vinegar? The bar is set low.
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The first time I had it, it came with vegan cheese which really ruined the burger.
The second time I had it I put cheddar and bacon on it. Better than most fast food burgers I've had by quite a bit. I checked to make sure that it was indeed the right patty, and the waitress laughed and said I was the second person who needed confirmation in as many minutes.
What's a little stupid about it is that it's about as unhealthy as a regular burger. I was expecting it to be healthier, maybe have some fiber and less fa
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What's a little stupid about it is that it's about as unhealthy as a regular burger. I was expecting it to be healthier, maybe have some fiber and less fat, but it's just slightly fewer calories and just as fatty.
Putting aside the fact that the "fat is BAD, mkay?" movement died a richly deserved death some time ago, Impossible's most recent recipe [impossiblefoods.com] has 240 calories, 3 grams of fiber, and a lot less sodium than the original. It'll be interesting to see if they really were able to hold the line on flavor/texture/etc.
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Thanks for the info! I'm guessing I've had the new recipe, since I had one last week. It's clear that I've only seen the old nutrition information, and I didn't realize that they changed recipes.
The one I had last week was plenty burger enough for me to ask the waitress to make sure I got the right thing. If that was the one with 50 less calories, a bit less saturated fat, less sodium, and some fiber, sign me up. That was a decent burger.
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Putting aside the fact that the "fat is BAD, mkay?" movement died a richly deserved death some time ago, Impossible's most recent recipe [impossiblefoods.com] has 240 calories, 3 grams of fiber, and a lot less sodium than the original. It'll be interesting to see if they really were able to hold the line on flavor/texture/etc.
I haven't tried the new version yet, but the reports I've read claim that it is much closer to real beef in taste, appearance, and texture. The reviews I've seen pretty much indicate that it is ready for mass market roll out, and can stand up to just about any fastfood burger. That sounds like a big jump to me, and at least a couple of reviewers acknowledged that previous iterations were lacking, so I'm very curious to try the new stuff. It actually does look like meat as it cooks, with the initial color, t
Re:Seems pretty smart (Score:5, Interesting)
It's basically just better for the earth. To do otherwise you end up with flavorless pieces of cardboard that no one likes.
And honestly, there's nothing wrong with it not being "healthier" than beef - it's like diet soda - it just feels healthier but isn't.
Though, to be honest, the saturated fat debate is back in the open again - at least with respect to dairy based fats (butter is in again).
I see veggie burgers as a way of not consuming so much planet resources eating something that's still bad for me, but tastes good. Slightly less guilt.
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What's a little stupid about it is that it's about as unhealthy as a regular burger. I was expecting it to be healthier, maybe have some fiber and less fat, but it's just slightly fewer calories and just as fatty. Better for the earth, but not all that much better for consumer.
No, it was designed to make bigger profits using cheaper ingredients and a nice story about how you'll save the earth and your health so you're willing to pay more.
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Re:Seems pretty smart (Score:5, Funny)
Between that and the much better naming "Impossible Burger"s sounds much cooler than "Veggieburger" I could see this gaining some traction simply because of better quality.
Personally, I am holding out for the Soylent Green Veggieburger.
Made exclusively from nutritious and wholesome free-range Veggies.
Veggies pay careful attention to the quality of the food they eat, so any food made of them should be very healthy, indeed.
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Except of course if you have half a brain or more. I prefer by burger to be labelled, so I know what it is made of, plant fibre is insufficient for sound decision making. My choice would be a Lentil burger, more expensive than soy bean animal fodder that people should not eat until chemical treated and then only in limited quantities. Lentils are a pretty neutral nutty flavour and just carry the flavours you ad to it. Lentils yes, and Soy absolutely not and they just push the bullshit soyvertisment lies to
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I'm still not sure if I would like the Impossible Burger as much as a real hamburger.
The only way to determine this is to try it, obviously. I'm a fan of meat, and beef and burgers in particular, but I've noticed that reviews of the new generation of Impossible Burger have been pretty fantastic. People seem pretty amazed that they have finally been able to replicate the texture, look, and browning of ground beef fairly well now, in addition to the taste. You might not mistake it for real beef yet but they're getting close.
