Fake Bacon Test - Richmond Meat-Free Smoked Bacon Rashers

[@AtomicShrimp]

*Erratum* - I mentioned in this video that I could taste pea protein; as a few people pointed out, that's not an ingredient here - so I suppose I was either imagining it, or tasting something else (perhaps the soya or wheat proteins - maybe it's just a 'processed vegetable protein' flavour). Further investigation is necessary... *FAQ* *What is a 'Rasher'? Why do you use that word?* 'Rasher' is the English word for a slice of bacon. It has been used in the past to describe slices of any kind of meat, but seems exclusively limited to bacon now. It's quite an old word, probably sharing a common root with 'Razor'. *Why do vegans want to eat something that resembles meat?* If you're asking this question, you might be operating on an untested assumption about the motives of vegans. Ask a vegan if your assumption of their motives is correct. I'm not a vegan, but my understanding (from talking to many vegans) is that a lot of them gave up eating meat not because they disliked the aesthetic experience of eating meat, but for other reasons such as not wanting animals to be killed for their food. Of course, it's possible to make food entirely without meat, and not attempting to replicate meat - and that skill is not the exclusive property of any group, but there are plenty of contexts where a meat-free substitute for a traditionally meat-based item just fits neatly and easily into an existing, perhaps traditional based recipe allowing that recipe to be adapted with simple ease for a non-meat diet. *How dare they use the word 'bacon' for this?* I get it, it feels like they're encroaching on something familiar and beloved. But I think it's useful to refer to bacon on the pack - this is a product specifically designed to mimic bacon - it's intended to look and taste like bacon, and to be used in the contexts that bacon is commonly used. People seeking to buy it are looking for something that resembles bacon and that can be used instead of bacon. It makes perfect sense in terms of utility, to reference bacon on the packaging, for a product designed to *work like bacon*. This isn't like passing-off or food adulteration - because the packaging always very explicitly and clearly labels the products as 'meat free' or similar. I do not believe we need legal protection regarding product names (clarity in declaration of ingredients, absolutely; product names, no). Fun example: Almond Milk appears in historical writings as far back as the 12th Century, and continued to be called Almond Milk for a continuous period of over 800 years, until 2017, when the EU ruled this was misleading and that it now required mandatory controls. I think that's ludicrous, and is an insult to the intelligence of consumers. Maybe we should think about exactly who such a law would be protecting - it doesn't seem to be me or you. *How can this be healthy when it's unnatural/processed/has [N] ingredients?* Processed does not automatically equal unhealthy. Natural does not automatically equal healthy. Ingredient count is not guaranteed to correlate with anything in particular. Real bacon is not a health food anyway. These fake bacon products typically compare quite favourably with their meat based counterparts on multiple factors such as salt, saturated fat, fibre and vitamins, as well as absence of certain other things like nitrites. *Why don't you cook or serve your bacon the same way I like it?* People cook things differently due to personal preferences and cultural background. We're not all the same, and that's a good thing. *Why are you promoting the New World Order?* I'm not. *Why didn't you title the video 'Facon'?* That's a registered trademark. *OMGGGGGG WHYYYYYY?* Try being more specific.

[@HeyItsThattGuy]

Very helpful

[@sarchlalaith8836]

Why are you promoting the new world order...? Hahahaha omfg I nearly died laughing, so idiotic people really come at you with this nonesense? My condolences. Oh, in regards to that tomato there's a group on Facebook (yes it's a dive I know) where they only deal with heirloom seeds, plenty of interesting tomatoes like that on the group, I'd check it out if I was you. (I made a fake name and added no friends and just join groups of interest, that was no drama, just things I'm interested in)

[@sarchlalaith8836]

Oh BTW I agree, Richmond sausages are horrific. And I live in Ireland. But I'd give those near free bacon bits a try for sure

[@ahandsomefridge]

Didn't knew that Facon fact, thank you for enlightening me!

[@grosuciprian]

@atomic shrimp "How can this be healthy when it's unnatural/processed/has [N] ingredients? Processed does not automatically equal unhealthy. Natural does not automatically equal healthy. Ingredient count is not guaranteed to correlate with anything in particular. Real bacon is not a health food anyway. These fake bacon products typically compare quite favourably with their meat based counterparts on multiple factors such as salt, saturated fat, fibre and vitamins, as well as absence of certain other things like nitrites." generally speaking, yeah, but in a lot of cases, this one included, a slice of bacon without nitrites, that is just dry cured/smoked meat is a lot better for you than even those soya and wheat protein. There is a lot of discussion about the vegetable protein extracts, as it is one thing to eat flour/ whole wheat and completely different thing to eat only the extracted protein from them... the argument of "how can this be healthy..." in this case stands 100%

[@bigbillynomates]

Richmond have been making things that are almost sausages for over 100 years; no surprise they can make something almost look like bacon.

[@robprupe]

Yep, Richmonds barely have any meat in there products so it shouldn't be a stretch for them to make fake Bacon

[@hedonistkandi]

Oooh burn 🔥 💗😂

[@PiousMoltar]

My mum always bought Richmond's sausages when I was a kid. I thought I just hated sausages. For years. Turns out, I only hate Richmond's sausages.

