(soft instrumental music)
- Not off to a great start.
I'm so intrigued.
- Yeah, me too.
Welcome back to, we taste things
so you don't waste your money.
- Working title. (both giggling)
I'm Candace, the Edgy Veg.
Hi, I'm Molly, I'm the Gen Z Veg.
And today we are going to do
another taste test video for you with bacon.
- Yes.
Because people comment on our videos all the time saying,
bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon.
And so we listen.
That's what they meant, right?
- Cause we're aching for some bacon.
Yup, yup, yup. (both giggling)
♪ You're aching yup, yup, yup ♪
♪ For some bacon yup, yup, yup ♪
So bacon.
The most controversial vegan food,
because nothing is quite exactly the same.
But it'll still be good.
There's good being in bacon.
It just never tasted exactly the bacon.
- These are also American style bacon,
because Canadian bacon is ham.
Is just a piece of ham.
- Oh, right.
Isn't there a British bacon and (indistinct)
- British bacon is under-cooked.
It's like
wiggly.
Right?
And American bacon is like crunchy
and the Brits think it's burnt.
- Lovely. Well...
- We're sort of somewhere in the middle.
Where do you fall?
Crunchy bacon or soft?
- A little bit of both.
What about you?
- Yeah, same.
(both laughing)
- Now that we got that into the way,
we have four different types of bacon.
Some I actually haven't tried.
- No, I've never tried this.
I think it's new, Hooray Foods.
Hooray Foods!
- It's bacon flavored strips.
No animals harmed, minimally processed.
King's Vegetarian Bacon.
This is a local bacon here to Toronto,
probably nationwide now.
I think they're gaining popularity.
- It's very good.
We've tried that one.
This one is, is it eaves or yves?
- [Candace] Yves.
- Yves.
Yves I think is also Canadian company,
if I'm not mistaken it's, yeah, from Toronto.
- I definitely thought that it was available.
- These are veggie bacon strips, improved taste.
So I haven't tried the old ones,
but I'm glad that they improved it.
And this one's Lightlife, which is also Canadian,
but I think available in the U.S.
- Yes.
- Lightlife I'm pretty sure it's owned
by the biggest meat company in Toronto or in Canada.
- Maple Leaf, I think, right?
- That's cool that they're doing the vegan stuff.
- We might be telling lies.
Yeah. I think there are...
- Oh, Massachusetts, my bad.
See, I'm just making stuff up.
- Lies fired.
So we're going to go through each one with the price,
what it looks like, then we'll cook it
and then we'll go for the usual taste, texture.
I feel like we can't go like,
is it like the real thing?
Because it's vegan bacon and likely isn't.
- But is it gonna give that crispy, smoky, meaty,
fatty, flavor?
Will it work as a bacon alternative?
- Yes. All right.
- That's what we're here to decide.
- So we'll do the yves first.
Actually, do you wanna do that while I look up the price?
- This is veggie bacon strips.
They're made of water, soy protein, wheat gluten,
canola, oil, textured soy protein, natural flavors,
salt, wheat starch, yeast extract, liquid smoke,
caramel, cane sugar, beet powder, spices,
vitamin and mineral blend.
Woo!
It's not gluten-free.
- And this costs $3 and 97 cents.
- Oh, awesome.
- Let's cook it.
- First look, it's very
2007 meat alternative looking.
I think this company is one of the OG meat alternative.
I was eating them in the nineties.
It's not looking like bacon to me.
It's not giving streaky.
It's a bit baloney-looking.
- [Candace] Fried Play-Doh.
- [Molly] Bit prison food.
- All right.
So it's crunchy on the outside.
- A little bit gray, a little bit fried fried bologna.
No, it's not maybe not grey,
but like not vibrant color at all.
- I mean, it tastes good.
It doesn't taste like bacon, but it tastes really good.
- Like fried ham.
- Yeah.
Yeah, I'm definitely getting fried bologna from this,
which I had a lot as a kid.
- Yeah.
But it is good.
- It doesn't look like bacon, doesn't taste like bacon,
doesn't smell like bacon, but it tastes good.
This would be really good in like a BLT or like this?
- Like a breakfast burrito.
- I don't think there's really any like fat
or anything in it.
So definitely relies on whatever oil you cook it with.
Yeah, it's fine.
Salty.
- It's good.
- Crispy.
I would eat it.
- Yeah, I like that.
And it's very affordable. - Acceptable.
Yeah and available everywhere.
At least in Canada, available everywhere.
- Great.
- Next!
- Water, coconut oil, rice, flour, tapioca starch,
liquid smoke, maple syrup, umami powder,
sea salt, beet juice concentrate.
So if you look in the package, there's a lot of fat,
which it doesn't...
Oh, yeah.
Coconut oil, which looks and the packaging also,
is very much like meat bacon.
Very intrigued by this.
- Yeah.
The coloring is a bit weird.
- Bit beige.
I mean, it looks very promising.
Oh, does it have protein?
- No.
- No, no protein.
