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Comment by gwbas1c | Hacker News Reader

> Burger King’s chief marketing officer, Fernando Machado, said that in the company’s testing so far, customers and even employees had not been able to tell the difference between the old meaty Whopper and the new one.

Ugh. First: The vegetarians that I know don't like meat. So making a veggie burger that tastes like the thing they don't like is just dumb.

Second: When I tasted an Impossible Burger, it was awful. It tasted like a horrible veggie burger.

At the places that I've tried it, the staff usually apologize as I order it, and warn me that I probably won't like it. They all tell me that the ordinary veggie burger that they used to serve was better.

At that point, they hint that they were strong-armed by their distributor to server it.

I personally reduced my meat consumption for environmental and health reasons, but when I want a burger, I get a burger.

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>> Ugh. First: The vegetarians that I know don't like meat. So making a veggie burger that tastes like the thing they don't like is just dumb.

Anecdotal, but i think the aim wasn't just at vegetarians, but also meat eaters who want to eat healthier.

>> Second: When I tasted an Impossible Burger, it was awful. It tasted like a horrible veggie burger.

I've also had an impossible burger, tasted fine to me. Perhaps your's wasn't cooked correctly?

I'm a vegetarian. I love meat. I'd eat meat all the time if I knew it didn't cause horrifying suffering and environmental damage.

I've had the impossible burger (and liked it) as well, and on a highly mass produced burger like the whopper I'm willing to bet it's close to the real thing.

Abstinence from meat seems like an extreme step if all you are concerned about is environmental damage. Just eating meat at a "normal" frequency of two or three times a week would be enough to mitigate much of the impact. True organic agriculture is not possible without meat production as a side effect, and this can only be replaced by nonrenewable synthetic fertilizers.

Citation needed

I'm not the person you're responding to, but for me it's much easier to abstain from meat than to moderate it to a certain amount of times per week. It's not difficult for me to eat meat, but it would be if I were to half-abstain.

Our family buys a whole animal from a local farmer periodically. We evaluate how the animal was raised, the sustainability of the farm, etc. to the best of our ability. It's the one exception to my vegetarianism. It results in me eating meat every now and again, but meat I know was treated humanely.

It does make it much easier to 'half-abstain' because it's not an exception I can make easily on a whim at the grocery store. Buying a whole animal takes some planning.

It's been an ideal combination for us -- higher quality meat, considerably less meat consumed, and education to my kiddo about where meat comes from (and what responsible looks like on a farm).

Just echoing the sentiment that I didn't become a vegetarian because I didn't like the taste of meat.

Vegan, but I agree.

I've not had the chance to try this burger, but when I get the chance I will do for sure.

Vegetarian here.

Ugh. First: The vegetarians that I know don't like meat. So making a veggie burger that tastes like the thing they don't like is just dumb.

Guessing anecdotally, I know as many vegetarians as you. Almost every one of them is happy to have a good burger option. I'm sure some % would be ok without a meat clone but the utility alone of having fast-food chains offer good vegetarian food is amazing. My non vegetarian friends have tried the beyond and impossible burgers and the vast majority have found them to be a satisfactory alternative to conventional beef patties.

Second: When I tasted an Impossible Burger, it was awful. It tasted like a horrible veggie burger.

You are probably in the minority here or you didn't have it prepped well. I'd recommend trying one at umami burger as so far, I have found their preparation the most reliable and delectable.

I personally reduced my meat consumption for environmental and health reasons

That's great, and precisely why this space is taking off.

> Ugh. First: The vegetarians that I know don't like meat. So making a veggie burger that tastes like the thing they don't like is just dumb.

What about the other 95% of people you know who aren't vegetarians because they like meat a lot?

> Second: When I tasted an Impossible Burger, it was awful. It tasted like a horrible veggie burger.

Haven't had one myself, but the friends I've heard from (largely not vegetarians) have liked it better than that. Reserving judgement until I can get one.

> I personally reduced my meat consumption for environmental and health reasons, but when I want a burger, I get a burger.

It sounds like you're disagreeing with your own first point. "So making a veggie burger that tastes like the thing they don't like is just dumb," but (supposing they'd actually pulled that off) you're exactly the market who would eat it. Likes meat, wants a burger, reducing meat consumption for environmental and health reasons. Doesn't sound dumb to me.

