Woolworths stocks cult-favourite plant-based “beef” - “Super juicy and moist!”
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Have you ever sat down and thought about how great modern innovations are? We’re living in the future! With a few simple clicks, you can access an almost limitless supply of information and entertainment. No need to go to the library to borrow a book, or trek to the cinema for a movie (although who else misses rolling Jaffas down the aisles?).
Image Credit: Pandaily
Oh, and of course, the future of food which very well could be plant-based meat. Isn’t it gobsmacking to think that we can opt for scientifically formulated plant diets that taste and look very much like meat?
A compelling beef mince alternative that’s completely made from plant-based ingredients is now up for grabs on Australian supermarket shelves for the first time!
The cult-favourite is known as ‘Impossible Beef Made with Plants’ and it’s so convincing that it won the hearts of Hollywood celebrities, with a couple of them becoming investors of the product’s parent company, Impossible Foods.
An Australian burger chain, Grill’d, hopped on the trend last year and started using the beef mince alternative to make their very own plant-based Impossible burgers. Currently, their creation is available at Woolworths as pre-made burger patties or as plant-based mince. We can confirm the ‘impossible’ burgers at Grill’d taste remarkably like meat.
Image Credit: Totally Vegan Buzz
Despite not having the typical wavy strips that we’re used to seeing in regular mince, we can’t deny that Impossible meat still significantly resembles real meat aesthetically. I mean, those succulent juices have to come from real meat… right? What sorcery is this?
But how healthy are these faux-meat products? According to Green Matters, the Centre for Food Safety was previously in talks with the FDA (the US equivalent of the Food Standards Australia body) regarding the production of the Impossible Burger.
Their main concern was that the manufacturers might be using a genetically modified, iron-rich molecule that’s also found abundantly in animal flesh called ‘Heme’, or soy leghemoglobin.
Although Heme is in fact, used as a colour and flavour additive to make the Impossible Burger, the heme that the manufacturers use is not extracted from animals, but from soy.
“Heme in the Impossible Burger is made by extracting DNA from the roots of soy plants, inserting it into genetically engineered yeast, and then fermenting that yeast. The end result is a soy byproduct that helps the burger taste remarkably similar to beef.” they wrote.
“It is there to make it ‘bleed’ and taste like a real beef burger.”
So how convincing is it?
Bianca Soldani from Yahoo! Lifestyle gave the product a test run to get to the bottom of things.
“I gave this product a test run at home and both my husband and I were shocked at how similar it tasted to regular mince. I should mention here that we’re both normally meat-eaters and have never previously cooked with meat alternative products at home.” she said.
Using the Impossible beef mince, she made two of her regular weekly dishes; meatballs in tomato sauce and a stir-fried cabbage and mince dish. Both Bianca and her husband were taken aback by how identical the meat alternative tastes and looks in comparison to real meat.
“It really shone in the meatballs which had very similar colour, texture, and taste to regular meatballs. As per the cooking instructions, I pulled them off the stove when the internal temperature of the meatballs reached 71 degrees, and they ended up being super juicy and moist.” she continued.
Bianca’s meatball dish made with Impossible Beef. Image Credit: Yahoo! Lifestyle
“Really thinking about it, I did notice that there’s more of a soy aftertaste when compared to regular meatballs, and there’s a bit of a sweet, umami element to it that isn’t present in beef, but I thought that only added to its deliciousness.”
For further comparison, Bianca decided to get her hands on other meat alternatives after trying Impossible Beef.
“As someone who has never tried cooking with meat alternatives, I also purchased a different brand of plant-based mince made from pea protein for comparison but was so unimpressed with the taste and smell of those meatballs that I didn’t finish them.
“I remain convinced however, that if I served my Impossible Beef meatballs to my Italian family and didn’t tell them that they’re meat-free, there’s no chance they’d guess.”
The innovation of plant-based products is successfully taking the world by storm as an increasing amount of shoppers are now showing great interest in more sustainable and environmentally friendly food items.
Impossible Foods claims to use 96 percent less land, 87 percent less water, and 89 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than regular meat production. As well as obviously, the fact that no animals are killed in the process.
The downside is that it’s more pricey than regular beef. A single 350g packet of Impossible Beef costs $11.25 at Woolworths, making it $33 per kilo compared to only $16 to $23 a kilo you’ll pay for a 500g packet of real minced beef.
