Burgers and Horsemeat

[TorqueVR]

As we all know cheap burgers etc don't necessarily contain much beef (as I understand it the beef content can legally be as low as 46%) and some dodgy suppliers have been watering it down with horse meat, which will now come to an end. I don't suppose that they'll replace the horse with additional beef and they'll probably use rusk, pink pulp and other bits I'd rather not think about.

So here's the question - after this has blown over and the neddy content has gone will the quality of the "meat products" be the same, better or worse? I'm wondering if horse would be preferrable to the subsitute

[ben5732]

I don't have any issue with horse meat infact I love it, always have it when I am over in France and don't really see much difference between eating a horse or a cow..

[pilchardthecat]

ben5732 said:

I don't have any issue with horse meat infact I love it, always have it when I am over in France and don't really see much difference between eating a horse or a cow..

Yup, as long as doesn't have dubious chemicals in it and it says what it is on the packaging, i dont give a st. Horse. Yum.

[einsign]

Gays and Horse Burgers (GHB's) seem to be more important than any of the other clearly minor issues going on in our country right now..

[scenario8]

I doubt the authorities particularly give a hoot if burger suppliers wish to permit horsemeat in their burgers either - so long as the contents are traceable, comply with all laws and guidelines, are marketed and presented accurately and the public are not misled.

I have no ethical issue with horse meat conceptually either.

Sorry to the OP but I have no idea of the relative nutritional merits of the two sources. Personally I steer clear of products that can't be easily recognised by species or could be easily manipulated. Maybe I delude myself.

[IroningMan]

Who cares what's in value burgers? Leave well alone and make your own.

[pilchardthecat]

Horsemeat is significantly leaner than beef, and has more protein.

Horse > Cow.

horse (average) fat 3% protein 22% kcal 117
beef (very lean) fat 7% protein 20% kcal 150
beef (average) fat 22% protein 17% kcal 273

ergo - eat more horses

[lockhart flawse]

It depends on whether the burger producer knew he was getting horse.

If the producers were paying the horse price for horse the the price will have to go up when they buy beef. But if they were paying the beef price for horse then the price will not change.

[Rude-boy]

IroningMan said:

Who cares what's in value burgers? Leave well alone and make your own.

10 years ago i would have agrued with this post but having had homemade burgers for the last 7 or 8 years I have to agree 100% with it. It takes very little extra time (about 10 minutes once you've done it a few times) to make up a batch and you can freeze them for later if you make more than you need.

They taste much better, are cheaper, and you can make lots of different ones.

I'm not keen on horse meat having eaten it a few times knowingly it's just not a meat I would chose over the usual suspcets. I have no problem with properly recorded and farmed horse meat being partly used in burgers.

I do object to being told that I am eating beef when it isn't.

[GadgeS3C]

IroningMan said:

Who cares what's in value burgers? Leave well alone and make your own.

Absolutely.

Although I did buy some ostrich burgers at a market recently. Joked with the lady serving that compared to most of the burgers they were selling, ostrich seemed quite ordinary. How times have changed!

Don't recall seeing horse but they did do zebra.

[Biggriff]

Zips on your jean pockets?

On your way to a BDSM meeting?

[rohrl]

It's not just value burgers, it's pretty much anything labelled as beef in any ready-meal in any shop.

Eating horsemeat unwittingly hasn't done us any harm, so other than the financial fraud I'm not that bothered about the horsemeat per se, more about what it says about the lack of insight by the various FSAs and retailers.

[Hoofy]

Presumably when making your own, you use a food mixer of some kind to grind the steaks down?

[rohrl]

Hoofy said:

Presumably when making your own, you use a food mixer of some kind to grind the steaks down?

You need to force your meat into a mincer. Push down on it with with your thumb if you encounter resistance.

[Slyjoe]

The way I see it is the people buying this rubbish have really been done a favour due to the lower fat content. Guess its one way of tackling the obesity crisis.

[Carfiend]

If you want to see something shocking buy the crappy cheap burgers and then cook them on a George Foreman grill or something like it, they end up about 1/3 of the size they were prior to cooking.

[IroningMan]

Hoofy said:

Presumably when making your own, you use a food mixer of some kind to grind the steaks down?

Hand-powered mincer. We have cooking days where we make burgers and mince to freeze, or turn it straight into chilli or whatever. Ditto stews, curries and soups - gets the children engaged with food and no fingers in the freezer so far.

[Mojooo]

A lot of people probably look at a value beefburger - the name of the product and the photo and assume it is actually made up mainly of beef.

perhaps the question is why do we allow something to be called a BEEF burger when it can contain such little beef.

[Changedmyname]

TorqueVR said:

As we all know cheap burgers etc don't necessarily contain much beef (as I understand it the beef content can legally be as low as 46%) and some dodgy suppliers have been watering it down with horse meat, which will now come to an end. I don't suppose that they'll replace the horse with additional beef and they'll probably use rusk, pink pulp and other bits I'd rather not think about.

So here's the question - after this has blown over and the neddy content has gone will the quality of the "meat products" be the same, better or worse? I'm wondering if horse would be preferrable to the subsitute

Just fine a local butcher.

Edited by Changedmyname on Tuesday 19th February 20:31

[Changedmyname]

TorqueVR said:

As we all know cheap burgers etc don't necessarily contain much beef (as I understand it the beef content can legally be as low as 46%) and some dodgy suppliers have been watering it down with horse meat, which will now come to an end. I don't suppose that they'll replace the horse with additional beef and they'll probably use rusk, pink pulp and other bits I'd rather not think about.

So here's the question - after this has blown over and the neddy content has gone will the quality of the "meat products" be the same, better or worse? I'm wondering if horse would be preferrable to the subsitute

Just findi a local butcher.

Edited by Changedmyname on Tuesday 19th February 20:32