Anyone veed-ed a "Beyond Burger" (or similar) yet!?

Long time user of Anova immersion circulator since not far beyond the kickstarter, no appearance on the boards till now due to the lack of android compatible software (I hoped for kindle, that didn’t happen) & finally after spending money upgrading my phone, it still wasn’t compatible, suffice to say, I now have a working phone that has the ability, but now my Anova appears to be the problem with connection issues. so as ever i’m running blind! (since day 1 or thereabouts).

Anyway, Meat, we love it, make our own bacon etc but facing facts that both the planet is having a terrible time of it, are aiming reduce intake of meat as a family & increase our vigour minus “meat sweats”

So, we invested in a big box of “Beyond Burgers” (UK Costco) & oven baked them …tasted good, but the oven is energy heavy (& ovens aren’t insulated so efficiency is literally “out the window” & not favoured)
However, I sous vide alot, tending to get reduced meat & vacuum bag it rather than waste it from the wholesalers & supermarkets, we watched a netflix & you tube available title “The Game Changers” which I recommend to view (there is also a you tube “scrutiny” of the film available to be watched thereafter, which highlights pro-athletes shift to veganism & their base function improvements.

Eating more veg is never a bad idea, so with that has anyone achieved results from sous vide-ing veggie burgers of any brand & able to share tips please? it is absent from the Anova kitchen (if it still exists) as to veggie meat alternatives which have truly hit the market nowadays.

NO, I’m not vegan, I just like “good” food, which is why I originally invested in Anova all those years ago/

A concern is of course (for some) that we use the butter caramelisation for browning / char of a regular veed-ed burger, chicken et al (wonderful “salad chicken” @ 60 C / 140F in this manner last night won the family over incidentally)

Thus in fairness to Vegetarians, & “doing it properly” what alternative processes have folk used when bashing out a burger for a vegan / going vegan friend?

NB I will not be giving up my Berkel slicer, it would be attached at the hip to myself if it wasn’t considered a dangerous weapon, but we do want to up our veg meals intake consumption by a good 40% …not everything can be solved by solar panels & wind turbines, our meat has high carbon footprint “content” so dietary adjustments can go a long way.

Hey Mr Gus! We have played around with cooking Beyond, Impossible, and they come out great at 140F/1 hour or so, followed by a quick sear!

Thanks for that info, will give it a go asap without making excuses to the family.

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Happy to help!

Hey Mr. Gus, have you considered taking a culinary step back and switching to some delicious real food? Of course that means sometimes taking that step away from a burger-like manufactured food product that can only mimic meat.

Embrace your change in direction. Don’t chase around trying to find the best in fake bacon and burgers, or even hot dogs, - the ultimate of anti-foods.

Beans are a foundation food and SV cook wonderfully in broth/stock at 185F / 84C for 3 to 4 hours. All legumes are meat substitutes and far more gentle to our suffering planet than traditional mammal alternatives, and so much better for you.

Where to start? Madjur Jaffrey’s cookbooks are helpful guides. The Moosewood Cookbooks can be a source of inspiration too, only triple their recipe seasonings. Learn from them to cook with bulgur and quinoa for variety.

Thank you for your consideration.

Yes, I understand, however I don’t live in a country, nor locale where there are masses of food outlets (bringing with it their own problems) & a man made alt meat does at least avail me opportunity of not taking the “toucan burger” offering of Muck Donalds nor burger king, both of whom I avoided for decades on principle, often at cost of going completely hungry on a long trip up & down the uk’s main roads.

Frankly, this is a step towards mainstream acceptance of less meat by means of similar “feel” substitution, that’s a good thing & a point of entry to simply eating more veg rather than “turning noses up” so I’m for it, plus unless I eat a few i’m not going to be able to honestly recommend a starting point for others who have merely thought about it.

I come from a farming family, live on an island with overpopulation & little regard for the environment, pressures of legal & illegal migration squeeze it further, so all veg alternatives / substitutes give a bit more breathing time, & goodness knows this planet needs it.

Last night I spent an hour looking for Puy lentils, none available unless I wanted to buy them pre-cooked in “currently un-recycled” plastic packaging.
I then went to the shops (a 16 mile trip) & picked up some green lentils, shelves are about 20% empty due to coronavirus, brexit idiocy, human incompetence & low wages making people quit lorry jobs, the lentils came all the way from Canada (to my chagrin)

Plus, if I have it in the freezers I don’t want to toss it, nor cook it without thought.
The Beyond burger is “fast food” & contains stuff I think is vile when produced badly (canola / rape seed oil) but as I recall they’ve worked really hard on that aspect with both packaging & more info on their site, all wins.

I’d recommend anyone looks at how rape oil (for the masses) is processed, it is NASTY, that affects our food buying perception more as it is much more widespread as does palm oil.

It’s about chipping away at peoples perceptions & eating behaviours (which is why we love the french) & not giving up on a style of food that we’ve previously not enjoyed & finding a way that works.
We enjoyed the beyond burger more than the meat (80%+) variety served side by side when we tried them, & see them as a change we’d prefer to support than lose.

Thus the next move to sous vide (as well as empty the freezers).
We have 2 lentil eaters myself & kid, wife is a work in progress, but having seen “the game changers” is a bit more upbeat about trying them again.

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UPDATE for UK COSTCO members.
The large packs of beyond burgers are on offer again (not as cheap as previously) & work out around £1 per burger if you are up fro trying the 12 pack. (offer ends 23rd Jan, instore, members only)

https://www.costco.co.uk/medias/sys_master/pdf/h24/h29/87117544030238.pdf

Daughter now loves the Beyond Burger & cannot honestly tell the difference when served. Sous vide veggie burger win!

Induction hob fnish, butter sear, …may I have another !?