Five Ways Cultivated Fat Makes Better Burgers

There has been a lot of discourse in popular culture about the role of fat in our cuisine and diet. Perhaps the least disputed truth is this: fat is flavour.

While Mosa Meat’s first cultivated beef burger contained only muscle fibres, we have since focused on adding cultivated fat with frequent tastings to measure our progress.

 “If you have more fat, your meat is going to be more flavourful…fat absorbs flavour,” shares Anastacia, a chef based in Maastricht. 

Today, we’re sharing five ways that cultivated fat makes better burgers:

1. Taste & smell, explained by science

What is the science behind fatty flavour? Fatty acids, when oxidised, produce compounds called carbonyl compounds that contribute to flavour potency. 

Fat may also act as storage for odoriferous compounds (those with delicious aroma characteristics) that are released on heating. 

Finally, volatile compounds released from fat are responsible for species-specific flavours. This is why Mosa fat was described as having “an overwhelming animal signature” by our co-founder Peter in one of our tastings.

There is an incredible complexity in how all of these compounds are formed and released when preparing beef, and the exact interactions between all the different compounds are not even completely understood today. Our aim is to come as close as possible to getting the building blocks, or the starting point of those interactions right. More about this can be found in our blogpost “How we make real meat”.

2. Tenderness

Fat is less resistant to force than protein. The quantity and distribution of fat, or marbling, can therefore influence the tenderness of meat. 

Fat also allows for the use of higher-heat cooking than vegetable fats, so that meat remains tender even when it's cooked longer. 

Photos of a recent tasting at Mosa Meat, where we measured the effect of different quantities of store-bought animal fat in plant-based and beef burgers.

In a recent tasting at Mosa Meat, our tasters added various quantities of store-bought beef fat to plant-based and beef burgers. Overall, higher percentages of fat were experienced to significantly increase the tenderness and juiciness of the burgers.

3. Juiciness

Juiciness is the effect of fluid being released when you bite into a burger, but it is also the mouth-watering effect the fat has while you are chewing.

Cultivated fat can affect juiciness by lubricating the muscle fibers during cooking and enhancing the water-retaining capacity of meat when it cooks. 

Additionally, fat has a stimulating effect on your saliva as you chew, which also contributes to the sensation of juiciness of your favourite burger.

4. Health

Mosa fat contains less saturated fat than plant fats, and in a recent analysis, even lower saturated fat than conventional fat. 

Saturated fat is the least healthy of the three types of fat (saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated) measured here. However, all three fats are healthier than trans fats, found in some vegetable oils.

Cultivated fat is also more chemically stable than vegetable fat. While vegetable fats oxidize quickly when exposed to light or high heat, animal fats don’t break down as easily. This means that burgers made with cultivated fat can be safely cooked at higher temperatures.

5. Simplifying ingredients

While plant-based fats can contain multiple ingredients, Mosa fat contains only one: fat cells, found in nature. All the benefits described above come from harnessing the natural growth process, as it occurs in nature. 

The composition of our fat is very similar to that of conventional animal fat, it looks the same under a microscope, and it even sizzles the same when you heat it. So, to create great burgers, we are less dependent on processing or flavouring. 

We believe fat is the true soul of flavour. This is why we’re cultivating fat in a cleaner, kinder way, in burgers that all people can enjoy. 

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