Go try a good veggie burger. They've been around a lot longer then the impossible burger, and taste a lot better.

Any specific product/brand recommendations? I've tried several and all were underwhelming (or worse).

I've had a lot of veggie burgers, my main problem with them is the lack of structure. If they're more than like 1/4" thick you try to take a bite and the whole thing squishes out the sides of the bun.

Personal favorite veggie-protein-patty is morningstar's "buffalo chik," which aren't really that chicken-like but taste good and have enough structure to stay together while you eat them.

"First: The vegetarians that I know don't like meat."

Hi, nice to meet you! Vegan for almost a decade, the smell of a burger on the grill in the summer gives me hella cravings. We exist.

"Second: When I tasted an Impossible Burger, it was awful. It tasted like a horrible veggie burger."

I'm jealous, you must not have ever eaten a truly horrible veggie burger. I had a Gardenburger in like 2005 that literally tasted like cardboard. The Impossible Burger is a miracle of science.

The cravings are probably a sign that you are missing something essential that is in the burger. It tastes good because it is nutritious. I would eat a burger occasionally to stay healthy.

No, it doesn't taste (or smell) good because it's nutritious. The cravings are a psychological reflex of remembering something you liked the taste, nutritious or not.

There's people who doesn't consider charring meat having a good odour, and that doesn't make it less nutritious. There's super tasty things which are horribly un-nutritional, or even poisonous. That goes both for smell and taste.

"The cravings are a psychological reflex of remembering something you liked the taste, nutritious or not."

Nailed it. We used to have summer dinners at my grandparents when I was a kid, complete with grilled burgers. It is, in large part, emotional.

This is specious reasoning. A whiff of cigarette smoke can trigger cravings for nicotine. That doesn't mean one is missing something essential or that its nutritious. (or that one should eat a cigarette occasionally to stay healthy ;)

> At the places that I've tried it, the staff usually apologize as I order it, and warn me that I probably won't like it. They all tell me that the ordinary veggie burger that they used to serve was better.

They're probably trying to prepare it like a veggie burger, which ruins it.

I've had the Impossible Burger a few times, and just like ground beef, you can make a good burger or a bad burger.

The places that it turned out well, they were aware that it was meant to be prepared like meat. I order it medium-rare, like I do with beef, and it comes out well.

Another place that I've been to still thinks it's a veggie patty. They end up cooking it until it's dry and disappointing.

>The vegetarians that I know don't like meat. So making a veggie burger that tastes like the thing they don't like is just dumb.

I like meat so i'll give it a try.

If it's a choice between me eating junk food that's killing animals and earth, and eating this junkfood that is probably very slightly better for those and my health then i guess this will work.

For those like myself who have a diet largely consisting of meat, this sounds great for the exact reasons you described; reduced environmental impact and possibly greater personal health. I agree that the original Impossible Burger was disappointing, but if they manage to incrementally improve to the point of being barely distinguishable, I think overall its a really good thing.

Speaking as a vegan, by the numbers it's people like you not us who are the ones who are going to have the bigger positive impact on the environment by eating plant based options more often. It's encouraging to hear meat eaters being increasingly open minded...

There is a version 2 now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18855695

>The vegetarians that I know don't like meat. So making a veggie burger that tastes like the thing they don't like is just dumb.

As long as we're sharing anecdata, I've reduced my meat consumption for environmental and health reasons, too. And I would love to have a decent veggie burger option at more fast food places. If it's a perfect fascimile of beef, all the better.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the old BK veggie burger. I think the Impossible Burger is good, too, but I'm not sure it's a step up for me so much as a horizontal change. But I do think it will be more appealling to more reluctant prospective veggie burger consumers, in which case, we all win.

I guess I fit into the "don't like the taste of meat" vegetarian. Except it's not actually the taste, I was never able to get past the "ewww... Gross... I don't want to eat dead animals" mental factor. When the idea of your food grosses you out, you don't enjoy the taste. Without the gross factor there, I can enjoy the taste. I had a vegetarian sausage patty recently that was very similar to what I remember sausage tasting like ("tastes like a McDonald's sausage patty" according to my meat eating husband) and I enjoyed it.

Funny I guess as a super meat lover I tried the Impossible burger and like it a lot even though it doesn't quite taste like beef it tastes good on it's own.

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