The classic burger is ‘Impossible’ to replicate

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The classic burger is ‘Impossible’ to replicate
Impossible Foods created a faux burger patty from plant proteins. Flickr

I was tricked.

And for the carnivore that I am, I was slightly disappointed in myself. Whether I’m eating rice or beans or cheese or bagels or just about any other random food, there’s always a piece of meat. Pork. Chicken. Carne Asada. Chorizo. Hamburger. The list could go on—I’ve once had a squirrel quesadilla. 

I thought I was ready for the Impossible Burger. It’s been around for a while, I know. I’d be foolish to act like I’m hopping onto a new trend, when in reality, I’m 10 steps behind my hippie friends who tried the burger back in 2019, when Burger King first launched the “Impossible Whopper.” But I figured it was finally time for me to catch up.

It wasn’t Burger King who started it first, though. According to the New York Times, the company Impossible Foods, has been rolling out these plant-based vegetarian patties for other fast-food restaurants, including Carl’s Jr. since January of 2019 and White Castle since late 2018. Impossible Foods, founded in 2011 by Pat Brown, was created for the purpose of decreasing a dependence on animal agriculture.   

“The use of animals as a technology in food production is, by a huge margin, the most destructive technology on earth in the history of our species,” Brown told CBNC in an interview in August 2020. 

My time had come to experience the grandeur of the meatless, meat-like wanna-be hamburger.

Burger King is two minutes from Hillsdale down West Carleton Road. “One Impossible Burger, and one Whopper please.” Five minutes later I was home, and once my friend had taken both burgers out of the wrappers and laid them out nicely on a plate, he served both to me. I was sitting at the head of the dining table, the place for a food critic at her finest.

 I took one bite of the left Burger. We’ll call it Frodo. Juicy, tender, and slightly moist. There was a thickness to it, too.  The texture looked off—the burger almost looked too moist and undercooked. It certainly wasn’t the typical compact burger you see (but that might just be because it’s fast food and may or may not have been squeezed out of a meat hose—I have a theory). It was tasty, I’ll say, but it was the pickles and ketchup that did it for me, not the burger itself. The meat simply seemed like a side, but there was nothing particularly special about the burger (again, that might just be because it’s a fast food burger). 

It was the second Burger’s turn. This one, we’ll call Roger. Roger was thinner—the runt of the slim burger pickings of the day. Not as juicy, but there was still a moistness to him. I couldn’t chew too long without swallowing. And it certainly wasn’t the type of savory bite that normally accompanies the typical burger. It tasted like a regular, cheap hamburger. Maybe they gave me two normal hamburgers, I began to think. 

But at least it looked like the real deal, and channeling the more generous, more gentle food critic in me—lowering myself to the simple joys of trying In-n-Out burgers—I said a quick, “Not bad.” Then I made an executive decision: “This is the actual hamburger.”

“Wrong.”

My eyes widened.

“They tricked you,” he repeated.  “That’s the Impossible Burger.” 

 But after researching the facts—as any good journalist should—it all made sense.

 Whatever is inherently different about both burgers is concealed through the textural replication of the burger. But how is the texture replicated? According to leading scientists in the field, it’s an ingredient called heme. It was this secret ingredient that Impossible Foods first discovered as what makes meat taste the way that it does. 

Heme, a molecule containing both iron and protein, is in practically all living things. The heme in one’s blood grabs oxygen from your lungs, and carries it throughout the entire body. Ironically enough, it’s heme’s “bloody” flavor that accounts for the savory taste and distinct red color of meat. 

So began the task to extract soy “leghemoglobin” from soyplants, which is responsible for carrying heme throughout the plant. While Impossible Foods first began by extracting heme from the root nodules of soybean plants, they created a different tactic: extracting DNA from the plants and inserting it into a genetically engineered yeast. Once the yeast is fermented, more heme can be produced. 

If the key ingredient that makes meat taste like meat can be recreated, then it’s no wonder this plant-based burger is not as impossible as people think—and maybe just as tasty. 

Here’s my take: Some may think it’s cool that both burgers taste the exact same. My friend was bewildered and impressed. He experienced the “wow” factor firsthand. 

I’ll let him be impressed. 

But for those meat-lovers who truly appreciate the incommensurable qualities—and beauty—of the hamburger, don’t put too much stock in fermented, plant-based heme that you could have traded for the real deal. 

But who am I to be the judge? Go to Burger King yourself. And with the limited things to do in Hillsdale, it’s hardly impossible (let’s hope you just laughed) to do. I dare you.