- No, not at all.
- I'm so intrigued.
- Yeah, me too.
- All right.
So this is available in the States and in Canada.
- It's definitely new to Canada
and only available at Sobeys Urban Fresh.
- Oh, yeah. They're all Sobeys.
It says it's also available online at Vienna Essentials,
Imperfect Foods and Amazon, and a bunch of other things
but we're not gonna read all of them.
- Candle wax.
It's also really hard to get unstuck.
- Oh, it's like super stiff.
- It's like a candle.
- [Candace] It almost feels like frozen meat
that's been thawed but not fully.
- It also wants us to flip it every 30 seconds.
- So this is 9.99 for one pack each.
- It smells really bacony already, like really maple bacon,
like maple syrup and smoke.
- I can't smell it.
You can smell it?
Yeah?
I can't.
I still can't smell anything from having COVID.
It has to be like very strong.
No, I can't even really smell dog poo.
The cooking instructions are very specific.
- [Molly] It looks like it's melting.
The texture is really weird.
- [Candace] It's changing color too.
This was not this (mumbles) - Yeah.
I won't lie to you,
it looks a little bit like dog treats.
I kinda wish the colors were reversed
and it was more pink and less beige,
because it's very beige.
- Flip!
(Candace giggling)
We're flipping every 30 seconds until it's crispy
cause that's what it says to do.
- All right.
Let's see.
Oh, it's very hot.
Why am I touching it?
It's so hot.
- It really smells like bacon.
- Oh, now I can smell it.
- It tastes like bacon flavored candy.
- It's like (both crunching bacon)
It's given me something.
Like bacon flavored crepe. (Candace crunching bacon)
- I'm so... - I think I like it.
- Yeah, like I don't not like it.
(Candace crunching bacon)
It's not giving bacon.
It smells like bacon from what I can smell.
I'm so confused.
- The texture is really strange.
It's also soy-free and gluten-free.
- I think the texture so weird because it's just starch.
- I think I like it.
- I think it could be saltier.
I don't know how I feel.
- It tastes like just the skin on fried chicken.
- That's what it tastes like, yes.
- It's the texture of animals fried skin.
- Yes.
- Yeah.
- I mean, it's good.
I don't know that I paid $10 for it.
I don't know if it's giving me bacon.
- Meaty?
- Yeah, just meaty.
I mean, it tastes good, but is it bacon?
No.
- Interesting product though.
- Yeah. - I'm glad we tried it.
- Yeah, me too.
I mean, if someone had it and gave it to me,
I wouldn't be like mad or anything.
I just think for what it's not giving me,
I think it's overpriced.
- Fair enough.
Cool.
We'll do the next one?
- Yeah.
- This is King's Vegetarian Bacon, which we've tried before.
- Yes, we love.
- Yes, really love it.
It's a Toronto-based or Mississauga-based company.
I think it started in a restaurant, right?
- I think so.
- Water, non-GMO textured soy protein,
soybean oil, modified starch, salt, yeast extract, sugar,
vegetable protein, vegetable extract, flavor,
white pepper and coloring.
You cooked it lots of times. - Yeah.
- Low sodium, non-GMO.
- Let's cook.
This is not readily available.
You kind of have to be at like a specialty store to get it
or you can buy it from them directly
like pretty sure it eight dollars.
- Comment down below.
I have a new idea for a podcast for Candace,
where she tells secrets
and the podcast is called Rov Edge.
(Candace giggling)
Hi guys, I'm Candace.
Welcome back to the Rov Edge podcast.
- God, you sound so like NPR.
(man murmuring in the background)
- Right? - Oh, okay, I got it.
It is 7.99, 8 dollars.
I left it kind of crispy and kind of chewy.
- Nice.
I really liked the streaks in this one.
- Yeah.
This one looks the mostly vegan so far.
- I feel like it looks more like a Turkey bacon maybe?
- Yes, definitely or like a chicken bacon.
- And I kinda wish it wasn't so square at the end.
- And also it tears nicely, like it's like fibrous.
I feel like you can do this with bacon.
You definitely have to cook it with the oil.
If you don't cook it with oil, it will dry out.
- It's good.
- The flavor of this bacon is ridiculous.
This might be my favorite bacon ever.
It kinda tastes like Turkey bacon.
- Yeah.
It's definitely giving Turkey bacon.
- Do we keep saying giving?
- Yeah or chicken bacon.
Chicken bacon's a thing, right?
Yeah. - Yeah, I like this one.
- That's why when people get so pissed off
and they're like, it's not bacon.
Yeah, but you can make like chicken bacon
and it's not technically bacon or Turkey bacon.
- Or rice people bacon.
- Recipe down below.
- Crunchy, chewy, the flavor is so good.
- I love this one.
- This is my favorite.
- 10 out of 10.
- If you are in Canada and you can get this,
I highly, highly recommend it.
I know there's a bunch of online beacon grocery stores
that you can order it from.
I could eat this whole pack just like this.
- It's really good.
