# Why aren’t beef products more common for breakfast? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [April 25, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764 "2024-04-25T23:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/21 "2024-04-26T14:24:31Z")
This is probably just me, but I have problems digesting beef — as in, I’m still burping it up ten hours later. Not so with pork or chicken. So, no breakfast steak for me; Mr. Stomach would revolt and I’d be singing breakfast within the hour. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/22 "2024-04-26T14:32:34Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I like the _breakfast chops_ better than the thicker pork chops. The thin ones fry up better and taste better. I like to buy the thickest pork chops, then sous vide them rare, overnight. A quick sear with a torch and they are ready to enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/23 "2024-04-26T14:38:29Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I’m still burping it up ten hours later. That would explain, in part, your Doper name. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/24 "2024-04-26T14:40:17Z")
Write what you know about. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/25 "2024-04-26T15:08:43Z")
Well, its been long time since I used Coppertone. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/26 "2024-04-26T15:11:49Z")
Cheers! 🍻 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/27 "2024-04-26T15:13:13Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I know that there’s corned beef hash, but at least in my part of the country (which happens to be beef country), it’s rare to see it on a menu. That’s a shame. Corned Beef Hash is usually really yummy. I’d eat it in college and my friends would opine that it looked like dog food. Kinda does. Then they’d try it and love it. Maybe it is the “corned beef” thing that puts them off. Consider opening a breakfast place that specializes in corned beef hash (of course offer other things). Teach people to love it and you will be the only game in town (for a while…eventually the other places will put it on the menu too). ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/28 "2024-04-26T15:22:49Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > True, but I don’t think I’ve ever had that for breakfast. Mcdonalds has chicken patty sandwiches for breakfast including a mcgriddle version. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/29 "2024-04-26T15:26:16Z")
I was reading up on the origins of the “full English breakfast” a little bit ago. IIRC it was explained that the breakfast spread would be to show off the bounty of your little country estate farm, and the dinner spread would be to show off your wealth and ability to source more exotic foods. So, country estates weren’t really raising beef or cattle en masse, but everyone had a pig sty and could produce pork products, thus showing off what their farm was able to produce in a glorious morning spread. > **[The Traditional Full English Breakfast](https://englishbreakfastsociety.com/full-english-breakfast.html)** > > Learn about the history and heritage of the centuries old English breakfast tradition, one that has been proudly sustained for hundreds of years by different generations of British society. > The gentry were famous for their breakfast feasts and in the old Anglo-Saxon tradition of hospitality, used to provide hearty full breakfasts for visitors passing through, friends, relatives and neighbors. They liked to indulge in ‘full English breakfasts’ before they went out to hunt, before a long journey, the morning after their regular parties and also when welcoming new arrivals to the estate. > > The breakfast table was an opportunity for the gentry to display the ‘wealth’ of their estates in the quality of the meats, vegetables and ingredients produced on their surrounding lands. It wad also a chance to show off the skills of the cooks who prepared a selection of typical Anglo Saxon breakfast dishes for the residents and guests of the house to choose from and graze upon. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/30 "2024-04-26T15:27:53Z")
Having had beef bacon and beef sausage for breakfast, I can tell you it is because the pork products are vastly superior. Beef is better served in steak form or as corned beef. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/31 "2024-04-26T15:46:39Z")
