Texture comparison between meat, plant-based products, and cultivated meat

Texture and its importance

Image credit: Shutterstock by Antonina Vlasova

Plant-based, and cultivated meat versus meat texture

I recommend reading about flavor in my previous article, as it adds to what I will discuss today.

My main focus for this blog is comparing textures. Each product has a unique characteristic that can be measured with sensory instruments. The measurements provide hardness, elasticity, and cohesiveness results. In turn, the tests help find the maximum texture needed to provide customer satisfaction with plant-based products, and cultivated meat. Also, this helps differentiate meat from other alternatives.

Some examples of plant-based products include soy ingredients, such as tempeh, tofu, and vegetable meat analogs—like soy proteins, mycoprotein and soy leghemoglobin. As we all know, these are protein substitutes to replace traditional meats in vegan and vegetarian diets. Other ingredients are added to provide similar texture as meat. They include soy protein texturizers—soy protein isolate—and agar gels, derived from algae.

Cultivated meat, on the other hand, is a new area in the food manufacturing industry that needs further research. Let’s start by looking at traditional meat to see how it compares to other alternative proteins.

Walnuts versus pecans

Nutrition and food science comparison

Image credit: Unsplash by Mockup Graphics

Image credit: istock by Vasyl Chybor

Pecans and walnuts remind me of christmas and holidays, both are roasted under the fire, or even in the oven. Which technique do you prefer? I rather have it raw, but I don’t mind it roasted. The change in texture and taste gives a unique flavor.

Today, I’ll compare both nuts in regard to nutrition and food science. These nuts offer intriguing properties that go beyond their taste and texture .

Texture, aroma + taste + mouthfeel = flavor, and milk ( plant-based vs animal)

I recommend reading my mouthfeel, smell, and taste blog; it adds to what I’m going to talk about today. I’ve been thinking of alternative milks, and how it compares to regular milk. So, I decided to look into the subject a little more.

Image credit: Dreamstime

Note: Umami is the 5th taste after bitter, sour, salty, and sweet. The savory flavor is all over the tongue. Food examples, soy sauce, miso, and Asian cooking uses it often.

Taste buds, flavors, and senses

The taste buds on your tongue detect flavors and food groups, and help you identify the foods you eat. However, other senses play a role in how we experience food. You probably know that the smell of foods can have a strong effect on how they taste, but did you know that the appearance of food also changes how we experience it? Because we usually look at food before we put it in our mouths, the very first information your brain gets about any food comes from your eyes!

Flourless peanut butter recipe

This week, I’m going to continue baking to apply what we learned in the previous post, food stability and water activity. I found this simple recipe and I’m a fan of peanut butter, so I decided to go with this one. There are three variables – sugar, eggs, and peanut butter – it’s easy to see the results. I substituted white sugar for coconut sugar like my last recipe, sticky date pudding.  

Mouthfeel, smell and taste

Image credit: Cooking with Sin

Creative looking picture, don’t you think? is your mouth watering yet? well, if it is you’re ready for food! You scoop the cream, ice cream, or whatever it is. How does the sample feel in your mouth? the word that food scientist refers to as mouthfeel. As the picture below continues, there are so many synonyms for mouthfeel.