Burger Time

Scott Hardie | June 2, 2015
What goes into your perfect burger?

Steve West | June 2, 2015
There are different moods of burgers but my favorite is when Worcestershire is a flavoring.

Justin Woods | June 2, 2015
Well since moving to Dallas I have become a huge fan of KimChi on my burger. LA Burger

Erik Bates | June 2, 2015
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Samir Mehta | June 2, 2015
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Aaron Shurtleff | June 2, 2015
My teeth.

Erik Bates | June 2, 2015
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Samir Mehta | June 2, 2015
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Scott Hardie | June 5, 2015
I had heard of the ramen bun and assumed is was a joke, but perhaps it's a real thing and also good. Erik, I repeat Samir's question.

As I said recently, I've eaten thousands of burgers and only a few of them actually impressed me as being good. Maybe the best that I ever had was at Cheeburger Cheeburger: I had to work late on a Friday on my birthday, and I was exhausted and relieved when I finally got out of the office, so Kelly took me out for a treat. I was doing the Atkins diet at the time, so I ordered the biggest burger they had (20oz) without a bun, and devoured it. It was amazing.

What I ordered that night is pretty close to my perfect burger, which is all about extra cheese, for its gooey and salty qualities. My chances of enjoying the burger go way up if it has extra cheese on it -- any kind really, but I prefer yellow American. Mayo or ketchup, either but not both. Lettuce, full leaf only, not that shredded junk. Lots of onions, grilled or preferably raw. Maybe a thin tomato slice. Never mustard or pickles. I've tried lots of other ingredients on burgers from peanut butter to teriyaki, but none measure up to that perfect combination of the basics.

Aaron Shurtleff | June 6, 2015
Ha! Scott, I don't know if you read my Facebook post, but the story of the clerk that asked to read the menu for me was at Cheeburger Cheeburger!

To seriously address the issue, I the perfect burger has to have onions. Raw onions. None of that grilled baloney!! Pickle relish (I prefer it to pickles, but both are good). A-1. And it has to be on a good hard roll. Something that doesn't fall apart while you eat it, and no seeds either. That's all I need.

...but I don't turn down many burgers!

Also, bacon is great, but not necessary, which is why I left it off.

Scott Hardie | June 7, 2015
I find that bacon rarely complements the burger. Either you don't even notice it, or you do and it's a distraction. Wendy's switched from a soft thin bacon to an extra-thick, extra-hard bacon last year, and it's like gnawing on strips of beef jerky trying to finish one of their bacon burgers now.

Speaking of Wendy's, they're one of many places that have recently started using pretzel buns, which may qualify for the "good hard roll" that you mentioned, Aaron. Am I the only person who finds these pretzel buns to lack absorbency? They don't soak up any of the grease, so it dribbles all over the table and your hands (and maybe your shirt), plus the patty slides around with each bite instead of staying in place. I like the salty pretzel flavor (Pizza Hut's new pretzel crust is surprisingly great), but every time I try to eat a burger with a pretzel bun, it creates a huge mess.

Steve West | June 7, 2015
I loathe pretzel buns mainly for the messiness you describe. The same goes for sandwiches made with focaccia or ciabatta breads. WTF?! Why is half of the contents of my sandwich now in my lap???

Erik Bates | June 9, 2015
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