Yes, but I thought we were talking about normal food. When I make chicken, theres only 2 ingredients.🍗 ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/32 "2024-04-26T15:59:27Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > When I make chicken, theres only 2 ingredients. Hope one of them’s chicken! ETA: And to be a little more serious, just about the only kind of sausage my family has for breakfast is chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s. I had kind of forgotten it’s chicken I’m so used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/33 "2024-04-26T16:05:55Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The Scots have Lorne sausage:. > > [Homemade Square Scottish Sausage - Mum Grub](https://mumgrub.com/scottish-sausage/#:~:text=The%20Lorne%20sausage%2C%20also%20known%20as%20square%20sausage,a%20tin%20to%20make%20it%20easier%20to%20slice). Do you know if it’s any good? Coriander and nutmeg are not spices that I would typically associate with sausage (or breakfast.) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/34 "2024-04-26T16:15:36Z")
Out in cattle country, working cowboys always ate more pork than beef. The employer would provide it (usually in the form of bacon). Poaching cattle owned by a rival company was a time-honored tradition, but butchering a carcass required time and labor, and it was easier to just eat the bacon that your boss supplied. “Sow-belly, beans, and the old coffee pot” was the traditional description of a camp meal. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/35 "2024-04-26T16:33:42Z")
Pigs are more versatile, cheaper, and numerous, the go-to meat in much of the world. IMO beef is heavier, more of a lunch or dinner main course. Steak, roasts, hamburger…if I ate steak at breakfast (or a burger) I think I would just have to go right back to bed! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/36 "2024-04-26T16:47:30Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Mcdonalds has chicken patty sandwiches for breakfast including a mcgriddle version. Absolutely, I am a fan of the chicken McGriddle (just a bit of spiciness to go with the maple syrup). It’s practically a chicken and waffle sandwich. But it’s definitely not a traditional breakfast. There are also multiple breakfast items at Chick-Fil-A that have chicken but again, not traditional breakfast items. (One of the appeals of such items is their novelty after all.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/37 "2024-04-26T17:16:37Z")
Yes, there’s a Scottish shop here in Toronto that sells Lorne sausage. It’s very good, but it tastes more like beef than pork. I sometimes use it to make a minced steak-and-eggs breakfast or an upscale burger topped with a round of Angus bacon. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/38 "2024-04-26T17:22:41Z")
Another reason pork is more common than beef worldwide is because pigs are produced in litters and are easier to feed and keep. Cows also take up a lot more space, whether kept indoors or allowed to graze outside. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/39 "2024-04-26T17:44:05Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > Do you know if it’s any good? Coriander and nutmeg are not spices that I would typically associate with sausage (or breakfast.) Traditionally, it’s usually been Pork, in Scotland, but you can get beef ones. It is very good, it’s my favourite breakfast thing, but I don’t usually eat breakfast, so it’s a lunch thing. Scots food tends to have spices (haggis for instance), but not overwhelm the food, and probably less noticeable than say a Cumberland sausage, which you can definitely taste the additions. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2024, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764/40 "2024-04-27T23:58:57Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I dont know how common it is in mainstream Amurikkah, but if we have meat at breakfast it’s almost always chicken sausage, turkey bacon, or corned beef hash. Chicken sausage and turkey bacon are both ersatz franken-foods invented as a way to deliver the traditional flavors with a “lite” lower fat, lower cholesterol analysis during the great “low fat diet” craze of the early 1990s. They’ve been around long enough now to seem normal to older folks, and young people never knew a world without those products. But, sorta like impossible burger plant-based products these days, those are fake substitutes for an established real thing. Which is not to say some brands aren’t quite tasty in their own right and decently healthy to boot. But their origin story is IMO badly tainted. Just like the origin story of bacon & eggs was badly tainted back in the 1920s but seemed an eternal feature of the landscape when we old farts were kids. Unrelated to the above … A real scratch-made corned beef hash is delicious. The crap in a giant can from e.g. Sysco is crap. IME far too many breakfast joints open a can of Sysco, sprinkle in some spices and claim it’s “homemade” on their menu. Bastards. Living in the southern-most suburb of NYC (AKA south Florida), we have a couple restaurants near here catering to the non-kosher but still hardcore NY-style eaters. Their CBH truly is made from a fresh manually shredded CB, not the factory vat pulverized goo from a can. Plus real fried potatoes, not boiled micro-dice. A totally different breakfast experience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aren-t-beef-products-more-common-for-breakfast/1000764.md?page=3)