Originally published at: McPlant Nuggets to be tested in German Markets | Boing Boing
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There’s damnd. BK sells impossible whoppers and beyond/impossible/gardein sell plant-based nuggets for consumers in stores.
Given that they just have to toss these from frozen into a fryer I suspect this will work a lot like BK’s impossible whopper - it’s super-easy to keep the on hand so they just drop them to order. Means folks will wait a few minutes longer for their food but I suspect they’ll do it anyway.
Bigger question is do they taste “meaty” enough to make an impact? The existing home versions are “ok”, (I’ve tried multiple types) but they only work in a vacuum. Side by side they are clearly inferior still.
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Testing nuggets in Germany? Where have I heard that before…
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I always thought that fried chicken bits made the most sense for plant-based replacements. We had pretty good plant-based fried chicken hamburger patties even ten or fifteen years ago.
What a good show with many story arcs… I have literally no memory of that scene.
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One of the problems in North America, I suspect, is that when you overcook a Beyond/Impossible Burger it turns to a rock like substance. So if they let a breakfast paddy sit on the grill for too long, or especially on Pizza for some reason, the fake meat is inedible. Real meat, when this happens is still… okay. But not this new fake meat and I think it speaks to our sloppy fast food practices here that it doesn’t catch on as much.
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I wonder how much ‘real meat’ there is in a McNugget…
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Kiddo is super sensitive to tastes and textures and was perfectly happy with the vegetarian “chik-n” nuggets and schnitzel-type patties served at the family-oriented hotel in Vejle, Denmark, a few years ago (LegoLand visit). She had no idea until the server told her, and a happy consequence is that she is more willing to try meatless options since then. Since they are all essentially ketchup delivery vehicles, a perfect match isn’t necessary for them to be deemed palatable (DON’T judge - it’s still better than ranch dressing as the magic sauce to calm sensory overload at meal time).
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As we saw with the Burger king story on here a while ago, we’re going to have to see if cross contamination is going to be an issue for some customers.
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It will be. The target market here isn’t vegans (many of which have pointed out that they’re not interested in eating meat analogues anyway) but “everyone else” who might be willing to go meatless if they can’t tell the difference or the analogue is reasonably good (I fall into that category.)
I very much doubt that McD will dedicate a fryer to these things any more than they’d be willing to dedicate a grill to meatless options. It’s not an optimal situation but any step forward we can make towards a meatless world for the masses, especially at one of the worlds largest restaurants, is a good one.
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In my experience, it’s not overcooking, but freezer burn that leads to this state.
Quorn products are the absolute worst for this.
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I just bought a slab of Beyond Beef ground beef substitute at Grocery Outlet recently to give it a shot at some Bolognese sauce over pasta tomorrow. Maybe sauce masking (and simmering) will help with this issue.
ETA: Still, I don’t see why restaurants like Burger King can’t simply do fried vegetables as some decent restaurants with takeaway have done in the past. I’m thinking of Grandy’s chicken restaurants and their fried okra, which was pretty darn good from a fast food standpoint. 
ETA: So I made Rotini Bolognese tonight using Beyond Beef substitute. It cooks more quickly than one would expect, and doesn’t turn as grey as regular ground beef would. Texture-wise, it’s close. Flavor-wise, very close. Kind of like that smoky flavor of burger drippings at the cookout, but it still persists even when simmered in marinara sauce.
I’m gonna say better than Chef-Boy-Ardee beef, but not quite as good as homemade. Somewhere around the level of Stouffer’s Frozen Lasagna beef.
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Why not just add a completely new menu item that doesn’t pretend to be meat but can be prepared and consumed in a manner similar to McNuggets, like sweet potato tots or cauliflower puffs or something like that?
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Plants have nuggets?
/s (see above)
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