The Five Most Influential Styles of Burger
While I don’t think any one culture can “claim” a food as their own, burgers are about as American as American food gets. Adapted from the Hamburg Steak, we took a dish that was traditionally served on rice with beef gravy and instead turned it into a thin, sometimes crispy patty and served between two steamed buns with pickles and mustard. Fast forward a few years and add in a few fast food chains, and burgers quickly became one of the most recognizable foods in the world.
I. LOVE. BURGERS. Even a bad burger is still a great burger to me—that isn’t to say I don’t know what makes a truly life-changing patty, but it’s one of those foods that always delights, whether purchased from my favorite drive-thru or prepared at home by yours truly.
One thing that makes burgers so enjoyable is their variety—and I’m not talking about the fixin’s. You could put the same exact toppings on a patty, yet prepare the burger in dozens of different ways, and each preparation method brings its own textures, mouthfeels, and complementary aromas. So without further ado, let’s take a little survey of the burger styles that in my opinion, have had the greatest influence on America.
We're starting off hot—the smash burger is arguably the most influential burger on this list. For starters, it's America's original burger (served slider size on a roll with onion, pickles and mustard). Besides that, it is hands down my favorite style of burger.
While must patties these days are pre-formed into their, well, patty shape, the smash burger starts as a ball a little smaller than your fist. Then you drop it onto your ripping-hot skillet, and you smash it! The result is a nice, crispy patty, and if you know what you’re doing, the edges are incredibly thin and almost crunchy (this is known as a skirt). A potential downside of this method is it causes a lot of fat loss from the meat, but that is easily remedied with a slice of cheese (preferably American, in this case).
Smash burgers are not as common anymore because they require some practiced technique, and burger joints have such high turnover that it’s not worth it to teach a new high school student every other month how to cook them. However, when restaurants or drive-ins make smash burgers, they’ll usually let you know.
My favorite place to get a smash burger is a small chain called Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. Get a #1 and eat it while it’s still piping hot, and your life will never be the same.
Oddly enough, I actually prefer not to make smash burgers at home. They create so much steam that it makes your house smell like beef for a full week after, and the leftover smell just isn’t worth it to me. But if I ever have a chance to buy one while I’m out and about, I pounce every, single, time.
The White Castle Burger may not belong on this list due to its popularity, but I'm including it for history’s sake. White Castle is a fast food restaurant established in 1921, and it is generally regarded as a flagship of both fast food and the concept of modern hamburger chains. The problem is their actual style of burger is… controversial.
White Castle prepares their burgers by first rolling out a huge sheet of ground beef onto a sheet pan, then freezing it. Once frozen, cooks breaks the sheet of beef into slider-sized squares. Then here’s the crazy part: they poke five holes throughout each patty. What’s with the holes? It’s for steam. That’s right, the cooks then pile the skillet high with tiny diced onions, and throw the burger patties on top. The steam escaping from the onions then cooks the burger patties.
What results is a patty cooked purely with onion steam, and is served with—you guessed it—grilled onions. The buns are also steamed on top of the cooked patty, resulting in a profoundly moist experience with a delicate texture and ultra beefy taste.
I love White Castle (big surprise), but my wife can’t stand them. Frankly, I’ve never met someone else who likes these burgers, yet the place is oddly full every time I get a chance to stop by. I guess they just have a small group of dedicated fans.
The main reason this burger is so influential is because White Castle was the flagship of things to come…
Did you know that ketchup didn’t appear on restaurant burgers until McDonald’s was on the map? The savvy owners realized what a phenomenon American burgers could be (due to their very cheap production cost and the speed they could be cooked and served). Yet the biggest problem was they didn’t really attract children.
Well, what’s a better way to attract kids than by covering your food in sugar sauce? Let’s face it, that’s essentially what ketchup is. Thus, McDonald’s began serving their burgers with ketchup in an effort to attract children, and it totally worked! Not only did it work on kids, but ketchup became one of the all-time most popular condiments on any burger, and is now universally associated with American food.
The drive-thru burger is easy to classify: a thin patty prepared on a skillet or charcoal grill, served on a thin white bun with American cheese and generally smothered in ketchup, mustard and pickles. Every establishment has its own spin, but it’s easy to recognize a drive-thru burger when you see one.
