Tested out the "beyond meat" burger patties finally. $5 for 8oz. Came as 2 patties. For those unaware. These are plant based beef patties grown in a lab environment. They're meant to mimic beef to the fullest degree. Texture, taste, fat, etc all while being complete plant based.
Please note that the comparison for me is akin to a medium rare burger.
So raw. They smell like cat food or canned tuna. Had a slightly greasy texture to them and could be mushed down easily if pressed. I seasoned the left one with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. The right one was left plain.
I used cast iron on medium heat with a tbsp of butter melted. Added the patties and cooked for 4 minutes per side and basted with butter repeatedly. Neither patty got crunchy or cragly like a normal burger in cast iron. I cooked to the set directions of 165F internally. Let rest for 5 minutes.
Once cut open, they had no juice runoff at all. Th inside was still reddish, but was stated to be normal according to the directions. The smell changed to a slightly sweet, but still fishy smell. I dressed them with iceburg lettuce and red onion.
Taste tested the plain burger. To me, it tasted nothing like meat at all. Slight smokey and sweet taste. Very hard to describe, but left a weird aftertaste lingering on your tongue. Definitely didn't taste like a veggie burger. Texture wise, it was somewhat closer. Didn't have that fattiness to it and not as much cohesion so it felt like the patty separated easier when being chewed.
The season burger honestly tasted worse to me. The mixture of seasonings and the taste of the patty itself made everything taste wrong. By the end of the patty, I was getting that sickening feeling of it being to much of some flavor that i'm not overly fond of.
So all in all. It was.... different. Not good or bad per say, but the price needs to drop drastically and the taste needs years more work before it even resembles anything like meat.
