Burger Day Comes But Once (Or Twice) A Year

by Kevin Burton

   Today is National Burger Day in the US, but really any day could be.    

   You won’t be surprised to hear that Aug. 27 is also celebrated as National Burger Day by some. Between the ubiquitousness of the burger and the shamelessness of the marketing types to plant their flags everywhere, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover a handful of other daily designations

   But May 28 is also International Hamburger Day, so Page 7 plants its flag here.

   The cheeseburger has its own day, Sept. 18. I can’t find evidence of a plain hamburger day, but that’s my kind of day.

   When I get bored with plain burgers (not very often), toppings I can tolerate are barbecue sauce, cheese, lettuce, jalapeños.

   Americans consume 50 billion hamburgers every year, according to burgerweb.com. To be precise, the website said that “Americans approximately consume roughly 50 billion burgers a year.” 

   This “approximate consumption” is perhaps a verbal mishap that got through the editor, or it might refer to people, such as Jeannette Burton of South-Central Kansas, who do not eat the bun. 

   Either way that’s a lot of burgers. That statistic is from a 2015 article, so I am guessing the number has gone up a little.

   Burgers are simple. That is why they are so popular.  The best cooks keep it that way, with the k.i.s.s. method (“keep it simple, stupid.”)

   “In my youth, I learned how to make hamburgers from a celebrity chef who insisted that you needed breadcrumbs, egg and seasonings for a truly great burger,” writes fellow WordPress blogger Nagi on Recipetineats. And that’s how I made it for years, thinking that was the right way.”

   “After multiple trips to the States (sorry Australia, but no one does burgers like America!), too many burgers, and watching countless cooking shows, meeting chefs, caterers and restauranteurs, I’ve been converted to the right way.”

   “A great beef hamburger patty requires nothing more than beef,” Nagi writes “No flavorings other than salt and pepper. Just a nice fatty beef mince even from the supermarket.”

   Preach!

   That’s how it’s done in Kev’s kitchen as well. Except that the picture on Nagi’s blog post is of a burger enveloped by a monstrous heap of stuff – toppings – that makes me divert my eyes (before the message gets to my stomach). 

   There is no grilling session at the Burton household, such as the one last weekend, that does not include hamburgers.  There may be chicken, corn on the cob, potatoes, pork, hot dogs or steak, but there will always be burgers.

   I make burgers in the skillet with nothing more than beef, black pepper and the very best of intentions. Here’s another intriguing idea from Nagi:

   “The secret to a truly great homemade hamburger recipe is to use beef that’s nice and fatty. Ideally, a good quality ground beef / mince from a butcher, but nowadays, supermarkets sell very good quality beef too,” Nagi writes.

   “When it comes to cooking with meat, here’s a big takeaway from this hamburger recipe: fat equals flavor. If you mix pork fat into lean beef then cook it up, you’d swear you’re eating pork.”

   We may be leaving the boundaries of the k.i.s.s. method here, but that could be worth a try.

   The hamburgers I make in a skillet, I make with 96 percent lean ground beef. We have found however, that the fatty beef favored by Nagi works better on the grill. Our grilled burgers are usually 80 percent lean, sometimes 90 percent.

   As for the mandatory burger question, “want fries with that,” yes when eating at a fast-food emporium, otherwise no. At home it’s easier to grab a handful of chips.

   Speaking of fast-food emporiums, ever wonder how the Five Guys restaurant got its name? Well their website doesn’t say exactly. It does say:

   “Five Guys founder  Jerry Murrell’s mother always told him ‘If you can give a good haircut or if you can serve a good drink at a bar or if you can make a good hamburger, you can always make money in America.’”

   True enough Mrs. Murrell.

   I’m guessing the restaurant was named Five Guys because one order of fries from that place is big enough to feed five guys.

   Keep that in mind kids, as you go out into May 28, making choices on how best to celebrate National Burger Day!