Hamburgers!

Introduction

Who doesn’t love a hamburger? These days, even gluten free and vegan options are available, so there is something for everyone. We do tend to stick to the more traditional style of beef on bread, and that’s what we are going to focus on for today’s episode:

Reminiscing

Corina's Burgers:

Hamburgers have always been a part of my life. When my dad used to go camping with E Clampus Vitus on the weekends, my mom would often take me to get a Happy Meal on Saturdays when we’d go shopping. We were not the kind of family that ate McDonald’s after work or after a basketball game at the rec center. To me, that Happy Meal was not just about eating fast food, but having mother-daughter time. I liked the pickles and the reconstituted onions on the basic hamburger. For a long time, when I made burgers at home, I did not deviate from the ketchup, mustard, pickle system of the hamburger at Mickey D’s.  This is sort of the equivalent to Patrick’s Shakey’s from the pizza episode. Do I feel a little guilty about it as an adult? No, no I do not. In fact, once every couple of years I still treat myself to a Big Mac and fries.

Another burger is also part of my formative years. In my family, trips to the city dump were often concluded at The Graduate, a big nightclub on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo which has, for some bizarre reason, a pretty decent kitchen during the day time. It was always weird eating in the giant room with the lighting set up and the DJ booth, but I do remember almost always ordering burgers there. As far as I can recall, the burgers were nothing exceptional, but again, I do associate them with family time.

Scrubby and Lloyd’s was a San Luis Obispo institution since the 1950s and closed in the late 1990s. I loved the thin grilled burgers, but the thing that always irked me as a kid was they never served french fries. They had bags of chips or macaroni salad. Back then, I couldn’t comprehend how you could eat a burger without fries. Inconceivable! Now, I just wish I could recapture that nostalgic burger at the tiny lunch counter. Every time I try a new hole in the wall burger place or drive-in, I’m measuring it against Scrubby and Lloyd’s. So far no burger has replaced them.

Patrick's Burgers

Burgers for me weren’t eaten at restaurants when I was a kid. I’ve never really been a fast food guy as an adult and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that a home grilled burger of almost any quality tastes better than one from a fast food joint. My dad liked to grill on the weekends and it was usually either bbq chicken (bit on the burnt side) or hotdogs and/or hamburgers. It was also what we had when we met up with cousins or other families at the park and what we had when we went camping. All good times, and none of them under double arches.

Sylvester’s Burgers in Los Osos was the first burger joint that caught my attention. A lot of that was because at the time, Los Osos really didn’t have much of a selection to offer for food choices due to it being a small town. The other part was that they were serving up really large burgers. Their regular burgers was ⅓ pound, their big burger was one pound and then they had a burger challenge burger that was five pounds. Nowadays, that doesn’t seem all that crazy being that plenty of businesses drum up sales with that kind of gimmick, but in the late eighties in a small town, this was a place that was talked about. The burgers themselves? Pretty good at the time and still decent the last time (five or six years ago?) I went in. I think they have two or three locations now as a matter of fact.

Leo’s was a bar around the corner from where we moved to in New Orleans back in 2002. It was a dive bar but it had some limited food selection and one of the things they had on the menu was the blue cheese and bacon burger. Now, a lot of restaurants have this burger on their menu, some better than Leo’s did it and some worse. But that was the first place I ever had it and it is an easy choice for a first-time try at a burger place. Of course, if a place has this burger on their menu and it isn’t fantastic, I have a hard time respecting their burger game. The ones I have tried on island have pretty much nailed it every time which goes to show that the burger game is strong around here.

Corina's input: I remember one thing about Leo’s burgers: they weren’t afraid to season the patty. I do love a seasoned patty and a lot of places are afraid to put any kind of extra flavor on their meat. It sort runs parallel to my dislike of plain tomato sauce on a pizza. When you’ve got good quality ground beef, you do want the meat to shine, but there is nothing wrong with a little Montreal, Santa Maria, or Creole seasoning to bump it up. Garlic powder, salt and pepper go a long way toward enhancing flavor and should not be ignored.

Best Burgers on Island

There are SO MANY GOOD burgers on Hawaii Island. If it’s local beef, you can pretty much be assured that you are going to be eating one of the best burgers you’ve ever consumed. The meat used for most mainland burgers does not even compare.

• Wagyu at Tommy Bahamas. This is probably my favorite restaurant burger right now. It is worth the price and lives up to the expectation of the location at this Mauna Lani cornerstone. The flavor profile is pretty perfect. It has arugula, an onion and pepperdew jam, and smoked Gouda. Spicy mayo and a side of fries rounds out the plate.
• Next up is the Paniolo burger at Lava Rock in Volcano. Great cafe up the hill and the Paniolo is juicy and  well seasoned on a strong bun. The Paniolo is your typical western bacon cheeseburger: barbecue sauce, onion rings, cheddar cheese, and bacon. It’s a common combination, but is a classic for a reason. And it is worth upgrading to the curly fries here.
• Anything at Kohala Burger and Taco (we’ll hit them in a later burger-focused podcast). They have a nice, narrow focus on their burgers and no frills, leaving a lot of space for flavor. Plus, they have Dole Whip! Ask my about my Dole Whip obsession any day. I’d be more than happy to explore it with you.
• Anything at Hilo Burger Joint. And let’s get into that because Hilo Burger Joint is our review today!

Review--Hilo Burger Joint

We eat at Hilo Burger Joint every couple of months. It’s a pretty solid go-to in town for a decent burger. They also make a solid cocktail if you like to start your evening off right.
And their selection of beers is pretty thorough, having selections from Ola and other Hawaii breweries. Most recently we went on a Friday night during happy hour, which ends at six. If you don’t mind eating early, it’s a great deal.

