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Burgers...American staple

chapjim

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For chili cheese burgers here in So. Cal, we like Tommy's Original! Yes, not purists! But I guess we're not super picky and are fine with burger chains like Wendy's, Habit, In & Out, Red Robin, Carl's, McD, BK, etc. When we were in San Antonio TX a couple of years ago, we tried What a Burger and enjoyed eating there. Years ago, back in college we were in Atlanta GA for some conference and tried some place called Varsity Burger, which I recall wasn't bad but nothing memorable-just ok.

For pizza, we'll get the Costco or Sam's Club pizza as well as Round Table, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Fresh Bros, etc.

Our son was also stationed in Northern Italy and said the pizza was very good in Italy, but he still enjoys the "non authentic" US brands!
 

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For chili cheese burgers here in So. Cal, we like Tommy's Original! Yes, not purists! But I guess we're not super picky and are fine with burger chains like Wendy's, Habit, In & Out, Red Robin, Carl's, McD, BK, etc. When we were in San Antonio TX a couple of years ago, we tried What a Burger and enjoyed eating there. Years ago, back in college we were in Atlanta GA for some conference and tried some place called Varsity Burger, which I recall wasn't bad but nothing memorable-just ok.

For pizza, we'll get the Costco or Sam's Club pizza as well as Round Table, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Fresh Bros, etc.

Our son was also stationed in Northern Italy and said the pizza was very good in Italy, but he still enjoys the "non authentic" US brands!
One thing about Italy is the quality of the fresh vegetables. I'm not sure if its the climate or the soil, but you have never tasted such an amazing tomato as you do in Italy. Probably why their Pizza is so good. But I like our interpretation as well.
 
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One thing about Italy is the quality of the fresh vegetables. I'm not sure if its the climate or the soil, but you have never tasted such an amazing tomato as you do in Italy. Probably why their Pizza is so good. But I like our interpretation as well.
The problem with food service and grocery store tomatoes is that they are bred to be picked green and "ripen" (turn red) in transit. They are not bred to develop the sugars of an heirloom tomato which ripens on the vine. That's why if you want a good tasting tomato for cooking, select a canned whole San Marzano tomato which is picked and canned ripe. The closest uncanned tomato would be some grape and cocktail tomatoes which still have a lot of natural sugar.
 
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jbroner

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Five Guys the best all around !!
 

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The problem with food service and grocery store tomatoes is that they are bred to be picked green and "ripen" (turn red) in transit.

This, too, is part of the problem. People expect to be able to buy fresh tomatoes all year long. It doesn't matter if they have zero flavor -- as long as they're available, and cheap.

And that all ties in with my big-picture problem. I'm not suggesting that this cavalier attitude toward food is going to lead us to a slippery slope -- and eventually you can't trust anything on the market shelves.

I'm suggesting we're already down that slope.

Take truffle oil. There is no truffle in it. The "truffle" is a chemical called 2,4-dithiapentane, which smells like old gym socks. But they don't call it "chemically-flavored, old gym socks oil." They call it truffle oil. I can't stand that. I won't buy it. It's ridiculous. And it's the same with so many foods. We're being cheated basically every time we go to a restaurant or buy food at a market. But unlike timeshares, people haven't wised up to the fact that scammers abound.

Since everyone needs to eat, everyone thinks they're an expert.
 

travelhacker

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That was an interesting discussion. To the topic at hand:

There are a wide variety of hamburgers, that's part of the appeal to me. I love a thick burger cooked over charcoal. I love a creative burger with bacon, and guacamole, or a burger with bbq sauce and onion rings.

I bought a large flat top griddle for my back yard. I have a natural gas outlet and converted it to run on natural gas rather than propane.

I make burgers for my family about once every 10 days. Here's what I do:

I divide a shade over a pound of hamburger meat (80 / 20) into around 3 oz balls.

I get the griddle as hot as it will go without smoking. While it's heating up I butter buns and toast them. I try to time it so that the buns are a perfect toasted golden brown by the time my burger meat is ready.

I throw the balls of hamburger down and use a bacon press to flatten them (I put a piece of wax paper between the burger and the press). I sprinkle it with seasoning (usually seasoning salt and pepper).

It cooks for anywhere from 90-120 seconds (some do this for shorter, I have done it so many times I can tell by looking when it's just the way I like it and ready for the flip).

I flip it once and shortly after flipping I put a piece of American cheese on each burger. When the cheese is melted, I stack the burgers (for the adults) and put them on the toasted buns.

It makes for a delicious, juicy burger with a lovely crust.

