Just in time for grilling season, Impossible Foods has launched the Impossible Beef Hot Dog, a faux sausage for those who crave this essential staple, but for health, social or other reasons, don’t want to eat the real thing. .
Impossible sent us a package of their new hot dogs to try, so we did a semi-scientific taste test at the Jugo Mobile offices to see how they compared to traditional hot dogs.
Will they hold up to the discerning palates of Future staff members, or are these wannabe weiners a pale imitation?
In the past, I’ve tried Impossible beef and looked up which restaurant made the best Impossible burger. We also tried the Impossible Pork when it first came out.
Impossible hot dogs: Price and availability
Impossible hot dogs will launch in the coming weeks at major retailers in the U.S. They will cost $7.99 per package, which is a little more than regular hot dogs, but on par with Impossible’s other products.
Like other hot dogs, Impossible hot dogs will come in packs of six, while hot dog buns will continue to come in packs of eight. Grrr.
Impossible Hot Dogs: Health Information
Let’s make one thing clear right away: no hot dog, whether real or fake, will ever be considered a health food. But how does the Impossible Hot Dog compare to a beef hot dog? That’s how things break down next to a premium uncured beef sausage from Welshire Farms.
Looking at the labels side by side, the Welshire Farms hot dog has more fat and cholesterol, but less sodium than the Impossible hot dog. Interestingly, the Welshire hot dog also contains less protein. Where is the meat?
Impossible claims its hot dog has 50% less saturated fat than leading beef hot dogs, per 47 grams. And his statement is pretty close. Since the Welshire Farms hot dog weighs more, when you equalize the total weight at 47 grams, it has about 4.2 grams of saturated fat – not quite 5%, but not that far off.
However, the Impossible hot dog has much more sodium than the Welshire hot dog; Leveling the weight at 47 grams, the Welshire dog would have 327 mg of sodium compared to the Impossible’s 430 mg.
Aside from dietary concerns, Impossible says its products are also better for the environment. According to the company, “Impossible Hot Dogs represent 84% less greenhouse gas emissions, 77% less water and 83% less land than an animal meat hot dog.”
Impossible hot dogs: the taste test
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To see how Impossible Hot Dogs compare to beef hot dogs, I cooked up a batch of both in my office, using a Ninja Sizzle Indoor Smokeless Grill ($119, Amazon).
As soon as I opened both packages, it was pretty obvious which dogs were Impossible and which were not; The Impossible dogs were a little smaller and paler compared to the Wilshire Farms hot dogs.
While the sausages were cooking on the grill, I noticed that the browning marks that developed on the Impossible sausages were not as aesthetically pleasing as the lines on the beef sausages; the latter also shone brighter as their fats bubbled to the surface.
I had half a dozen colleagues try an Impossible hot dog and a Wilshire Farms hot dog on a brioche bun; some chose to add a little mustard, while others ate them unadorned.
Almost unanimously, everyone could immediately identify the Impossible hot dog and the beef hot dog; Not only did it taste more like a hot dog, but it also had a more satisfying mouthfeel, with that little pop when you bite into the hot dog.
A colleague, Jeff Goldstein, summed up this battle quite well. Jeff said the Impossible dog was “very bland” and when he popped a real hot dog in his mouth he knew it instantly and exclaimed, “Oh, that’s beef, honey!”
In some ways, this context reminded me of the burger cooking contest on Parks & Rec:
Which isn’t to say they didn’t like the Impossible hot dog; Everyone said it was pretty good, and one person commented that they probably wouldn’t know the difference if they were only introduced to the Impossible hot dog.
Avram Piltch, editor-in-chief of Tom’s Hardware, said he was actually leaning toward Impossible hot dogs because he liked their taste and was trying to eliminate meat from his diet.
Impossible hot dogs: verdict
So, should you go out and buy Impossible hot dogs for your next barbecue? If you’re looking for a brat substitute that’s lower in fat and seemingly better for the environment than your regular beef hot dog, then it’s worth a try. While the Impossible hot dog doesn’t live up to what it’s trying to imitate, it’s a good first attempt. And you don’t have to worry so much about how the so-called sausage is made.