[@deanrolph6912]

@@PiousMoltar They have such an amazing texture, reminiscent of playdough.

[@wicked-witch-of-the-west]

@@PiousMoltar Ha, laughed

[@reddevil939]

I both love and share in your pure delight for the impressive tomato!

[@ladyb3954]

Me too, I love the 🍅

[@prewooly9522]

I love this fake bacon series. You're so open-minded when it comes to food, I trust you to be fair and reasonable.

[@R.Daneel]

Well said. Nice distinction between "probably personal taste" and "pretty sure it's just not good".

[@Rob17Cotton]

You must be fun at party's 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@R.Daneel]

@@Rob17Cotton Yep. Pretty sure we both are. You know the food we bring is going to be good!

[@Tamizushi]

@@Rob17Cotton You are the only person in this conversation whom I don't think would be fun at parties.

[@elliejohnson2786]

Honestly? I've been loving these videos about fake bacon by you. It's so just... refreshing, seeing a non-vegan look at, and then not immediately get disgusted by a fake meat product. So many people think it's pushing an "Agenda" and get extremely political about... Food. It's nice to see you just taste test it like it were any other food.

[@SilentStoryFilms]

All processed foods are toxic, and will do you more harm than good, but if you're happy with that, good for you.

[@elliejohnson2786]

@@SilentStoryFilms All foods are processed in some way so that blanket statement means nothing to me.

[@KlyeKlyeKlye]

The Eva Test is the most important part! I trust her judgment above all else

[@PiousMoltar]

In Shrimp's own words, "she eats poo".

[@prebenkul]

@@bigguy7353 Whats interesting is that, a dog will eat grass and poo but if you give it a vegetable, there's a chance they don't want to eat it. I mean, he gave her the other bacon and she didn't like it, but i didn't see any complaints on this one, which tells me it's more tasty than the other one atleast. Also seemed like she wanted more, while the other one, not so much.

[@iPottsy]

@@bigguy7353 I trust Eva over a vegan. Vegans eat grass and sh1t 😂

[@molybdomancer195]

@@iPottsy you do realise that food safety standards have an allowed amount of mouse poo? So we all eat poo

[@molybdomancer195]

@@iPottsy you do realise that food safety standards have an allowed amount of mouse poo? So we all eat poo

[@jai_b]

The Richmond meat free sausages are so good that, I honestly thought someone had swapped the card board sleeve over to their original meaty sausages. 🤔

[@teamofsteve]

Really? I tried them, expecting good things and thought they were terrible. The meatfree-bacon is good though. Anyway, great series of videos.

[@DaNiLY]

When you said “I think it’s only for penguins though” and she sat up, oh my lord my heart, so adorable.

[@keithdavidson4723]

Which? magazine showed that Richmond sausages contained the least amount of meat of all brands tested, so you’re making a good judgment in not liking them. As someone on kidney dialysis your review really helps me; I can’t eat traditional bacon because of its saltiness so perhaps I can try this. Many thanks as ever.

[@MarakujaGaming]

OMG you have almost 750k sub... I've been here since like 14k and you haven't changed at all. I still feel that you are genuine and you still give off that wholesome vibie, I love this. You are doing great job 🙂

[@benholroyd5221]

Pah, I was here when here was just a blog about collecting odd gloves and change off the floor to buy random books. Now get off my lawn

[@venix20]

why change recipe that works ?

[@mrmochay9222]

Love watching these videos. My son loves them too. Your voice is perfect to relax and inform him. We have began experimenting with a few things too after being inspired by yourself... So thank you.

[@zoezo4]

"She seemed to enjoy it, but now she's eating carpet fluff"😂. 💙🐾 love the Eva test.

[@leea8706]

I bloody love that tomato. I understand your unbridled joy.

[@ssj3gohan456]

Do what J. Kenji López-Alt says and season your tomato! It really enhances the flavour and you can do it even more easily on a fake BLT because it's undersalted as it is.

[@bradleymchugh6952]

Glad someone said this, a properly seasoned heirloom tomato is out of this world.

[@WaddedBliss]

Yep. Tomatoes need salt to bring out the flavour. As Mr T said "I pity the fool that don't salt tomatoes." Probably.

[@rosenia5409]

Oh wow I’ll try this! Do ya sauté the tomato at all or just salt on raw potato? Ty!

[@nikamota]

I love Eva,she's such a wee character.

[@notreyf]

Me too, love her

[@TheSektorz]

these things look mighty tasty to me, gotta be honest I'm all for meat substitutes as long as they look and taste good, and this is both, seemingly

[@shoedler]

I love how enthusiastic you are about that tomato! It's the small things that count

[@stevewhitcher6719]

if it passes the eva test, it has to be good.

[@rosen_venus]

Love watching your videos for the little quality of life things I pick up. I love lettuce on sandwiches but am always annoyed at how hard it can be to eat them like that, especially as the lettuce gets floppy throughout the day (I tend to pack lunches for later). I never thought of snipping the lettuce up. I'd bet that makes it a lot easier to get a crunch of lettuce in every bite without pulling the entire sandwich apart. Good video as always.