If I have extra time I'll make bacon, and if I remembered to pick it up at the store I'll add tomatoes and lettuce. I really do need to remember to be more adventurous and add guacamole or make a bacon jam or something, but it is the tastiest meal I make for the level of effort involved and I don't think there is a close competitor.

From the time I start rolling the hamburger meat until the time we eat, it's probably 15ish minutes.
 

mchct

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This, too, is part of the problem. People expect to be able to buy fresh tomatoes all year long. It doesn't matter if they have zero flavor -- as long as they're available, and cheap.

And that all ties in with my big-picture problem. I'm not suggesting that this cavalier attitude toward food is going to lead us to a slippery slope -- and eventually you can't trust anything on the market shelves.

I'm suggesting we're already down that slope.

Take truffle oil. There is no truffle in it. The "truffle" is a chemical called 2,4-dithiapentane, which smells like old gym socks. But they don't call it "chemically-flavored, old gym socks oil." They call it truffle oil. I can't stand that. I won't buy it. It's ridiculous. And it's the same with so many foods. We're being cheated basically every time we go to a restaurant or buy food at a market. But unlike timeshares, people haven't wised up to the fact that scammers abound.

Since everyone needs to eat, everyone thinks they're an expert.

Yes, that's true that most produce is seasonal or is the best tasting at their peak season. But people will want a fresh tomato and buy it even if not in season so it's not going to taste good.

My dad was a produce trucker for a farm in South Orange County and would always bring home the extras from the farm. He also traded with his friends at the Central Produce Market where all the trucks would bring their farm's produce, so we usually had a variety of the freshest fruits and vegetables. We'd get strawberries, silver queen corn, bell peppers, green beans, green/red leaf lettuce, seedless watermelon and more. I think that farm was one of the first farms to grow/sell the silver queen corn and seedless watermelon in the So Cal area-I recall the produce buyer from Gelson's or some other high end supermarket came down to the farm to personally get the seedless watermelons for his stores when they first started growing them.

Most of the produce was usually the high quality #1 grade. During strawberry season he'd bring home several (even after giving away all the other flats to his friends) flats of strawberries that the farm couldn't sell because they were #2 and too ripe/soft and would probably go bad within a day or two so my mom would make homemade strawberry jam for canning. Then being the spoiled kids, we'd get sick of strawberry jam, seedless watermelon or whatever abundance of produce was in season. My parents even had a small produce garden in the back yard and several fruit trees. Even after giving away the excess abundance to friends and our neighbors, we'd still have a lot! So dad would load our car's trunk and we'd all bring a bunch to our work places and I know my co-workers enjoyed getting the seedless watermelon, strawberries, silver corn and other fresh produce that they said was better than what they could find in their grocery stores.

I can recall that back then in the late 60's, 70's, and early 80's that the strawberries were smaller and not as uniformly shaped and definitely had more scent and taste than the "beautiful" but less scented/less tasty ones that are sold now. I think now it's harder to find nicely scented and tasty berries, as the market prefers beautifully shaped and colored berries.

Actually, the best strawberries we ever ate (besides the ones when we were kids) was at a strawberry farm in Japan. It was an "all you can eat" in 20 (or 30?) minutes strawberry farm greenhouse tour package, where they grow the strawberries in the hydroponic type setting in temp/light controlled greenhouses. You can't bring in any purses or backpacks (they don't want you sneaking any out!), they give you a little plastic tray and pour some sweetened condensed milk (if you want) and you go down the rows and pick and eat all the berries you want in that time period. Those Japanese strawberries were super sweet on their own, although our then grade school kids liked dunking them in the milk! Yes, the J berries were much smaller than what you'd find in the US but super fragrant, super sweet, and perfect texture. Oh, and generally good berry shape, just not huge. If Japan ever opens it's borders up and you are travelling to Japan, try doing one of these strawberry tours!

On a side note, we try to grow pineapples from the crowns and have been somewhat successful. They are not as big but because we let them grow for longer, they get nicely golden and ripe and have a great scent and taste when we pick them. It's just that it takes a long time to just get one to flower and grow into a pineapple, so it's more of a fun hobby!

And I have not tried truffle oil, but based on your post I don't think I want to!
 

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The best burger is the one you make yourself. Start with ground chuck if you can find it. I like to get the Weber kettle going and use a reverse sear with smoke method. I put the burgers on the the indirect side of the grill and toss a chunk of hickory over the coals. Close the lid and let the smoke do it's thing for a brief period. Then open the lid and flip and flip until you get a nice crust on the outside and medium on the inside. Smoky goodness.
Your technique is spot on....finding the best burger meat without going to an actual butcher shop can be spotty. I recently discovered Wahlburgers pre-formed burgers, 1/3 pound each at Publix in Orlando. Made from brisket and other cuts, hard to beat. Seasoned with Montreal Steak Seasoning, cooked medium rare. Paired with a good brioche bun, it rivals any chain burgers. And much better than the patties from Costco many of us seem to buy while stocking up our time share with food for the week.
 