Not gluten-free, it doesn't say if its nut-free,
low sodium though, but it doesn't taste like...
- It doesn't taste low sodium.
I think that's probably the yeast extract.
Cause there's no MSG, right?
- Next!
Very, very fragile vegan.
So next we have the Smart Bacon.
So I hope it can set a timer for me
or perhaps make me a grocery list cause it's smart.
Get it? - It's Bluetooth activated.
(Candace giggling) Oh no.
- Oh, it's very fragile Smart Bacon,
so perhaps not so smart.
- Crumbly.
- And I'm still waiting for my Amazon order
that it did not place.
- Not off to a great start.
- Okay.
Five grams of protein per serving, no saturated fat.
Ingredients: water, wheat gluten, soy protein isolate,
soy bean oil, salt, sugar, smoke flavors, spice extractives,
soy protein product, carrageenan.
- Carrageenan.
- Carrageenan, yeast extract, vegetable oil, natural flavor,
red rice flower, smoked sugar, smoked sugar?
Interesting.
- I love smoked sugar.
- And added B12, also not gluten free.
- So it's a health food is what you're saying.
- It's also made by a carbon neutral company.
- That's cool.
- Very cool.
I've never seen this logo before.
- Oh look see, it's smart.
It's talking to me like Alexa, see.
I'm not capable of making you your own grocery list.
It's smart bacon not fake bacon.
Here we go.
- I feel like it'd be good in a carbonara.
- Yeah.
- Breaks into chunks.
- Like a lardon or I guess, like a sandwich or a salad?
It smells really good.
I actually smell this one.
From what I can smell, it smells good.
Smart bacon.
I'm upset that it did not cook itself.
- Didn't even tell us what it was ready.
- It broke apart and some of them broke apart in the pan.
But again, I tried to do what we both like,
which is kind of soft, but also crispy.
I mean, it looks just like that other bacon
that we cooked from yves. - Yeah.
- It's very salty.
- I don't like it.
- It's like very, very, very salty.
- Tastes like beef jerky.
- That's what it tastes like.
- It tastes like Slim Jim.
- I like it.
Not bacon.
It would be good in a carbonara.
It's that salty?
- Or they got a gas station.
- Oh my God, it tastes like a pepperoni.
- Like Hot Rod.
- Like a, what were they called?
Yeah, Hot Rod or Pepper Rods.
I don't not like.
- It wasn't my favorite.
- The texture is a bit strange,
but I guess you could just not cook it as much,
but it's very salty.
Like if you are sensitive to salt at all, not for you.
- It's extremely salty.
- Yeah.
I mean, it's good.
I wouldn't be upset if it was on my plate,
but it's definitely not my favorite.
- No, not my favorite at all.
- Yeah, you just straight up don't like it.
- It would be fine as a Slim Jim, as a beef jerky,
but as bacon, I don't think it gave what I needed.
- Do you think it'd be better
if we lit it on fire with a lighter,
like Wendy Williams lights her Pepper Rods on fire.
(Molly laughing)
You know, those sticks of pepperoni,
we were just honing them, she lights it
or heats it with a lighter and then eats it.
There's literally a clip from the internet doing that.
- That sounds so dangerous.
- I did not make that up.
Apparently it's a thing.
- It doesn't surprise me about Wendy Williams.
- Well, that's our bacon taste test.
Which one...
I guess, should we put them in order?
Oh yeah, cause we...
- [Molly] King's is my top pick.
And then I would probably go
this way.
So this is my favorite.
This one I would use for sure it was accessible,
it's affordable, it's standard.
The Hooray Foods I just,
I don't see it being worth $10 for a pack of bacon.
And it was a bit weird.
I think it definitely takes some practice
to cook it properly.
And I just straight up did not like the Lightlife bacon.
- I think my order might be the same.
Like these two, I think are kind of like tied
for different reasons.
Like I just love the flavor of this,
I love the texture of this.
I think it hits all the categories that I want for a bacon.
Like you said, this one's accessible
and the flavors really, really good,
texture is like fried bologna, which is delicious.
This one, like I think if I learned how to cook it better,
I would do better justice maybe.
But it's the price point again?
Like I don't want to spend $10
to learn how to cook something.
It should be like a bit more user-friendly than that
and it was just a little too weird.
And this one I liked as pepperoni stick.
(Candace giggling)
- [Molly] But it's hit the bottom of your bacon list.
- Yeah, yeah.
I don't think any of them were bad.
I didn't not like any of them.
All right.
So that is bacon.
- If you have any requests
for things you want us to try on camera,
leave them in the comments down below
and we will buy them and try them.
And if you want Candice to make anything
on next week's episode, comment down below
and let us know what it is.
- Yeah.
And if you have like a specific type of food
that you want us to try a bunch of,
what have we done so far?
Chocolate, yogurt... - Ice cream.
- Ice cream, milks, cheese, bacon.
If you have one that you want us to try,
leave it and we'll do it.
Okay, bye!
- Bye.
(soft instrumental music)