I've tried plenty of veggie burgers and various meat substitutes, a
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It's pretty good. A local bar here has been serving them for about a year (I volunteered to beta test before it officially went on the menu there). The catch I've found is that you have to be VERY careful not to either over or undercook it. If it's undercooked then it's pretty "wet" and falls apart... it also completely fails at the "convincing beef burger" thing because the texture is all wrong. Overcooked it's definitely too dry and far too much like a fast food patty. When cooked exactly right the taste
Not conclusive though (Score:2)
I appreciate the info but even that article is inconclusive if this is really a problem:
This new research was well-done and compelling, but it's too early to decide that this molecule, TMAO, causes atherosclerosis in humans or that this is responsible for some of the associations of meat intake and risk.
It's hard to say what the risk level is, I think between the fact that I do not eat red meat all the time, and the fact that I am careful to get a significant amount of exercise every week should more than c
Wendy's (Score:5, Funny)
In other news Wendy's is relaunching it's "Where's the beef?" campaign.
Wendy's campaign: What is beef? (Score:2)
The new Wendy's campaign will be called "What is beef?" and show young folks enjoying the juicy faux meat burgers.
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In other news Wendy's is relaunching it's "Where's the beef?" campaign.
They should just go back to the days when getting a meal at Wendy's didn't set you back close to ten bucks. Their food isn't horrible, but sorry, I can't stomach their prices anymore.
Carl's Jr. has had one on sale for months (Score:2)
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At a higher cost.
I'm puzzled why plant based meat substitute costs more than beef.
Beef is a very inefficient food to produce.
Old news? (Score:3)
Maybe my area was a test region, but BK has had the impossible burger here for awhile. Wife and I are vegetarian, both tried it, and it's... ok. The Burgerville anasazi bean burger tastes better, in my opinion. Unfortunately, that item is no longer available at Burgerville.
Again in my opinion, the impossible burger tries too hard to be meat, and has an artificial "grilled" taste that lingers in the mouth like old grease. I'll eat it if I'm on a trip, in a hurry, hungry, and there's a BK drive-thru close by. But I'm not sure I'd seek it out.
In other news, Del Taco is testing Beyond Burger crumbles as a meatless alternative in the LA area. They're supposed to go national later this year. We're planning to try it when it comes to Oregon, but only as a curiosity. They already have items a lacto-ovo can eat.
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Again in my opinion, the impossible burger tries too hard to be meat, and has an artificial "grilled" taste that lingers in the mouth like old grease.
I didn't find it artificial tasting. It does indeed try very hard to be meat, however, and largely succeeds at that. This isn't a burger for vegans, it's a burger for meat eaters.
If you don't like or normally don't eat meat, you won't like the Impossible burger.
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I'm a little curious - what are your go-tos for those sorts of foods? It's obviously not most tofu available in grocery stores.
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Ugh, I got sick of BVs selection a long time ago. If you're not in the valley, the burgers tend to sit around and get freezer burned.
Our local drive through serves Chez Gourmet patties (out of Wilsonville, iirc), which are much much much better. Not as good as Impossible/Beyond, but at least I can eat them without chipping a tooth.
Seriously though, hoping this isn't an April Fools' thing....
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Again in my opinion, the impossible burger tries too hard to be meat, and has an artificial "grilled" taste that lingers in the mouth like old grease.
If it didn't have that, it wouldn't taste like a Whopper(tm). Whoppers have fake grilling flavor added to them. If I eat one for lunch, I am still burping up whopper flavor at dinner. I used to go to one of the last BKs that used fire, on 41st ave. in Capitola, and they were my favorite fast food burger by a wide margin. But then they stopped using fire like everyone else, and the whopper was no longer worth eating.
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If you don't live in St Louis (the ONLY test market), then the veggie burgers you are getting are just regular Morningstar Farms veggie patties, which are available at all U.S. BK locations, NOT Impossible burgers. Since you say you are in Oregon, then the MFs are what you have tried.
I'm sorry that can't be true. (a) We buy Morningstar Farms veggie patties on occasion, and we know what they look and taste like. These are not they. (b) Not having seen the box, I can't positively say what they *are* using, but they *say* they're impossible burgers.
Burgers don't bleed (Score:5, Informative)
The ingredient is also responsible for giving the patty red juices that make it look like it's bleeding, just like a piece of beef.
You can eat steak rare, but you should never eat ground beef rare: It's not at all safe, when you grind meat, exterior parts of meat covered in bacteria get pushed to the inside and cooking rare doesn't kill them off. If anyone sold bleeding hamburgers that were real meat- I would worry.
Please, feel free to eat your steaks rare as that's enough to kill off the bacteria on the surface... just don't eat burgers rare.