[@GobiPLX]

I really like that series. You're open minded and really fair, honest and impartial when coming to those kind of stuff. I live in Poland and it's hard to find stuff like that (only sometimes in big foreign markets, not in usual shops), but if I do find one, I'm going to try smth like this!

[@lobterart1867]

I never thought I'd say this, but that is the coolest tomato I've ever seen

[@kathimorrical9912]

It looks like an heirloom beefsteak tomato. They taste sooo much better than store bought, plastic "tomatoes on the vine". We grew these back in my childhood, so 65 or more years. You can still get the seeds to grow your own in special catalogues.

[@freddyfroggroove8779]

You're always such a joy to watch, thanks for the wonderfully humorous content!

[@samueleveleigh2767]

I think i speak for everyone when I say, please do more "fake" food videos. Way to many videos or even articles on the subject are way too bias one way or the other.

[@joeworthgaming7942]

please make fake bacon a staple series of the channel, i need hundreds of episodes on this

[@IfeelKindaSick]

meh

[@cawashka]

same

[@S0nder]

Lol until we're able to top off the series with a fake bacon tier list 🍃

[@adsonxo]

Bruh

[@ApexHerbivore]

@Joe Worth Gaming you might enjoy Sauce Stache channel. He makes them from scratch with all sorts of random ingredients

[@LadyVagabond13]

I love your vegan/vegetarian meat reviews. I'm mostly vegetarian and planning to move to my (non-vegetarian) partner in the UK in a few years; I like that I can start to get an idea of what products to look for in the future. Not the intended purpose of these reviews, I'm sure, but still appreciated!

[@VincentVega93]

"Muh partner"... You will never be a real woman. SNEED

[@LadyVagabond13]

I'm not a woman and I don't want to be one...? What did you think you were gonna prove here, buddy.

[@bigboydancannon4325]

@@VincentVega93 That's a bit rude and presumptuous

[@jennsigmund620]

"I think it's only for penguins though." Eva: *initiates penguin mode*

[@Atantuo]

A few years ago we had a tomato plant that produced that kind of fruit, including several large ones like the one in the video. And then one absolute monster that weighed an insane 760g. I made a lot of tomato sauce that year.

[@rahrahryn]

I went flexitarian a few months ago and if you've not yet tried it, I'd recommend the Squeaky Bean vegan NYC Pastrami Slices (available at most of the big grocery chains in the UK I think). I really enjoy it and it smells quite pastrami-y to the point where if you leave the package unsealed it'll stink up the fridge with the pastrami smell.

[@stewarttaylor2419]

I really love your videos. I also find the comments hugely entertaining 😁

[@JamieRossUK]

What I love about these products is that there are constantly new innovations. It appeals to the techie in me, when was the last time apples got an update?

[@ellenm4513]

There’s a new Apple from Washington State University that doesn’t oxidize when it’s cut!

[@JamieRossUK]

@@ellenm4513 is there actually?? I am now interested in apples again

[@AtomicShrimp]

This is a lot of the motivation for me - food technology is interesting

[@ellenm4513]

@@JamieRossUK it’s called Cosmic Crisp. I’m not sure where outside of WA you can buy them right now. But I think we’ve had them in store fir maybe three years? But they’ve been working on it for a while. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Crisp

[@JamieRossUK]

@@ellenm4513 how does this apple compare to say, a red delicious? which I could also afford.

[@JamesGreen321]

Not surprised Richmond made a good meat-free bacon, they've been doing it with their sausages for years. Great vid as always!

[@IamBATMAN2024]

But they make terrible sausages! Many agree in the comments lol

[@rbrown6476]

Thanks Mike. This is the one I’m going to try - based on your descriptions, the fact it’s less salty and, of course, the Eva test! I love the, “it’s only for Penguins line.” You’ve trained her so well. She’s just adorable.

[@AtomicShrimp]

She is the best dog

[@rbrown6476]

@@AtomicShrimp definitely- I love her and I’ve never even met her! : )

[@ChrisNorris]

Not seen this product so I'll have a look for it. The Richmond vege-sausages are very good (I'm a long-time vegetarian) and probably (for me) are the best sausage-shaped vegetarian meat substitute. I do get asked why, if I'm vegetarian, do I want things shaped like meat. The answer is I need a burger shaped thing to put in a bap, a sausage shaped thing to put in a hotdog roll and fake bacon to go with lettuce and tomato in a sandwich. If any of those were a round cricket ball shape or a square block then it would not work and I'd have to slice it to fit in to the breaded receptacle and I'm too lazy for all that so a pre-shaped food is good. I also like Brewdog and have had several cans.

[@elliotbridge]

It makes me really happy how excited you got about the tomato

[@AtomicShrimp]

Wait until you see the carrot in the video going live later today!

[@samtandy7030]

i think you'll really like the Mybacon version of regular bacon rashers, they're made of mushroom mycelium and are supposed to taste really similar to the real thing! id love to see you do a review on these aswell:) , also that is one gorgeous tomato

[@benholroyd5221]

When you say 'mushroom mycelium' do you actually mean mycelium Ie the plant of which the mushroom is the fruit? I suppose its technically edible but youd have to separate it from the growing medium.

