Homemade veggie burgers?

Last night we tried a recipe from Allrecipes.com for black bean veggie
burgers. They didn't hold together and came out like cowpies,
although the flavor was good.

I normally buy Morningstar frozen "Grillers."
Anyone know if these can be duplicated at home, or is this one of
those instances where economy of scale makes it best left to the pros?

Mitch@this_is_not_a_real_address.com said:

Last night we tried a recipe from Allrecipes.com for black bean veggie
burgers. They didn't hold together and came out like cowpies,
although the flavor was good.

I normally buy Morningstar frozen "Grillers."
Anyone know if these can be duplicated at home, or is this one of
those instances where economy of scale makes it best left to the pros?

The local health food store makes a very good vegan burger (it would be
a *lot* better with real cheese on it instead of that soy [censored]), and
it's made with oats and pecan meal rather than beans. They don't sell
bulk pecan meal, otherwise I would try to duplicate it. Pecans are too
expensive to grind up broken halves and pieces, but the meal is a waste
byproduct of the pecan shelling industry and is pretty cheap if you can
find it.

Bob

Mitch@this_is_not_a_real_address.com said:

Last night we tried a recipe from Allrecipes.com for black bean veggie
burgers. They didn't hold together and came out like cowpies,
although the flavor was good.

I normally buy Morningstar frozen "Grillers."
Anyone know if these can be duplicated at home, or is this one of
those instances where economy of scale makes it best left to the pros?

The local health food store makes a very good vegan burger (it would be
a *lot* better with real cheese on it instead of that soy [censored]), and
it's made with oats and pecan meal rather than beans. They don't sell
bulk pecan meal, otherwise I would try to duplicate it. Pecans are too
expensive to grind up broken halves and pieces, but the meal is a waste
byproduct of the pecan shelling industry and is pretty cheap if you can
find it.

Bob

zxcvbob said:

The local health food store makes a very good vegan burger (it would be
a *lot* better with real cheese on it instead of that soy [censored]), and
it's made with oats and pecan meal rather than beans. They don't sell
bulk pecan meal, otherwise I would try to duplicate it. Pecans are too
expensive to grind up broken halves and pieces, but the meal is a waste
byproduct of the pecan shelling industry and is pretty cheap if you can
find it.

Pecans, really? I had no idea. I've tried veggie burgers and think
they are pretty good. Now I know why: it's because I love pecans.

--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

zxcvbob said:

The local health food store makes a very good vegan burger (it would be
a *lot* better with real cheese on it instead of that soy [censored]), and
it's made with oats and pecan meal rather than beans. They don't sell
bulk pecan meal, otherwise I would try to duplicate it. Pecans are too
expensive to grind up broken halves and pieces, but the meal is a waste
byproduct of the pecan shelling industry and is pretty cheap if you can
find it.

Pecans, really? I had no idea. I've tried veggie burgers and think
they are pretty good. Now I know why: it's because I love pecans.

--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

sf said:

zxcvbob said:

The local health food store makes a very good vegan burger (it would be
a *lot* better with real cheese on it instead of that soy [censored]), and
it's made with oats and pecan meal rather than beans. They don't sell
bulk pecan meal, otherwise I would try to duplicate it. Pecans are too
expensive to grind up broken halves and pieces, but the meal is a waste
byproduct of the pecan shelling industry and is pretty cheap if you can
find it.

Pecans, really? I had no idea. I've tried veggie burgers and think
they are pretty good. Now I know why: it's because I love pecans.

It's probably not the same thing as commercial "veggie burger". This
stuff tasted good and resembled beef. The only other veggie burger I've
tried was kind of tasteless and starchy. It [the tasteless stuff]
reminded me of textured vegetable protein, soybeans, yeast extract, and
a little grated carrot and onion. I think the main problem was it tried
to be low fat, low sodium, etc. as well as vegetarian.

Best regards,
Bob

sf said:

zxcvbob said:

The local health food store makes a very good vegan burger (it would be
a *lot* better with real cheese on it instead of that soy [censored]), and
it's made with oats and pecan meal rather than beans. They don't sell
bulk pecan meal, otherwise I would try to duplicate it. Pecans are too
expensive to grind up broken halves and pieces, but the meal is a waste
byproduct of the pecan shelling industry and is pretty cheap if you can
find it.

Pecans, really? I had no idea. I've tried veggie burgers and think
they are pretty good. Now I know why: it's because I love pecans.

It's probably not the same thing as commercial "veggie burger". This
stuff tasted good and resembled beef. The only other veggie burger I've
tried was kind of tasteless and starchy. It [the tasteless stuff]
reminded me of textured vegetable protein, soybeans, yeast extract, and
a little grated carrot and onion. I think the main problem was it tried
to be low fat, low sodium, etc. as well as vegetarian.

Best regards,
Bob

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 16:45:09 GMT, "Mitch@this_is_not_a_real_address.com" <>

Quoted message said:

Last night we tried a recipe from Allrecipes.com for black bean veggie
burgers. They didn't hold together and came out like cowpies,
although the flavor was good.

....

Quoted message said:

Anyone know if these can be duplicated at home, or is this one of
those instances where economy of scale makes it best left to the pros?

Not necessarily. Some kind of binder should be used to keep them together,
though. The "pros" use glucomannin (a.k.a. konjac) as a binder, but you can use
breadcrumbs, mashed beans/potatoes, flour, cornstarch, etc. If you've no
objection to using eggs, one or two should suffice for a batch.

Make sure they're sticky and cohesive, and chill the burgers for about an hour
prior to cooking, as this will help them hold their shape.

Nancy