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You can eat steak rare, but you should never eat ground beef rare: It's not at all safe,
Life isn't safe, but it can be delicious (metaphorically speaking).
#TeamMediumRare
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It is perfectly safe if you are grinding your own beef from whole cuts of beef.
that way, you control the conditions, no fillers, and no mixing of meats for God knows where and what quality.
Tastier and more tender too!!
De
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> but you should never eat ground beef rare
Not traditionally cooked, no. But I do love a rare burger that I've cooked via sous vide for an hour. All of the taste, none of the bacteria.
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There are restaurants that make burgers the same way they make things like tartare. You can eat those rare.
You should never eat random ground meat you get at the supermarket anything other than cooked through.
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You can eat steak rare, but you should never eat ground beef rare: It's not at all safe, when you grind meat, exterior parts of meat covered in bacteria get pushed to the inside and cooking rare doesn't kill them off. If anyone sold bleeding hamburgers that were real meat- I would worry.
Please, feel free to eat your steaks rare as that's enough to kill off the bacteria on the surface... just don't eat burgers rare.
They mean bleeding while it cooks, duh, although plenty of people eat undercooked burgers all the time, however inadvisable that is. The game changer with the new version Impossible Burger, at least versus competing beef substitutes, is the flavor and the browning - they taste pretty much like beef and you can get a proper texture and "crust" on the outside, neither of which are there with most soy-based pretenders.
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but you should never eat ground beef rare: It's not at all safe
You must be an American. In much of the rest of the world we cook our hamburgers medium rare. That's on those occasions where we actually bother cooking the meat.
Otherwise we just make: https://www.chefsteps.com/acti... [chefsteps.com]
Or just spread it on bread without cooking it: https://kokrobin.wordpress.com... [wordpress.com]
Also why bother cooking the steak when you can just cut it and eat it with some Rucola: https://thecookful.com/make-be... [thecookful.com]
How do you handle your meat that makes you so afraid to eat it?
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Generally, yes, it's as safe as any other raw meat dish (e.g. carpaccio, sushi/sashimi, etc.). Provided it's prepared in a sanitary manner from cows that are free of parasites, the likelihood of contracting something is incredibly low.
As the OP said, the concern with ground beef is that you're taking all of the bacteria that landed on the exterior of the cut during the shipping and handling processes up to that point and then pushing that bacteria into the interior. As a result, you need to cook ground meat
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Steak tartare typically also gets added spices and some type of pH modifier (typically pickled something, raw onions etc).
What the guy above says is bullshit, you can eat rare meats (even pork and chicken to some extent can have some pink) as long as you know it's sourced and handled properly and heated through unless you have some form of high risk due to medical reasons, your stomach acid should kill any remaining bacteria.
Obviously, Wal-Mart grade beef that has a sheen to it I wouldn't eat raw either.
Re:Unless it was guillotined... (Score:5, Informative)
Prions survive cooking. Good thing everything else in your post is also wrong.
Chasing Carl's Jr? (Score:2)
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Tried Carl Jr's beyond burger. Not bad. However $9.99 for a double burger is way too much. Come on people the veggie burger should cost less than a meat burger.
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Tried Carl Jr's beyond burger. Not bad. However $9.99 for a double burger is way too much. Come on people the veggie burger should cost less than a meat burger.
If they want it to catch on, yes, they need to get the pricing down to the same level as for beef burgers. But if you think the production costs should necessarily be less, you simply don't know what you're talking about. These aren't like the Original Gardenburger, for instance, which is a bunch of rice, soy, mushrooms, etc., just smashed together.
Never got the appeal (Score:2)
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Because meat tastes good! Personally, I have no problem eating meat, but the Impossible Burger is a really good substitute for those who want to avoid meat for any reason. I've only had one at a "gourmet" burger place, so I'm not sure how the fast food versions compare.
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If you don't want to eat meat, why not just eat vegetables instead of highly processed vegetable protein made to look and taste like meat through additives?
That is what I do. I am a veggie, and my favorite burger is the GardenBurger which doesn't even try to taste like meat.
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What exactly do you mean by "processed?" That word is the universal luddite excuse for "I'm afraid of this because new and because science involved somehow."
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Nothing to do with fear or luddites. Technology is involved in most food production.
It's a descriptor of what it is. Just like crabsticks are processed food.
Everything to do with wanting to know and control what exactly I am eating.
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Sometimes I want a burger. Specifically, I want the taste of a burger, but I don't always feel like dropping a greasy hunk of burger into my stomach.
