Okara burgers

[Ed Petersen]

I just got my soymaker and am very pleased with it and the products it makes.

I made Okara burgers. Okara is the ground up bean pulp left after the soy milk is extracted. My reading suggests that Okara is about 17% fat and 13% protein neither of which is required in the diet in large amounts. I do not know how to relate those figures to what I should be eating on a regular basis. While Okara may be high in fat if you add rice and whole wheat flour to the mix the fat content of the burgers must drop off quite a bit. It would be quite simple to do the math if I took the quantity of other ingredients and balanced them with the amount of Okara in the burger mix.
My question is what amount of fat and protine should I be trying to arrive at in making these burgers to end up with a really well balanced and nutritious burger.

By the way they are very good tasting, but then so are a lot of things which we have already given up in order to eat a more healthful diet.

Thank you.

[JeffN]

I just got my soymaker and am very pleased with it and the products it makes.

I made Okara burgers. Okara is the ground up bean pulp left after the soy milk is extracted. My reading suggests that Okara is about 17% fat and 13% protein neither of which is required in the diet in large amounts. I do not know how to relate those figures to what I should be eating on a regular basis. While Okara may be high in fat if you add rice and whole wheat flour to the mix the fat content of the burgers must drop off quite a bit. It would be quite simple to do the math if I took the quantity of other ingredients and balanced them with the amount of Okara in the burger mix.
My question is what amount of fat and protine should I be trying to arrive at in making these burgers to end up with a really well balanced and nutritious burger.

By the way they are very good tasting, but then so are a lot of things which we have already given up in order to eat a more healthful diet.

Thank you.

Hi Ed

I would recommend you read my view on soy products/foods.

http://drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5600

Okara is lower in protein, fat, and calorie density than soy, but it is still a fairly refined and processed soy product void of fiber. So, it is not an ingredient or a product I would recommend to consume on a regular basis I would think of it as a condiment.

In regard to goals for recipes, my guidelines for food labels also work well for recipes. This is a little more detailed than I present in the lecture but would apply.

Calorie Density under 800 cal/lb
Calories From Fat: no more than 20%
Calories From Sat Fat: no more than 5%
Sodium: no more than the calories
Fiber: at least 2-3 grams per 100 calories
Cholesterol: 0
Sugars: no more than 5% of calories
Refined flours: no more than 5% of calories

However, to answer your question, the easiest way to end up with a healthy end product is to use ingredients we know are healthy. There are many ways to make healthy vegan burgers with known healthy hi fiber ingredients like beans, oats, corn, peas, barley, etc.

I would recommend looking into making a bean/rice/oats/veggie burger as for the same effort you will end up with a much healthier product. Perhaps others have some good recipes they can share, or where to find a good McDougall recipe.

In Health
Jeff Novick, MS, RD