Test Tube Hamburger: First Impressions [Report]
The test tube hamburger was taste tested for the first time today. What were the first impressions?
Two years ago, the idea was conceived that if we could grow in-vitro meat, we could save cattle in the long run, and possibly even the environment. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the test tube hamburger could easily eliminate the possible extinction of meat-producing animals, and the resulting rising cost of meat itself, by using stem cells to replicate the meat a million times over.
The test tube hamburger is actually composed of thousands of strands of synthesized meat no larger than a single grain of rice, and the world’s first trial was conducted today in London. Food writer Josh Schonwald and Austrian food researcher Hanni Rutzler were the first to taste the synthesized patty in front of a room full of reporters.
Hanni Rutzler’s first impressions of the test tube hamburger were positive, “There is quite some intense flavor. The look was quite similar to meat. It has quite a bite.”
NBC News tells us he found the surface of the synthesized patty to be crunchy. The flavor was as juicy as meat is expected to be, and it doesn’t taste like most meat substitutes.
Josh Schonwald was a bit more harsh with his in-vitro meat burger, yet still relatively positive, “There is a leanness to it. The absence of fat is what makes it taste different … I would say it is somewhere on the spectrum between a Boca Burger [soy burger brand] and McDonald’s.”
Sergey Brin Backs Creation Of Test-Tube Hamburger @Forbes http://t.co/U6omOgbJQv
— Matthew Herper (@matthewherper) August 5, 2013
The test tube hamburger preparation was a long and involving process, beginning with the careful arranging of the in-vitro meat into a form like muscle, which is where meat usually comes from. In the end, it was prepared with eggs, salt, and bread crumbs, with red beet juice and saffron to give it a coloring like regular meat. It may be a while before in-vitro meat is commercially viable, but at least now we know it can be done.
What do you think of the first tasting of the test tube hamburger?
