This past year, Foodbeast saw a lot of meaty recipes, menu items, and downright drool-worthy videos. As we say hello to the new year, let's take a stroll through a beefy memory lane, try our best to keep our tongues in our mouths, and have a Biggie Smalls-like hypnotizing moment with meat.
Without further ado, here are some of the meatiest Foodbeast moments of the year:
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3 ft. Hot Dog Hellthy Junkfood
This giant hot dog was a long time coming for Hellthy Junk Food fans, who have been requesting it for years. The "world's largest hot dog" (unofficially) consisted of Beef Bologna from Zweigle's in Rochester, NY, and was cooked on a giant grill. The way they put this together is actually pretty cool, reaching out to Zweigle's after the factory posted a picture of their massive wieners in late July. After visiting the factory, Julia Goolia baked a huge bun herself. Peep the vid above.
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16-lb Crown Roast
This 16-pound crown roast at Las Vegas' MB Steak goes for $1,200 and should be shared with at least 10 of your closest friends. The giant steak is cooked slow for 20 hours and is carved right at your table for a little bit of beefy entertainment. It's almost like that huge rack of ribs that Fred Flintstone used to dig into. So yes, it's definitely like eating an enormous prehistoric piece of meat.
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Pastrami Rib Porn
While some of the best pastrami comes from old school Jewish delis, and you can never go wrong paying a visit to Katz's or Langer's, sometimes you just have to give it a shot yourself. Our own Peter Pham put together a pastrami recipe at home, and that thing fell off the bone like Ja Rule fell off the face of Earth after 2004. This video in particular caused some controversy, as apparently the Foodbeast comment section had no idea that pastrami is typically a pinkish color. Cries of "white people undercooking steak" were rampant, but if you know, you know. That pastrami was perfect.
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Whole Alligator BBQ
Get PETA on the phone. Just kidding. This whole alligator did cause a bit of a stir though, as it created a shock value that people weren't ready for. It's not every day you see a sharp-toothed gator staring at you while on a grill. Black Sugar Rib Co. sets up camp at Smorgasburg L.A., and often offers this gator, for free with purchase of a bbq item. So if you're down to face your fears, or if you're Adam Sandler and want to get revenge for Chubbs's hand in Happy Gilmore, here's your chance.
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Watermelon Steak
This juicy piece of meat porn doubles as a juicy piece of fruit porn. Ducks Eatery in New York makes a watermelon steak that legitimately looks like a smoked piece of meat. It might be time to start respecting the plant-based meat game, as New Yorkers definitely have, the way these watermelon steaks have been selling out daily.
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Pork Belly Pyramid
The Foodbeast News Bites team made a trip to Suzhou, China this past fall season, exploring one of the lesser known (to foreigners, at least) cities in China. One of the gems they found was a jiggly pork belly pyramid from the Suzhou Marriott Hotel Taihu Lake. They've all had their fair share of pork belly, and all agreed that this was the best pork belly they've ever had, stating there was more love put into it than most restaurants in the U.S. do. Watching them dig into this pork belly will definitely make your jaw drop.
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Vegan Pork Belly
What Taqueria la Venganza is doing in the vegan world is nothing short of amazing. Their meaty tacos are pretty impressive, but earlier this year, Chef Raul Medina gave a sneak peek at a vegan pork belly he's working on, and it can honestly change the vegan meat game. Medina is trying to recreate meat textures, and let vegans enjoy the food they loved, without the long-term dangers that come from beef. For that we salute Chef Raul, and can't wait to see what meaty creations he has in store for 2019.
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Flaming Beef Sushi
We're big fans of any food where the cooking process requires a torch. Ebisu Yokocho in Tokyo, Japan serves Flame Seared Beef Sushi, and it's quite a site to behold. Sure a hot grill might yield similar results, but it's not as fun as some dude scorching your food in front of you like Johnny Storm.
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Cultural Commons Pulled Pork
We're suckers for watching a juicy piece of meat get handled. Cultural Commons in Australia goes all in with its pulled pork, and @hulksmashfood captured the process beautifully. Don't overthink this one, just enjoy the visuals.
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Bacon-Wrapped, Stuffed Hot Dog
An original from @foodsteez, this isn't just any ol' bacon wrapped hot dog. The dog itself is cheese stuffed, then the bun and all is wrapped in layers of bacon, not just the wiener like the typical bacon-wrapped dog.
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Ember Cornbread Bowl
We're spoiled for this one, as Ember BBQ and its gargantuan cornbread bowl are a stones throw away from the Foodbeast office. The giant, hollowed out cornbread bowl is topped with mounds of Kansas City-style smoked brisket, ribs, pork cracklings, sausage, and mac n' cheese. Definitely a meaty mountain you'll want to climb.
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Belly of the Beast Burger
The Belly of the Beast Burger was a 15-pound, Hot Cheeto and pork belly-filled cheeseburger. Found at Truffles & Bacon in Las Vegas, this burger requires a full 15-man basketball squad to conquer, and even then, you'll probably still have leftovers.
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Bacon-Wrapped Lasagna Juicy Lucy
Tym Bussanich is no stranger to food porn lists, and this year is no different. The Frankenfood doctor took a quintessential Juicy Lucy to the next level, not just stuffing a beef patty with cheese, but also with lasagna ingredients. Yeah, hard to believe, but there's literally a little lasagna slice inside that burger.
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Lord Stanley Tomahawk
Tomahawk steaks are having a moment, and while I personally believe them to be a little bit of a scam, there's no denying a delicious piece of ribeye is hard to say 'no' to. The Lord Stanley tomahawk at Selanne Steak Tavern was as grand as the trophy it was named after. Each steak weighs in at 40 ounces and can easily take on the meatiest heavyweights out there.
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Deep-Fried Filet Mignon
Fried foods are expected at county fairs, but not many have the audacity to fry a high end cut of steak like Filet Mignon. Chicken Charlie's did just that at this year's Orange County Fair, cutting medallions of the filet, battering them, and frying them on a stick. Of course, the were actually pretty damn delicious, too.
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1,000 BK Nuggets
This is what happens when you try to order 100 nuggets from Burger King, and they accidentally send ten times that amount. We were trying to take advantage of their $10, 100 nugget deal, and at some point, lines got crossed, and 1,000 nuggets were sent to the office. We didn't mind. It was a good mistake. And yes, we put them in a giant Big Mac box because we didn't know where else to put them.