[@samtandy7030]

@@benholroyd5221 well the mycelium is all the strands of hyphae the fungus produces asit grows it isn't the actual fruiting body, I don't claim to be an expert by no means, but I find it cool nonetheless:)

[@benholroyd5221]

@@samtandy7030 well if mushrooms are apples, the mycelium are apples trees. I would class apples as part of the tree?

[@DarthFurie]

Wow I hate mushrooms but am also intrigued by the idea of finding some "realistic" fake bacon 🤔 I'm so conflicted haha

[@MrScorpianwarrior]

"are supposed to taste really similar to the real thing" Well... I have a hard time imagining a product where they were trying to mimic something by trying to make it taste completely different.

[@PiousMoltar]

"I think you should take Eva's judgement with a pinch of salt, just as you should take my judgement with a pinch of salt" By the sounds of it, you should also take this fake bacon with a pinch of salt :D

[@ZaiyaFineArt]

That is a Heirloom tomato and you can grow them in a garden if you have Heirloom tomato seeds :) I love those kinds of tomatos they are my favorite! It makes me happy to see you enjoy them as much as I do! I buy them mostly to draw them but I also eat them in sandwiches!

[@Scott3387]

In the UK we really really struggle to grow full size beefsteak tomatoes outside in our summer. We are USDA zone 8 but summer averages about 20 degrees C (what's that in crazy scale? 72F?). We aren't really hot enough for massive tomatoes. You can grow them in a greenhouse but I don't think AS has one or his chillies would be in it. We are basically land of the cabbages...

[@molybdomancer195]

@@Scott3387 I grew some of these in my U.K. patio garden. They didn’t get as large as that one but they were pretty big.

[@AJ-dx6bn]

Thought that was a tomato from Chernobyl yeah mate

[@mordeys]

for some of us ..our soil just doesnt have the right nutrient(?) levels. because we rent we cant just go rip up the yard and do the required work. also i think some of it has to do with the temperature having to be so high for so many hours and the sun has to shine right on the plant for so many hours. there was a gardener on a PBS show that drew diagrams with angles and arrows and where in your yard to plant and set your planter for tomatoes. he even went so far a talking about having to move it every year because the trees in your neighborhood would cause the angles and sunlight to not be optimal. he even had a thing about testing the ground a few nights before you transplanted your baby tomatoe plant so that it held the right range. then i saw little old ladies just dry out tomato seeds on a paper plate or newspaper from one years harvest. start seedlings the next spring usually right before that last heavy snow in march. put them out in the same place every year and got these amazing tasting and huge tomatoes. never worried one bit about sunlight refraction or the neighborhood trees or 'certain' degrees. if i remember right, its bern 40 some years, grandpa had two places for tomatoes. one one year and one the next. he traded out what got planted there and i think it was his tomatoes he used to put the leftover parts after he cleaned his catch in the ground where his tomatoes where going to be next year. whatever he planted in the alternate spot was usually a early harvest. but i may be miss remembering.

[@Dreju78]

When you said the instructions said to fry in a little preheated oil, I instantly thought to myself " oo, would be great in some bacon fat!" before I realised that would kinda defeat the purpose 😁 (Unless the purpose is the lesser caloric intake, I guess. Are these less caloric than refular bacon? Hmm..)

[@thepinkplushie]

I've largely migrated from bacon fat to olive oil for a lot of breakfast cooking. Mostly cause I found myself feeling quite ill after breakfast meals cooked with bacon fat, and I don't feel the same way with olive oil. Honestly, I prefer the flavour now. That said, I'm not sure how olive oil, which is quite a strongly flavoured oil all things considered, might pair with a product with no actual meat in it. Might make it taste less like bacon.

[@andrewbell9929]

@@thepinkplushie you can always use a neutral flavoured vegetable oil such as rapeseed. If you're worried about saturated fat content have a look at how much different vegatable oils have in them and decide based on that.

[@dash3995]

That's the most beautiful friend egg I've ever seen

[@johntravolto4058]

Dippy egg on the sandwich...... 100% a Pittsburgh PA "thing" over the pond in the states love it!!!!

[@BackToBackJames]

The best way to eat an egg on a sandwhich.

[@wayar7349]

That tomato was impressive 🔥

[@5vxz]

Hi there. I watched a video on lab grown meat and how it is produced. Have you ever thought about doing a review on this topic?

[@happysalesguy]

"Where's the mayonnaise", asks the American.

[@AJ-dx6bn]

Bloody hell mate

[@ediodimacaroni]

a real american would put BBQ sauce in it.

[@El_K_Bron_Del_Moycas]

Always informative, entertaining, creative and delicious!

[@M310nH3ad]

I love that to get your dog to do the trick you tell her that it's "only for penguins!" My family has always said "sit pretty" for that trick!

[@penguineeee6440]

Same lol

[@Natalie-xy7zy]

Your FAQ's are so hilarious. Love your videos! Puppy likes it - must be good! xD

[@hedonistkandi]

No butter on a wholemeal roll, there’s no amount of oil in that pan to substitute for it.

