Everyone keeps talking about plant substitute meat as if we don’t have a developing lab grown replica industry that could do the job just as well, one that actual vegans have admitted they’d consider as a legitimate source of food since it doesn’t directly involve an animal or animal byproduct.
I think what we’re gonna see is a diversification of the “meat” market with lab grown meat taking the niche of your traditional burgers bacons and sausages, plant substitute leaning into their differences to create more uniquely marketable products, probably selling on their health benefits since people who go off meat for an extended period and then try it again often report a readjusting period tied to how much energy the body has to commit to breaking meats down, and lastly the “fresh meat” industry will go full wagyuification.
They won’t have the ability to compete at market scale, so they’ll instead make their niche in selling a luxury quality product. Cattle ranchers and bison runners are gonna watch the old looming factories fall over and the owners come running begging to invest in the old fashioned cattle and bison raising that they’re now gonna try and sell as creating some superior quality of meat product that justifies the mark-up they’re gonna need to sell with to stay in the game longer term.
I have a suspicion that we might see some interesting hybridization of the plant based and lab grown meats at some point. Tissue culture is expensive, and while Im sure the price can be reduced, Im doubtful that it will get cheaper than plant protein is. However, it can potentially taste more like real meat than plants, seeing as, well, it is real meat, just assembled differently. Potentially then, one can probably mix in some percentage of plant protein (or possibly mycoprotein as well) in with the meat in ground meat type products like burgers, without the flavor changing too noticeably, and get something mostly the same with a lower cost.
Mixing breadcrumbs into meatballs doesn’t undo the texture of the meat itself, and different kinds of meats have different textures. Turkey, beef, and chicken meatballs all have different textures for example. The structures in the meat also change as they are cooked.
It is like how califlower rice isn’t the same as regular rice, and there are a bunch of different types of rice. There is just a lot of complexity that means substitutes are always going to be a little off compared to their inspiration and to be honest that should be embraced and leaned into as an alternate instead of a replacement. Like a bean burrito compared to a beef or chicken burrito, they are all burritos but each one is their own thing.
I can agree that there will always be subtle variations in textures of different substances, but I can guarantee you that we can affect the texture of a mixed product by altering the ingredients.
I’ve been managing restaurants for decades, with a few Italian places under my belt with Michelin star chefs. One restaurant group featured a rotating list that always had at least a dozen different meatballs.
I’ve seen them tweak all kinds of recipes, with all kinds of meats and grains. Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, goat, venison, even fuckin gator (which was Delicious!). I’ve also sold eggplant, chickpea, spinach, Beyond, Impossible, all kinds of shit in ball form.
I’ve seen these chefs tweak a recipe that uses the same volume of meat, crumbs, and other ingredients, to yield significantly different textures and flavors, just by playing with how they prep those ingredients. How finely they dice/chop/prep the same amount of an ingredient affects the texture.
How they prep the crumbs matters. What bread do they use, what’s it made of, how it was cooked before it crumbled, how finely it was crumbled, what seasonings were used that will bind with the fats and proteins from the meat.
All of this matters and all of it affects the flavor and texture. This isn’t just cooking, it’s materials science. Give it a little more credit.
Everyone keeps talking about plant substitute meat as if we don’t have a developing lab grown replica industry that could do the job just as well, one that actual vegans have admitted they’d consider as a legitimate source of food since it doesn’t directly involve an animal or animal byproduct.
I think what we’re gonna see is a diversification of the “meat” market with lab grown meat taking the niche of your traditional burgers bacons and sausages, plant substitute leaning into their differences to create more uniquely marketable products, probably selling on their health benefits since people who go off meat for an extended period and then try it again often report a readjusting period tied to how much energy the body has to commit to breaking meats down, and lastly the “fresh meat” industry will go full wagyuification.
They won’t have the ability to compete at market scale, so they’ll instead make their niche in selling a luxury quality product. Cattle ranchers and bison runners are gonna watch the old looming factories fall over and the owners come running begging to invest in the old fashioned cattle and bison raising that they’re now gonna try and sell as creating some superior quality of meat product that justifies the mark-up they’re gonna need to sell with to stay in the game longer term.
I have a suspicion that we might see some interesting hybridization of the plant based and lab grown meats at some point. Tissue culture is expensive, and while Im sure the price can be reduced, Im doubtful that it will get cheaper than plant protein is. However, it can potentially taste more like real meat than plants, seeing as, well, it is real meat, just assembled differently. Potentially then, one can probably mix in some percentage of plant protein (or possibly mycoprotein as well) in with the meat in ground meat type products like burgers, without the flavor changing too noticeably, and get something mostly the same with a lower cost.
The biggest problem with meat substitutes is texture, which is how it is assembled. Only a few have come close, or can replicate cheap cuts of meat.
That’s just a current problem. There’s no reason to assume it won’t also be resolved eventually.
Also, mixing plant matter into meat products is nothing new. For example, most meatballs have breadcrumbs in them.
Mixing breadcrumbs into meatballs doesn’t undo the texture of the meat itself, and different kinds of meats have different textures. Turkey, beef, and chicken meatballs all have different textures for example. The structures in the meat also change as they are cooked.
It is like how califlower rice isn’t the same as regular rice, and there are a bunch of different types of rice. There is just a lot of complexity that means substitutes are always going to be a little off compared to their inspiration and to be honest that should be embraced and leaned into as an alternate instead of a replacement. Like a bean burrito compared to a beef or chicken burrito, they are all burritos but each one is their own thing.
I can agree that there will always be subtle variations in textures of different substances, but I can guarantee you that we can affect the texture of a mixed product by altering the ingredients.
I’ve been managing restaurants for decades, with a few Italian places under my belt with Michelin star chefs. One restaurant group featured a rotating list that always had at least a dozen different meatballs.
I’ve seen them tweak all kinds of recipes, with all kinds of meats and grains. Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, goat, venison, even fuckin gator (which was Delicious!). I’ve also sold eggplant, chickpea, spinach, Beyond, Impossible, all kinds of shit in ball form.
I’ve seen these chefs tweak a recipe that uses the same volume of meat, crumbs, and other ingredients, to yield significantly different textures and flavors, just by playing with how they prep those ingredients. How finely they dice/chop/prep the same amount of an ingredient affects the texture.
How they prep the crumbs matters. What bread do they use, what’s it made of, how it was cooked before it crumbled, how finely it was crumbled, what seasonings were used that will bind with the fats and proteins from the meat.
All of this matters and all of it affects the flavor and texture. This isn’t just cooking, it’s materials science. Give it a little more credit.