Previously, my go-to was a spicy black bean patty with bacon on it. Bun, spicy beans, lettuce, pico, bacon. Not quite a hamburger, but damn tasty. Fits the bill decently when I don't want something so heavy.
Now I've got a new option. I can get a patty that's like 100 calories less than a typical burger, but which looks and tastes like a burger, and fills that "
Re:Never got the appeal (Score:4, Insightful)
My advice would be to eat a smaller burger, but that's just me.
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Aaah, yes, how could I forget that step? I was just automatically ordering a Venti when I could have just ordered a Short!
Tell me, when was the last time you went into a restaurant and ordered a small burger, and they accommodated you? Is that common where you live? Because it's not common anywhere I've lived.
Most places do not offer burgers of different sizes. I've been to a few places where you could order x number of patties stacked on the burger, but that's about it. In any non-fast-food restaurant, eve
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I know this is hard to believe, but if the meal you are served is too large, you don't have to eat the whole thing.
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It sticks to your ribs a lot better.
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Had An Impossible Burger, They're Pretty Good (Score:1)
I've had an Impossible Burger. I'm not a vegetarian and I don't have a problem with eating meat. Just thought I'd give it a whirl. Turns out it was really good. When they say you can't tell the difference between the Impossible Burger and real ground beef, they aren't lying.
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If you can't tell the difference, you've never even had a good burger.
Happy April Fool's Day! (Score:2)
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Check the replies in this thread. A bunch of us have had the Impossible burger, and it's no joke. It's as good as any fast food burger. No, it's not going to beat a farm-to-table black angus burger stuffed with mushrooms and blue cheese, but it's more than passable for a fast food burger.
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Not exactly the highest of bars.
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But it is what is relevant when you're talking about a fast-food burger joint.
The way things are going these days, (Score:2)
I wouldn't be surprised if they find out the heme is extracted from blood, not actually produced in a lab using plant materials.
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It's neither. They engineered yeast to produce it.
Branding (Score:2)
If they don't call this the Impossible Whopper, then they're idiots.
A&W 'Beyond Meat' burger. (Score:3)
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From what I heard, Beyond Meat, and Impossible Burger, while still being different from beef, are signs that the industry came leaps and bounds since those years, and I am really tempted to try them.
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Friendly? Not. (Score:2)
>"Foods genetically engineers heme, a protein that makes the vegetarian-friendly burger taste like meat. The ingredient is also responsible for giving the patty red juices that make it look like it's bleeding, just like a piece of beef."
That is not necessarily "vegetarian-friendly". Quite frankly, if you served that to me, and I could even eat it, I would probably throw up. Many vegetarians (and semi-vegetarians) are that way because they don't like meat- the taste or smell.
Poison Ivy burgers (Score:2)
It's also a nice recycling method of recycle weeds instead to throw away or burn them.
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Actually, if we stop using cattle for food, then we will see a dramatic decline in the population of cattle.
The entire species may be abandoned if we develop a suitable replacement for dairy products as well. [ethicalvegan.net]
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Taco bell serves Old Roy brand wet 'beef' dog food as beef. Or at least something that smells _exactly_ the same (plus the smell of taco bell meat spice).
It was sort of a 'guilty pleasure'. Then I went there after feeding my dogs those cans, the smell of dog food hit me in the face as I walked in. Now I can't eat it, even if I wanted to.
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Is Beyond Meat the same thing as this Impossible Burger?
I had a half price coupon for one of A&W's Beyond Meat sausage muffin things.
It had an incredibly distracting flavour that was in no way pleasant. I couldn't actually identify what the offending flavour was, because it didn't taste like food.
I'm not sure if that's what they all taste like or if they've just screwed up their sausage non-mc-muffins, but it didn't give me much hope for the meatless meat concept.
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Is Beyond Meat the same thing as this Impossible Burger?
Yes and No. It's a competitor in the really-like-a-beef-burger-but-actually-all-vegetarian-burger market. So about the same as A&W and Stewarts?
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As a resident of St. Louis I can tell you that we seem to get a lot of the "test" foods from companies like this. I'm not going to try to suppose the exact reason but we *do* have a pretty solid foodie scene (and some amazing restaurants). The Impossible Burger has actually been available here for a while from a number of restaurants around town so that might have affected that decision too.
Though I have a suspicion that on average it's because someone right-handed throwing a dart at a map of the USA is sta