PigsDad

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I don't understand the need for all the food snobbery. If people like what they eat, I don't care what they call it. If it makes you feel better to belittle people for it, that just shows your own shortcomings.
This. 1000%.

Kurt
 

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I miss Fuddruckers. While some are still around, they are a shadow of what they were in Dallas in the 1980's:


For a decent fast food burger, I still like Whataburger - even though the family sold the company to a Chicago based corporation.
I loved fuddruckers. Great burger. Loved the cheese sauce machine. Best of all... the fuddruckers closest to my house in NJ had Boylan's sodas on self serve. I loved that creamy red birch beer. My daughter just bought a 4-pack at Wegmans for $5.
 

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There are a lot of lists of best burgers in the state or US.

We have a local restaurant with 3 or 4 locations. B2 Bistro. The original is in red bank and is the only one I have been to. It is one of my favorite restaurants, if not the favorite. Everything is excellent, but supposedly USA Today named their burger as one of the best in the nation - who really knows.

But their burger is excellent - Supposedly dry aged beef - served on a brioche bun with fries for $16. Great fries also.

However, there is another similar restaurant - Nicholas Barrel and Roost - we went to last week in red bank - also had an amazing burger. Except $17 for JUST the burger. Fries - which were maybe the best I have ever eaten - were an extra $8. Personally - a bit too pricey - probably wont be returning.
I love Five Guys, but the price is high for a burger that I don't eat with a bun. I love the mushrooms and the veggies I can choose. The fries are the best but too tempting. I cannot go there anymore.

Rick started grilling the Schweid and Sons burger patties that we buy at our local Kroger (King Soopers in the Denver/ Colorado Springs are), which are excellent. https://schweidandsons.com/ Occasionally these patties are on sale, but even if they are not, it's like eating steak for me.

Their Schweid and Sons are 75/25 burgers - I find them too fatty for the grill - they cook up too fast if you are not on top of them. I prefer an 80/20 blend - I actually really like the burgers from Aldi - usually 4 to pack around 6 or 7 ounces each.

I also find that Pat LaFrida makes a decent burger. Also a fancy mix of beef cuts - but they are 80/20 which I prefer to most of the other well known burger makers (Wahlburgers -also 75/25).
 

skimeup

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Not a burger connoisseur at all, and in a cafe setting would generally order anything except a burger. But I have plans to eventually get back to Julian, CA for an apple blue cheese burger. OMG, burger patty had chunks of apple (Julian is an apple growing town) and blue cheese crumbles incorporated into it, served with carmelized onions on top. It was so good!

What is the name of the restaurant?
 

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One thing about Italy is the quality of the fresh vegetables. I'm not sure if its the climate or the soil, but you have never tasted such an amazing tomato as you do in Italy. Probably why their Pizza is so good. But I like our interpretation as well.
Don says the same about the fruits in India. The only thing he misses more from his couple years over there is his group of golf buddies. He's reconnected with his golf buddies over here but is still on the hunt for a certain kind of melon that he ate with breakfast every day. I always think of Sinead O'Connor singing "nothing compares ..." when we're food shopping together.
 

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My whole family used to work at Friendlys where I grew up. Are you thinking of the Patty Melt that was basically a burger inside a grilled cheese?

It was the Big Beef! A Patty Melt is a Big Beef with extra stuff. Are Fribbles still a thing?
 

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Did anyone else eat at the Fatted Calf in San Francisco in the late 60s? I still remember their burgers. [There's a Fatted Calf chain there now but it's not the same. Charcuterie, and I don't get the significance of the name for that kind of food.]
 

ScoopKona

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Did anyone else eat at the Fatted Calf in San Francisco in the late 60s? I still remember their burgers. [There's a Fatted Calf chain there now but it's not the same. Charcuterie, and I don't get the significance of the name for that kind of food.]

I much prefer the new Fatted Calf to the hamburger joint Fatted Calf. I wish my town could support one. I'd go there every single day if I could. I can find a decent burger nearly anywhere. And if not, I can make one.

Fatted Calf makes food that would take me a few solid days (and in some cases, weeks -- if at all) to make from scratch.
 

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When I was in New Jersey we heard of a place called White Manna Hamburgers from the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The place in Hackensack was small with seating for about 6 people but they were packed with walk-ups. Burgers were decent.

“Burgers are made from fresh, extra lean ground beef, delivered daily from a local supplier. Cooked to perfection with onions and cheese, and served on a Martin's Potato Roll”

 
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