We started with a couple of cocktails and the Fire and Ice Fries. We love this as a snack or (in this case) an appetizer. It’s a basket of fries topped with ranch, wing sauce, and bleu cheese crumbles.  And bacon! Don’t forget the bacon. It satisfies your cravings for wings and fries at the same time! Genius.

As you would expect the burger selection at HBJ has plenty of variety. I’d say they have around 20 different burger selections. We have tried six or seven of them so far and you really can’t go wrong with any of them. They are all well thought out burgers made with a high level of quality.

The burger we chose this time was their basic bacon cheeseburger. Not really a burger either of us would normally choose there with so many specialty types to tempt us, but we went there to review their burgers and so we went with a simple and classic flavor combination. Starting at the top, the bun was solid. Thick but compressible but without it getting chewy due to that compression. The bun holds up well to the juices of the burger. And Hilo Burger Joint burgers are nice and juicy.

Next is the lettuce and tomato which is nice and fresh. I’ve never had brown edges or mushy tomato on the burgers here. After that is some crispy bacon. Well cooked, which is all you really need to do, because it’s bacon. 

Then you get the cheese-covered patty. I was surprised to realize that they don’t season their patties here. I guess every other time, I have had specialty burgers that have enough flavor added that I didn’t notice that before. Juicy and delicious anyway. I loved it.

Finally the bottom bun was solid but without any base condiment. Normally, I would expect just a smear of mayo here to keep everything well lubricated but the burger was juicy enough to make that unnecessary. They do have a house sauce (mayo, ketchup, and Frank’s) that comes on some burgers, and I bet you could request that if you wanted.

At happy hour, two cocktails, two pints, an order of their loaded fries, and one burger with a side salad ran us $60, including tip. Overall, it was a great burger that you should go try. If you have it once, it won’t be your last.

Recipe

Now Patrick almost always orders a hamburger when we go out, regardless of where we are (unless we’re going for sushi or Mexican) but once in a while we do them at home too. Today’s recipe is a take on a great burger from Junction on St. Claude in New Orleans. Junction has some of the best burgers in that city with super creative toppings. They also used to have (and may still) frozen Irish coffee in a daiquiri machine. That concoction on a hot afternoon is to die for.

This burger is no longer on the menu, but my understanding is they will make if for you if you ask.  It’s probably not like any burger you’ve made at home, which is why we want to offer it up as our recipe. It has three simple toppings: ranch dressing, fried pickles, and cheese. So let’s break each component down.

• Good buns. Butter and grilled! Do not use a cold buns. Buttering and grilling the bun ensures it is sealed against the juices from the meat and toppings. If you can make from scratch, go ahead and do it. We also love onion or kaiser rolls as hamburger buns too. They have more substance than your standard burger bun.
•  For fun sliders, try King’s Hawaiian Rolls!
• Next, a good patty. On Hawaii, there is no excuse for not getting grass-fed, local beef. At KTA, you can buy a five-pound, frozen roll for, usually, between $20 and $25 dollars. The price changes seasonally. We will buy one of those and make patties out of it. Do not buy frozen, preformed patties. It’s not worth it. 
•  If you don’t do beef, chicken and turkey are good substitutes, but you may need to add a nice solid oil, like some butter, to make up for the lack of fat. Also, there are some really great recipes for  black bean patties out there. We haven’t had an Impossible burger, so we can’t speak to those as a substitute .
• For beef, we like a medium burger, pink in the middle with a nice char on the outside. A cast iron skillet or grilling are your best options. We’ve used an Instant Pot to steam burgers from frozen, but they do come out like little hockey pucks. I like my patties fairly thin, so you have to find the right balance between smooshing them, but not forcing the juices out and ending up with them too dry. It takes trial and error.
• The main condiment on this burger is ranch dressing. You should make this from scratch. It is so easy to throw together an herb and spice mix with some mayo and milk. It also saves major money. The key ingredient is dill, but you’ll also want to use garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, black pepper, red pepper, and salt. Some recipes call for Worcestershire or sour cream, but you don’t have to get that fancy. We do keep powdered buttermilk on hand for a little extra tang. 
•  Then your crunchy component: fried pickle chips. I put a recipe from Food Network in the show notes. I usually make just enough for our burgers in a very small cast iron skillet so I don’t waste a lot of oil. These are a very southern thing, but if you have never had them, they are definitely worth a try. I can eat an entire basket with ranch dressing, no problem!
• White cheese: Swiss, Munster, Havarti, Gruyere, pepper jack.... It doesn’t matter. Use whatever you have in the fridge or whatever is your favorite.
• And if you want to take it a step further, a little bacon on this burger would not go amiss.

This is an awesome flavor pairing and one we recreate frequently at home. We really hope you enjoy it. 

The hamburger has come a long way from its namesake German town. More than halfway around the world, in fact. And few locations offer such a great treatment of the classic as Hawaii Island. Drive around the island and try a few! 

And hey, we made it through the whole thing without mentioning In and Out!

Links

• The Graduate in San Luis Obispo, California: https://www.slograd.com/
• Sylvester’s, Central Coast, California: http://www.sylvestersburgers.com/
• Junction, New Orleans: http://www.junctionnola.com/
• Tommy Bahama’s: https://www.tommybahama.com/restaurants/mauna-lani
• Kohala Burger and Taco: http://www.kohalaburgerandtaco.com/
• Hilo Burger Joint: https://hiloburgerjoint.com/
• Pickle chips: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/almost-famous-fried-pickles-recipe-2042799