"best burger" news and stories

"The hamburger isn't just a sandwich; it is a social nexus," proclaims burger expert Josh Ozersky, casually armed with a shot of whiskey during his burger seminar conducted at New York City's RUB BBQ on Tuesday.

Heralded by the American public and arguably the most quintessentially American of dishes, the hamburger tends to be quite a polarizing issue. Ozersky, passionate eater and author of The Hamburger, provided his insight on what makes a good burger, throwing in pertinent background info on the topic.

Backed by a BA in literature and a PhD in American history, it is perhaps Ozersky's appetite and analytical spirit that spurred his interest in the burger's role in the history and culture of the good old U.S.A. Having trekked across the country devouring the carnal bite -- even overcoming a case of gout -- there's one mandate he insists upon: No matter what the fixings, the burger should support a "visceral delight."

More on the secrets to a perfect burger, after the jump.

Hamburgers have been in the food news a lot lately. I started noticing it back in May when Craig LaBan (the same one who is being sued by a restaurant he negatively reviewed), the food critic at the Philadelphia Inquirer, went searching for the best burger in Philly. He was so moved by the experience that he wrote and performed a love ballad to the cheeseburger.

It was seemingly quiet in the burger world for a while, but then this last Wednesday, there was that burger recipe competition at the Rare Bar and Grill in New York City that whittled over 400 burger recipes down to a manageable four. The cluster of recipe finalists were prepared by the chefs at the Rare and presented to an illustrious panel of five movers-and-tasters. Adam Kuban of Serious Eats was one of the judges (along with food critic Ed Levine) and he wrote up a thorough blow-by-blow of the experience.

Just today, I learned that this weekend, Akron, OH will be hosting the National Hamburger Festival. They will be offering a variety of events, including Bobbing for Burgers (in a kiddie pool of ketchup), a Best Burger Competition and a Miss Hamburger Festival Contest (for which, at the ripe old age of 28, I am too old to enter). If you live in the Akron region, you should know that tickets cost $5 a day and are still available (kids under 7 get in for free).

Thanks to Vanessa PR for the pic.

A couple of guys up in Seattle had an argument about what the best local burger was. Unable to come to a consensus, they devoted an entire week to scouring the area and sampling burgers. Since 2003, when they started, they have expanded their search area to all of Washington State and added four more friends to their tasting panel. It may not be scientific - not that tasting a burger can really ever be completely objective - but it is thorough. The Seattle PI has a day-by-day account of this year's tasting tour. They started off with the 10-lb. Tsunami Burger at the Corral Drive-In and ate at one classic burger joint on each subsequent day. This year's winner was the Chuck Wagon Drive-In in Mount Vernon, WA. But even though we now know the winner, as with most food related endeavors, getting there is half the fun, so take a minute to peruse the whole story, especially if you're in the Pacific Northwest.

Source

Nick posted about the launch of this burger at GCS Ballpark, home of the Gateway Grizzlies in March, but I hadn't actully seen what it looked like until now. It is hard to find words for this thing. Baseball's Best Burger is a cheeseburger with two strips of bacon, served on a Krispy Kreme doughnut. It weighs in at about 1000 calories and 45 grams of fat. The Grizzlies say that they sell around 150 of the burgers, a $4.50 each, per game.

A deep fried Snicker's bar may be bad for you, but I think that this burger might just be able to knock it off the list of the worst foods you can eat.

This is the best fast-food hamburger there is: a double-double from In-N-Out Burger, the popular California chain. Actually, with its two juicy, 100% pure beef patties, hand-leafed lettuce, tomatoes, secret spread and two slices of American cheese (not processed cheese) on a freshly baked and toasted bun, the double-double is better than a lot of non-fast food burgers, too.

I suggest that you compare the In-N-Out classic to GQ's list of the 20 hamburgers you must eat before you die. The list was compiled by Alan Richman, food critic and author of Fork it Over, who seems to be a reputable enough source, though I am still hard-put to take culinary advice from a men's style magazine. I have personally eaten at three of the 20 places on the list, though I can only say that I clearly recall two of them, and did not find the burgers to be of any higher quality than the double-double. I think GQ needs to add another spot to their list.