Would you consider switching to plant-based meats or do you have reservations about it? Share with us your thoughts in the comments!
Learn more about the Impossible Burger by watching the video below!
Video Credit: WIRED
Image Credit: Pandaily
Oh, and of course, the future of food which very well could be plant-based meat. Isn’t it gobsmacking to think that we can opt for scientifically formulated plant diets that taste and look very much like meat?
A compelling beef mince alternative that’s completely made from plant-based ingredients is now up for grabs on Australian supermarket shelves for the first time!
The cult-favourite is known as ‘Impossible Beef Made with Plants’ and it’s so convincing that it won the hearts of Hollywood celebrities, with a couple of them becoming investors of the product’s parent company, Impossible Foods.
An Australian burger chain, Grill’d, hopped on the trend last year and started using the beef mince alternative to make their very own plant-based Impossible burgers. Currently, their creation is available at Woolworths as pre-made burger patties or as plant-based mince. We can confirm the ‘impossible’ burgers at Grill’d taste remarkably like meat.
Image Credit: Totally Vegan Buzz
Despite not having the typical wavy strips that we’re used to seeing in regular mince, we can’t deny that Impossible meat still significantly resembles real meat aesthetically. I mean, those succulent juices have to come from real meat… right? What sorcery is this?
But how healthy are these faux-meat products? According to Green Matters, the Centre for Food Safety was previously in talks with the FDA (the US equivalent of the Food Standards Australia body) regarding the production of the Impossible Burger.
Their main concern was that the manufacturers might be using a genetically modified, iron-rich molecule that’s also found abundantly in animal flesh called ‘Heme’, or soy leghemoglobin.
Although Heme is in fact, used as a colour and flavour additive to make the Impossible Burger, the heme that the manufacturers use is not extracted from animals, but from soy.
“Heme in the Impossible Burger is made by extracting DNA from the roots of soy plants, inserting it into genetically engineered yeast, and then fermenting that yeast. The end result is a soy byproduct that helps the burger taste remarkably similar to beef.” they wrote.
“It is there to make it ‘bleed’ and taste like a real beef burger.”
So how convincing is it?
Bianca Soldani from Yahoo! Lifestyle gave the product a test run to get to the bottom of things.
“I gave this product a test run at home and both my husband and I were shocked at how similar it tasted to regular mince. I should mention here that we’re both normally meat-eaters and have never previously cooked with meat alternative products at home.” she said.
Using the Impossible beef mince, she made two of her regular weekly dishes; meatballs in tomato sauce and a stir-fried cabbage and mince dish. Both Bianca and her husband were taken aback by how identical the meat alternative tastes and looks in comparison to real meat.
“It really shone in the meatballs which had very similar colour, texture, and taste to regular meatballs. As per the cooking instructions, I pulled them off the stove when the internal temperature of the meatballs reached 71 degrees, and they ended up being super juicy and moist.” she continued.
Bianca’s meatball dish made with Impossible Beef. Image Credit: Yahoo! Lifestyle
“Really thinking about it, I did notice that there’s more of a soy aftertaste when compared to regular meatballs, and there’s a bit of a sweet, umami element to it that isn’t present in beef, but I thought that only added to its deliciousness.”
For further comparison, Bianca decided to get her hands on other meat alternatives after trying Impossible Beef.
“As someone who has never tried cooking with meat alternatives, I also purchased a different brand of plant-based mince made from pea protein for comparison but was so unimpressed with the taste and smell of those meatballs that I didn’t finish them.
“I remain convinced however, that if I served my Impossible Beef meatballs to my Italian family and didn’t tell them that they’re meat-free, there’s no chance they’d guess.”
The innovation of plant-based products is successfully taking the world by storm as an increasing amount of shoppers are now showing great interest in more sustainable and environmentally friendly food items.
Impossible Foods claims to use 96 percent less land, 87 percent less water, and 89 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than regular meat production. As well as obviously, the fact that no animals are killed in the process.
The downside is that it’s more pricey than regular beef. A single 350g packet of Impossible Beef costs $11.25 at Woolworths, making it $33 per kilo compared to only $16 to $23 a kilo you’ll pay for a 500g packet of real minced beef.
Would you consider switching to plant-based meats or do you have reservations about it? Share with us your thoughts in the comments!
Learn more about the Impossible Burger by watching the video below!
Video Credit: WIRED
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