Sat 18 Apr 2009 11:54 pm
Welcome back to the occasional product reviews I enjoyed doing on the P-I’s pages. Our motto: We try it so you don’t have to.
I was inspired to start up the theme again after a lunch of “American Style Kobe Beef Gourmet Hamburger Patties” produced by Idaho-based Snake River Farms ($7.99 for a package of two at QFC). I hadn’t bought a frozen hamburger patty since reading Fast Food Nation, but I was too curious about these not to try them, and felt a company using words like “traceability” on its web site would at least be more acceptable than most.
I’m looking forward to when marketing catches up with the Wagyu name enough that people feel comfortable just saying “Wagyu burgers” instead of getting into long explanations on the side of the box about what “American-Style Kobe” might mean. Regardless, the Snake River burgers were big (8-ounces) and surprisingly, beneficiently juicy even when cooked through on a gas grill. The taste was fine. It was better than the Costco patties we used to buy on a budget, but nothing that drove us wild. It was beefy, but one-note and plain; the real pleasure I got from eating it was the Boat Street pickles I put on top. When I think about it, though, it’s not a fault with this burger so much as the nature of pre-made patties. If I’d made them from scratch, the beef would have been the starting point, moving on to onions and bread crumbs, maybe Worcestershire sauce. These patties were 100% beef — which sounds good on the face, but 1% seasoning would have been better.
Then, the heart-clutching surprise: I hadn’t checked the nutritional information before buying the box, and I should have, in case I decided to swap out a couple donuts instead. Each burger had 750 calories and 67 grams of fat (25g saturated fat). I don’t think I’ve ever seen a food item where a single serving exceeded the recommended daily value of fat (104% for total fat, 126% for saturated, if anyone’s counting).
Bottom Line: When I want a pre-made frozen meat patty, I’ll stick to my Heidi Hens turkey burgers.
“It was beefy…”
isn’t that how a ground beef patty is supposed to taste? what were you expecting?
“If I’d made them from scratch, the beef would have been the starting point, moving on to onions and bread crumbs, maybe Worcestershire sauce.”
sounds like what you wanted to make was a meatloaf. go check out how burger shacks around in new york and l.a. make their patties and you’ll see that aside from some salt and maybe a little pepper the meat is simply that - meat.
Well Kobe-beef is really delicious if you eat it the way it’s meant to be eaten ;)
in thin slices broiled in the japanese way of cooking.
http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:Rgiy7XvWhHIKQM:http://www.primetimemeats.co.nz/assets/images/products/KobeBeefRibeye.jpg
just look at that fat, no wonder that you were shocked by the calories *g*
Thanks for the review. I had been hearing a lot about these Kobe burgers and wanted to try them but after reading this I think I’ll just pass on it.