[@MrCrisTheRo]

Jamie - honestly, from the sound and appearance of it, it looks like the most real fake bacon you've reviewed to date. As always, I enjoy your bell pepper use, as someone who does the same on the other side of the Atlantic (although sometimes with Poblanos, because I grew up with that MidWest US life)

[@GeorgeWrightTheMayor]

some people seem to despise cheap sausages like richmond. I however have a soft spot for a cheap sausage (sounds a bit weird), I kind of like the crispiness they get on the outside. Would like to know Shrimp's opinion on this.

[@GeorgeWrightTheMayor]

@@jjkirbs can't say I have but I will keep an eye out now.

[@Matt19matt19]

I don't buy Richmond unless I find them reduced. I don't mind them as far as cheap sausages go.

[@lindaware3082]

Fascinating They remind me of the ‘rock’ bacon and egg plate I got from the seaside as a kid 😂

[@willford7717]

I use this bacon weekly for my fry ups, and I find it tricky to hit the exact amount of well doneness consistently. Like you illustrated, going too crispy just results in a burnt flavour, while not crispy enough throws the texture off completely. Once you hit that perfect mark though, I find it replicates the purpose of a cheap slice of meat pretty well. In fact, with my fry ups nowadays, my partner and I ditched the Richmond sausages in favour of a sausages with a more herby flavour profile, usually ones which advertise themselves as "shroomdogs". The bacon ends up providing the meat flavour you'd want and we can diversify the rest of the plate with some fantastic herby sausages instead. If I could request anything from vegan bacon, it's that someone attempts to emulate traditional thick cut bacon rather than what I associate with the crispy thin cut bacon American's tend to eat. I always preferred thick cut growing up, but it doesn't seem to be attempted by any company when it comes to substitutes.

[@AtomicShrimp]

I have in mind a project to try to make something that can work instead of bacon in a sandwich, but without specifically trying to emulate bacon - rather just going for a good score on smoky savoury flavour, texture and nutritional values

[@danpreston564]

@@AtomicShrimp Sauce Stache has a very extensive list of things he uses as bacon substitutes.

[@danpreston564]

The THIS ISN'T bacon is much thicker. My partner thinks it’s the best one out there.

[@willford7717]

@@danpreston564 I find the rashers are way too small though, and generally the taste relies on being overly smokey rather than replicating meat. They're not bad at all, but I usually only get them when they're on sale.

[@danpreston564]

@@willford7717 all vegan bacon is too reliant on Smokey flavour for my tastes.

[@1323GamerTV]

This channel has the most diverse videos

[@BigShrimpin_]

Unless it's a locality specific thing, you can actually grow those tomatoes. I've grown them myself (albeit accidentally), and seen them grown in other places, so sadly I don't know the name, but they certainly can be grown in the UK

[@AtomicShrimp]

Tomatoes always get blight in our garden. Small ones crop before it hits. Big ones are a waste of time

[@oroshibu4016]

​@@AtomicShrimp These tomatoes are named beefsteak tomatoes in case you wanna grow some by yourself 👍

[@MrKuncol]

Beef tomato (Beefsteak tomato for Americans).

[@Dreju78]

Buffalo heart in Poland (literally translated) 🙂

[@ASBO_LUTELY]

@@AtomicShrimp We've had the same problem, they start going brown and manky. Potato and tomato blight (late blight) is a disease caused by a fungus-like organism that spreads rapidly in the foliage and tubers or fruit of potatoes and tomatoes in wet weather, causing collapse and decay.

[@uutdiegodzilla3821]

Must be an asolutely a fine facon - it passed the Eva-test!

[@bearmugs1408]

In reference to 5:39 - 5:57 I have also found the Richmond meatless sausages are inferior to other meatless sausage offerings. This opinion is also held by 2 other people who have tried all the offerings I have (1 is vegetarian and 1 eats meat). And we came to same conclusion. But I am keen to try Richmond fake bacon, seen as you have given it higher praise over other fake bacon offerings

[@tacocatt6808]

Personally I think quorn ones are ok and really like the (non herby) Linda McCartney ones :)

[@bazza5699]

me too. the best vegan sausage is linda mccartneys.. IMO

[@ASBO_LUTELY]

@@tacocatt6808 w0w, are they still using Linda McCartney to make sausages, I'd have thought they'd have run out of her by now.

[@tacocatt6808]

@@ASBO_LUTELY must be hunting down all the Linda McCartneys as some legal loop hole, I’ve been tricked! >:(

[@renannaw]

@@bazza5699 I’m not too keen on Linda’s ones, I prefer asdas own fresh ones, quorn is quite basic and as the og comment says the Richmond ones are abit bad

[@bittehiereinfugen7723]

Oh wow, now I would really like to try this bacon substitute, because it looked really good - and it passed the Eva test! Unfortunately, Germany is not yet as advanced as GB with these special products. Btw, was it the light or is Eva getting a gray snout?

[@TankManHeavy]

I feel like the biggest problem with the vegan substitutes is that they're so expensive. If they are better for a human and the environment why do companies make them at twice the price..

