Used to be that Beyond meats were available in the grocery store, but you had to go to a restaurant to try Impossible Burgers. But recently I found Beyond and Impossible side-by-side in the grocery store, and bought one of each. Last night I set up a little taste comparison test for family.
Setup: Two patties the same size. Added the same amount of salt and pepper to each, grilled them at same temperature for the same length of time (3 mins/side). We tasted them as-is: No condiments or extras to get in the way of taste.
My wife and son didn’t know which patty was which. To make things fair for my own opinion, I left the room and asked them to flip a coin to decide whether to switch the labels on the plates or not.
Conclusion: We all thought Impossible was slightly sweeter, and sure enough, the label shows that it contains a bit of sugar. We all though Beyond was slightly more chewy, and sure enough, it turns out to contain a bit more fat. Impossible had a bit more native seasoning – a flavor that’s hard to put your finger on, but good. Impossible was also more reddish in color (beet juice, right?) but Beyond had a slightly more realistic taste, if that’s what you’re going for.
At the end of the sampling, we all agreed that if a store had both and they cost roughly the same, we would choose Beyond over Impossible (consensus!). We thought Beyond was more delicious by a shade, despite the fact that Impossible has more seasoning built in. But both are delicious, and it’s gotten really hard to justify the eco- and health-costs of buying hamburger meat when products like these are available.
Appreciated your review. We like Beyond better overall, too, though its ‘chewy’ shades over almost to tough, like I remember the way some lesser grades of ground beef cooked up. I like the Trader Joe’s even better, for taste and texture, but the other Person here is sticking with Beyond so I am too.
(Visited your blog by way of your listing on the ‘Wagtail developers’ map; trying to force myself to wag tail since I have no money left to hire out, but am avoiding that work by seeing who I could hire if only, and now by leaving an overlong comment. Used to live in El Cerrito under the BART tracks, now in Half Moon Bay.)
Hey Steve, good to meet you. Love Half Moon Bay, and love Wagtail! Just sad I don’t get to use it in my day job anymore. Sometimes wonder how much it’s evolved in the few years since I’ve used it. Cheers.