Early Green from DHDL: vegan meat alternative in the test

“The Lions’ Den”
Early Green promises meatless enjoyment – but does it taste good too?

the end Early Green meatless steaks, gyros and burger patties are formed

© DS products

The idea of ​​making vegan foods from seitan is not new. On the other hand, there is the possibility that seitan-based meat substitutes can do without refrigeration – in the form of a powder that goes by the name of Early Green. Does that taste good? We found out.

Nicole and Bernd Sell are the two minds behind the vegan meat alternative Early Green. The couple did not want to put up with the fact that prepared seitan must be refrigerated. “Many meat substitute products do not have a particularly long shelf life. They spoil after a week,” says Nicole, explaining her impulse to invent a product that is not yet on the market. Together with her husband, she developed a meatless dry mix that is said to be suitable for the preparation of vegan dishes. This is made possible by adding water and cooking oil – this turns the powder into a solid mass from which burgers, gyros and steaks can be formed. Will that also work in practice? We did the taste test.

What is the meat substitute powder made of?

Contrary to what was expected, the meatless dishes are not prepared with the same ingredients. Instead there is for Burgers, gyros and steaks an individual dry mix – the range also includes a spelled pan bread and a vegan spice mix for tzaziki as well as a burger and steak sauce. However, we only tested the three meat substitutes. But what’s actually in Early Green?

  • The dry mix for vegan steaks contains 21 percent soy protein and 14 percent pea protein. There is also a thickening agent and flavoring (contains yeast extract), broad bean protein and potato fiber, flax flour and tapioca starch, beetroot juice powder, salt and paprika, psyllium husks, barley malt extract and sunflower oil.
  • The dry mix for vegan gyros contains 52 percent wheat gluten, chickpea flour and various spices (onions, garlic, paprika, cumin, mustard seed, coriander, chilli, allspice, cinnamon), vegetables (tomato, carrot, leek), herbs (oregano, thyme, pepper, rosemary, basil, Marjoram, parsley), sea salt, dextrose and corn starch.
  • The dry mix for vegan burgers Contains 41 soy protein and 14 percent pea protein, thickener and broad bean protein, tapioca starch and flavors (contains yeast extract), spices (onions, garlic, pepper, nutmeg), salt and glucose syrup, beetroot juice powder and sunflower extracts, barley malt acid and parsnip powder and fleas flavored parsnips .

Currently, the three purely vegetable meat alternatives are not (yet) available individually, but only in Set of 3 for just under 15 euros – or else in combination with the spelled pan bread and the vegan spice mix for tzatziki for around 25 euros. all products from Early Green, including the two sauces, are also available for just under 29 euros.

Early Green in the taste test

If you can believe the founding couple, the ready-seasoned dry mixes from Early Green should be meat-like in bite and taste. We wanted to see this for ourselves personally and tested the three different varieties. And these are our results:

1. Vegan burgers

The dry mix for vegan burgers was mixed with 200 ml of water and a tablespoon of cooking oil. Then the somewhat unsightly mass had to rest in the refrigerator for ten minutes before it could be processed further (this also applies to the other two variants). In order to bring the sticky amount into shape, the hands had to be moistened, but this only helped to a limited extent when modeling. In fact, turning the wet mixture into a pattie was quite complicated – but not impossible. Then it was fried until crispy in a pan and combined with the rest of the burger ingredients. And how did it taste? Both test persons, who are avowed meat eaters, found the result delicious, the patty was crispy, tasty and juicy. Still, the taste had little to do with real meat. But that didn’t bother us.

Early green burger

The dry mix for vegan burgers was well received by the test eaters

© star

2. Vegan Gyros

The dry mix for vegan gyros was mixed with 150 ml of water and two tablespoons of cooking oil. In contrast to the other two variants, the mass took on a solid form (even before the recommended cooling time) and thus did not stick to the fingers. This made it very easy to work with. To make a fine gyros from the lump of dough, it was formed into three rolls and pressed flat – this made it possible to cut and portion the amount very well. Then the meatless strips were fried until crispy in a pan and eaten. Unlike the burger mass, this mixture was extremely spicy and tasty like real gyros. Due to the strong herbal note, the somewhat grainy taste could be covered very well. Both meat eaters agreed that the bite and taste are reminiscent of real gyros. The result still didn’t taste like meat.

Early green gyros

in the star– The taste test was the most convincing of the dry mix for vegan gyros

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3. Vegan steaks

The dry mix for vegan steaks was mixed with 240 ml of water and a tablespoon of cooking oil. The pulpy consistency that stuck everywhere on the hands was immediately noticeable – perhaps it would have used less water, but the testers followed the packaging instructions. Even after the ten-minute cooling break, the unsightly mass did not want to solidify and could only be modeled into a steak-like shape with great difficulty. When frying the oil splashed in all directions, but in the end a satisfactory result was achieved. Unlike the dry mix for gyros and burgers, this mix was the least convincing. Both in the preparation and in the taste, which wasn’t bad but had nothing to do with meat. Which wouldn’t have been too bad if the crowd had been given a little more spice. All in all, the test eaters found the product okay, but significantly weaker than the other two variants of Early Green.

Early green steak

The vegan steak was the least convincing due to the sticky modeling compound

© star

Our conclusion

Although our two test eaters consume meat, they regularly use vegetarian alternatives. Because of this, they were particularly curious about the Dry mixes from Early Green. And what is your verdict? Except for the vegan steaks, they were able to convince the meat substitute products – with slight reductions in the burgers due to the sticky mass. The preparation was easy and the result was tasty, even if only the bite and not the taste was meat-like. Which, however, did not bother either test person at all, as they do not expect a vegan recipe to taste like meat. It was much more important to them that it tasted at all.

In order to expand their sales, Nicole and Bernd Sell need 100,000 euros for Early Green and would give up 20 percent of their company shares. Will one of the lions strike? You can see that today at 8:15 p.m. on Vox.

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