[@BootlegSonicToy]

Meat industry is much more subsidized I would imagine

[@TankManHeavy]

@@BootlegSonicToy Its a shame really, I know I'd be more prone to it if it was more affordable/readily available.

[@deetvleet]

economies of scale. niche products are more expensive

[@adamanti]

It's similar to ready-made dishes made from meat. Without processing, it's cheaper. Try smoked tofu as a bacon substitute. It's pretty similar in texture and taste. Doesn't look like bacon, but it's a relatively inexpensive alternative.

[@cawashka]

they are not “better” for the human, meat substitutes are all highly processed foods and definitely not meant to be consumed daily

[@JiltedValkyrie]

Heirloom tomatoes are a plentiful and staple produce in California grocery stores. They are absolutely lovely on sandwiches, salads, and tacos!

[@loudiddly]

I gotta say, seasoning your tomatoes, even with just salt/pepper, makes it stand out a lot more in the sandwich. Highly recommend for your next blt

[@barry6541]

I like to do my tomato slices with salt and a bit of extra Virgin olive oil

[@frankiepaul9869]

Bit of sugar is the way forward.... or fructose powder is a chefs secret.

[@mr.c6324]

i put knor aroma salt on

[@ShockingPikachu]

@@frankiepaul9869 ah yes. Darkened sugar or just straight disaccharide

[@nikamota]

Indeed,a sprinkle of salt on a tomato just transforms the flavour into something else,It's so good.

[@HiitsGyose1024]

your videos are so satisfying to watch for some reason

[@chiyo9014]

That tomato looks like its trying to be croissant.

[@peterclarke7240]

Thank you for this review- it's really interesting to see, from a non-vegetarian's perspective, what you think of these. As a vegetarian for many years, I've been watching the evolution and increasing appeal among non-vegetarians of these products with interest- I can remember when the only real veggie meat alternatives were things like the old soss mix, which were frankly a bit weird (we had it a bit as a treat when I was a kid because, pound for pound, it was cheaper and allegedly healthier to feed a family of six on it rather than on cheap meat), so while nobody's really got it "right" yet, it's nice to see the gradual improvements in quality. What's also interesting, as someone who hasn't eaten bacon in probably about 20 years, is that my taste buds have changed quite dramatically, and I now really struggle with the fatty, salty smell of bacon cooking- it makes me feel a bit sick, if I'm honest (and yes, I know this is practically heresy!) so while I can understand the appeal of a bacony texture to go with my weekend fried egg sandwich, I don't actually want the full-frontal assault of regular bacon flavour. I'll give these a whirl and see what my peculiar taste buds think :)

[@JehanineMelmoth]

I find the same! Real bacon smells of grease and dirt to me. I like the VBites rashers best - a pleasant rasher flavour without the grease and gristle!

[@peterclarke7240]

@@JehanineMelmoth Thank you! I'll give those a try. Glad I'm not the only one, as well! To be honest, I always get weird looks when people ask me what I miss since going veggie and I don't mention bacon... Thing I miss the most is smoked mackerel with peppercorns on the top, and, unless I've missed something, I'm guessing it's going to be a VERY long time before the vegan food industry get around to trying to get THAT flavour and texture right. :(

[@SamWatsonTV]

They were on sale in my local supermarket, and I finished the packet in 3 days! Very good.

[@haxorlorien6987]

not sure if anyone else has said it in the comments yet, but the reason the tomato is like that is, in plant terms, called fasciation! it can happen to plants for various reasons and causes an error where they grow unusually long/large. like when you find one of those very wide strawberries. it's pretty cool

[@rickoshea6899]

I'd have to say I like the name "facon" it's brilliant 😂

[@nistral]

really enjoy these videos, thanks mr. shrimp!

[@PointNemo9]

Just curious why there is a fair bit of vegan content on the channel, are you considering becoming vegan? Or do meat replacement products just interest you for some reason?

[@PointNemo9]

@@artful1967 There's a reason for everything.

[@oliverdots]

I love Richmond sausages. What is the shelf life of this bacon?

[@SpacePills1]

As a vegan, I really appreciate you being impartial, vegan bacon sucks in general, always have to add smoked salt. Where the heck did you get that tomato?!

[@JiltedValkyrie]

It's called an heirloom tomato. They are common in California grocery stores.

[@theopeterbroers819]

@@JiltedValkyrie Looks like tomato 'Pink Accordion' or 'Accordion'.

[@aquatics117]

Why is it people have so many problems with meat free products mimicking meat but non alcoholic alcohol is absolutely fine?

[@xcruell]

Looks ok/good to me! Especially that wonderful tomato :D

[@sponsoredmessage201]

Regarding the smoked/unsmoked preference, there is a number of dishes (e.g. stews) where bacon mostly serves to add a smoky flavour. So for these, a reasonable substitute could be barbecue sauce, or a few drops of liquid smoke!

[@nicholash.7656]

Yes! Atomic shrimp updates are always so welcome.

[@enunya]

My local butcher sells beef bacon, and it's so wonderfully different. Have you ever had that?

