How plant-based meats are made

As a vegetarian I’d be the first to say that plant-based meat has gotten significantly more pleasant in the last few years.

The key driver is not what ingredients are used, but the development of better techniques to make it more meat-like.

What goes into a burger patty has mostly stayed the same – the protein might come from soy, wheat, pea, fungi or fava. The fat normally comes from coconut oil or vegetable shortening, which are solid at room temperature and melt as they heat up. But how these ingredients are processed makes a big difference.

Originally, some plant-meats were made with a technique called “shear cell processing”. These products have a spongier texture, and they don’t need refrigeration.

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Nowadays, it’s all about extrusion. Ingredients, water and oil are mixed together and pressurised through a teeny tiny hole called a die. In a technique called “high moisture extrusion”, the protein is also heated in the extruder machine itself and then quickly cooled down to create fibres that mimic the muscle in a real animal.

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