[@GorlWorldComments]

BROWN BREAD ROLL... NO BUTTER,,,,,, I AM FURIOUS , you need door stop white bread and best butter, you get a pass because you are posh and you have a penguin dog, we love these videos, sending hugs from Manchester x

[@MessengerRising]

You forgot real bacon, you need real bacon if you want a bacon sandwich not Bill Gates' insect protein mixed with synthetic soy products. Disgusting 🤮

[@TheLoxxxton]

Well I for one are horrified!! Butter? On a bacon sandwhich!! You heathen. Bacon goes on white bread no butter and brown sauce. No brown sauce no bacon sandwhich

[@stevenrielly240]

"Might not participate" such a polite way of saying piss off... your sarcasm is almost Scottish!

[@MrSlightlybrown]

I'm quite certain Richmond have only ever made meat free products 😂

[@R0swell5104]

Was going to say the same thing but you beat me to it. Oddly enough I quite like their stuff.

[@Rei-Rei]

Then you are quite wrong with certainty. Tesco are currently offering both pork and chicken sausages alongside the meat-free varieties. I did not feel the need to check further but I am sure other supermarkets exist.

[@KGC210]

Yep you beat us all too it. Even if Vegan food was still legally allowed to contain 0.00001 % meat and still be called Vegan, It would contain more meat that any Richmond product...

[@LailandiAdventures]

They certainly are purveyors of counterfeit sausages.

[@dandixon7400]

@@Rei-Rei I think the joke was their normal meat versions contain very little actual meat

[@anitaangyal4644]

Hello Mr. Shrimp I can't remember if I have ever posted a comment on any of your videos, but that tomato encouraged me to leave my thoughts. I've been following you for a while and I really enjoy your content. It makes me happy to see you try new things, talk about herbs and wild edibles and review interesting foods and give your honest opinion about them. Now, about that tomato: It's an oxheart tomato. They don't need a glasshouse or any other special conditions to grow that big, the only issue I can see is potentially not enough sunlight if your summers are very cloudy. They naturally grow that big, and my relatives in Romania (which is in Europe and has much the same temperatures and weather conditions as Austria and Germany) used to grow them in their own backyards.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Tomato varieties with large fruits do not succeed in my garden - the plot is a sort of wind funnel due to surrounding buildings and this seems to greatly increase the occurrence of blight (the spores are carried on the wind). Smaller fruited varieties, especially the blight resistant modern cultivars, get a crop in before the blight hits, but larger ones nearly always fail and the crop rots before it can ripen

[@anitaangyal4644]

@@AtomicShrimp Ah, I see... that's a pity. The big tomatoes I got from my aunts garden a couple years ago had peel and fruit so soft that it almost melted in your mouth. Isn't there a way to protect your plants from the blight? Maybe even just set up a simple windshielt, two sticks with ceran wrap or some such.

[@AtomicShrimp]

@@anitaangyal4644 We've tried - it's really not the right place to be growing vegetables, but it's what we have.

[@guillermonicolasaguirrebor1817]

You should try and make home-made vegan bacon!!! I think there are ways extract the protein out of beans and such

[@AtomicShrimp]

I've got a plan for that, but it's not going to be a straight run at making fake bacon-looking rashers. I want to deconstruct what makes bacon good in a sandwich, then build another thing that presses all those buttons, without specifically needing to be stripey meat-like strips

[@61hink]

What I hate about a lot of these fake products is a very inauthentic "liquid smoke" flavor. If you come up with your own stab at this you should go all the way and put it in the smoker.

[@AtomicShrimp]

I'm thinking smoked paprika - there are bad and good versions of that, but a good one has that right sort of sweet savoury smokiness (some of the less good examples almost taste like (the smell of) petrochemicals or creosote for fence treatment

[@theopeterbroers819]

Vegan paté is easy. I'm not a vegetarian, but my first and only try was decent. Cook beans, mash them, add flavouring, done. As I remember it. Did I recook, don't know.

[@guillermonicolasaguirrebor1817]

I will wait for that video with great anticipation!

[@k8eekatt]

It's nice to see the options you have in the UK!

[@Bobbiloff]

I’m a vegan like 90% of the time, (vegetarian once in a while) living in Sweden. Here we luckily have a lot of really great vegan substitutes and good variety but I’ve yet to experience any half decent bacon. They’re all pretty much crappy. Flavour is often pretty good but it completely lacks that combination of fatty richness but at the same time crunchy brittleness that bacon has. And nothing approaching thicker back bacon either. Anyhow I really enjoy your cooking vids and your approach, attitude and curiosity about vegan products. I’m more interested in the opinions of non vegans since I feel that the vast majority of vegans are rationalising so much when it comes to judging vegan products. I guess many are just thankful for anything new that comes out that they wanna be overly appreciative about it. Cheers!

[@joiion913]

Great video man, I enjoyed your pinned comment too! I think the one misconception people have is the notion that there’s a “real” and a “fake” product. The animal that is a pig, is called a pig. It’s not called 4 legged bacon. Bacon itself is a product manufactured by humans. Bacon would never exist naturally, and so it’s technically not a natural product. Meat bacon, and plant based bacon are both bacon. There is no real or fake. They are both created by process of forming slices, seasoning (liquid or dry) and then smoking, then finally cooking it at home.

[@terranceparsons5185]

I think for a proper Eva penguin test (🤣🤣) we should see her reaction to real bacon.

[@ardy4444]

You were using a book for identifying plans, can you please tell me the author and the name of the book please?

[@TheCotzi]

AS a Vegan i can Explain it i love meattaste but i dont like animals to die for it anymore so i like the Fake meat products to eat once in a while

[@jonathanoxlade4252]

I threw up I will never eat this its not even bacon Mmmmm I enjoyed eating my alabama burger that I made today at work 4 pieces of smoked streaky bacon with beef burger patty and cheese and alabama white sauce oh my god meaty goodness and the bacon makes a burger

[@Danny6464]

I thought the ingredients didn't list pea protein but you said you could taste it?

[@blackcountrysmoggie]

I thought the same thing! Had to skip back and check. You're right, soya and wheat, but no pea like the previous video.

[@Robzooo7]

I have a feeling shrimp is deliberately reviewing more fake meat products to trigger the audience who get upset at silly things like that.

[@ShockingPikachu]

Oh no he’s reviewing an imitation of a heavily processed meat product!!! Lmao

[@channelname1019]

And I'm here for it. 😆

[@thomasherzog86]

it certainly boosts the comments.

[@thesupertramp]

Great video thanks for the doing the research for us! Really appreciate the candid take on a product which I'm sure so many of us wouldn't think twice about avoiding over the real thing! Would defo be up for this though! Cheers!

[@S0nder]

As a vegan, feel free to ask any questions that you may have 🍃

[@Ypog_UA]

What is the meaning of life?

[@Rei-Rei]

What's your favourite colour?

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

Why do vegans always have to tell everyone else that they are vegan? I do not go around wearing t-shirts saying "Omnivore". I have absolutely no issue with veganism or vegetarianism, I in fact admire someone who has the strength of conviction to make a lifestyle choice like that - and I've certainly moved the diet in our household to contain far less meat and be vegetarian 2 or 3 days a week because meat consumption is morally wrong anyway. But I don't understand why you just don't "just get on with it", without expecting some kind of "reward" from the rest of us.

[@LailandiAdventures]

Have you tried vegan "pulled pork" made with jackfruit I think? And if so, is it any good?

[@d_inkz]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 you just lumped vegans into one group of people that all act the same way, which just isn't true.... and no I'm not vegan or vegetarian, but none of the ones I know are militant about it.

[@Jdbye]

That looks like an heirloom tomato. You should get some seeds of different heirloom tomatoes and grow them - they come in all sorts of unusual colors and they look great in a salad! I'm surprised you were able to find them for sale in a store. I've never seen them for sale, but I've heard about them many times and seen them used in videos, typically home grown ones. I couldn't tell you what they taste like but they certainly look the part :)

[@devttyUSB0]

What an adorable doggo is Eve. 🤩

[@AndrewHelgeCox]

Since you always taste the peas, do you think some of these would be better using soya protein?

[@AtomicShrimp]

I think this one did. So not actually sure what I was tasting

[@ShockingPikachu]

Hmm interesting. I always walk past imitation meats and wonder what they taste like. Then I see the price, laugh and carefully put it back. Lol

[@ShockingPikachu]

I’ve tried the plant based milk alternatives. Cannot say I’m a fan tbh. Almond milk tastes like bark, Soy is a weird weird flavour, coconut milk is fine ig but it gets solid. Oat milk is the closest I’ve had but it’s just so watery and bland. Regular full cream milk is still the best milk product. I’m usually open to give everything a go but there are some things I need to just stick with. Also honey is too nice to give up

[@lightskitty]

At least where I'm at they're cheaper than buying meat. As a vegetarian because of ethical reasons rather than not liking the taste they're always very welcome to me.

[@willford7717]

@@lightskitty Most vegan bacon in stores near me are the same price as the equivalent meat product. Unless, of course, you go for supermarket own brand budget cuts, which at that point, vegan or not, you might as well just buy the vegan bacon and not subject yourself to dodgy meat.

[@ninefox_gambit]

If you want large tomatoes, the variety called Ananas Noire is (IMO) not a bad choice. They get really huge, and the taste is quite good (for a beefsteak tomato).

[@alfulton5946]

The second sandwich with the egg looks good.

[@thunderhead180]

The fried egg is doing the heavy lifting...priceless

[@duckymomo6472]

Bacon, egg and cheese is the most common combination in my area, but I assume bacon made with pea protein would do better with a completely different combination.

[@keiranjones5297]

I've tried all the plant based bacon alternatives you've made videos on. I prefer 'Vivera Plant Bacon Pieces'. It isn't your usual rasher, but it's a tasty product. It's available in most supermarkets. I'd love you to review it!

[@dumbbellenjoyer]

Protein content is pretty good for a substitute. 4g in 67kcal is decent for a fake meat.

[@BN-cf8gk]

This looks like the best one yet! Looks much better than the m&s one I tried, which was still fine!