Diner burgers (or restaurant burgers) are roughly the same, though usually with some added bells and whistles and served at an inflated price. They’ll include a thicker patty and higher-quality bread. Often they’ll advertise different cheese (cheddar is popular) and be covered in unique toppings like French-style onions, bleu cheese, bacon, etc. The thing is, at the end of the day toppings are just toppings, and the underlying burger tends to remain the same. And you know what? I’m here for it. Give me burgers!
Burgers become a different creature entirely when served at a steakhouse. While most burgers are just a pre-ground mash of 80% lean ground beef, the smokehouse (or steakhouse) is different. Smokehouses obviously deal with a lot of meat that they have to trim, leaving them with tons of tiny scraps of meat. Thus, they’re not working with yo’mama’s ground beef; they’re creating their own high quality, freshly ground patties from a variety of cuts (the most popular is mostly chuck, supplemented with sirloin or tri-tip, and with some tallow added).
The result of a smokehouse burger is a gorgeous, thick, crumbly patty that is incredibly juicy. It can safely and quite happily be served medium rare (though I have my doubts on whether it’s worth cooking ground beef medium rare).
Another fun thing about the smokehouse burger: ketchup is forbidden. Or at least it should be. This burger has such incredible flavor that adding a strong sauce would ruin it. The best addition to a burger of this caliber is a pile of caramelized onions and a pickle spear on the side. Save the ketchup for your fries.
Finally we reach maybe the most important burger of all, and that’s your burger. Do you cook it fast on the propane grill? Do you sear it quickly then bake it like Gordon Ramsey? Do you cold sear it like I tend to do? How about wrap it in fry dough and deep fry it because you’re a blue-blooded American and you will be free?
No matter your style, when you make a burger you enjoy some of the greatest peasant food on the planet. And summer is around the corner, so go forth, fire up a grill, and make burgers.
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I. LOVE. BURGERS. Even a bad burger is still a great burger to me—that isn’t to say I don’t know what makes a truly life-changing patty, but it’s one of those foods that always delights, whether purchased from my favorite drive-thru or prepared at home by yours truly.
One thing that makes burgers so enjoyable is their variety—and I’m not talking about the fixin’s. You could put the same exact toppings on a patty, yet prepare the burger in dozens of different ways, and each preparation method brings its own textures, mouthfeels, and complementary aromas. So without further ado, let’s take a little survey of the burger styles that in my opinion, have had the greatest influence on America.
Smash Burger
We're starting off hot—the smash burger is arguably the most influential burger on this list. For starters, it's America's original burger (served slider size on a roll with onion, pickles and mustard). Besides that, it is hands down my favorite style of burger.
While must patties these days are pre-formed into their, well, patty shape, the smash burger starts as a ball a little smaller than your fist. Then you drop it onto your ripping-hot skillet, and you smash it! The result is a nice, crispy patty, and if you know what you’re doing, the edges are incredibly thin and almost crunchy (this is known as a skirt). A potential downside of this method is it causes a lot of fat loss from the meat, but that is easily remedied with a slice of cheese (preferably American, in this case).
Smash burgers are not as common anymore because they require some practiced technique, and burger joints have such high turnover that it’s not worth it to teach a new high school student every other month how to cook them. However, when restaurants or drive-ins make smash burgers, they’ll usually let you know.
My favorite place to get a smash burger is a small chain called Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. Get a #1 and eat it while it’s still piping hot, and your life will never be the same.
Oddly enough, I actually prefer not to make smash burgers at home. They create so much steam that it makes your house smell like beef for a full week after, and the leftover smell just isn’t worth it to me. But if I ever have a chance to buy one while I’m out and about, I pounce every, single, time.
White Castle Burger
The White Castle Burger may not belong on this list due to its popularity, but I'm including it for history’s sake. White Castle is a fast food restaurant established in 1921, and it is generally regarded as a flagship of both fast food and the concept of modern hamburger chains. The problem is their actual style of burger is… controversial.
White Castle prepares their burgers by first rolling out a huge sheet of ground beef onto a sheet pan, then freezing it. Once frozen, cooks breaks the sheet of beef into slider-sized squares. Then here’s the crazy part: they poke five holes throughout each patty. What’s with the holes? It’s for steam. That’s right, the cooks then pile the skillet high with tiny diced onions, and throw the burger patties on top. The steam escaping from the onions then cooks the burger patties.
What results is a patty cooked purely with onion steam, and is served with—you guessed it—grilled onions. The buns are also steamed on top of the cooked patty, resulting in a profoundly moist experience with a delicate texture and ultra beefy taste.
I love White Castle (big surprise), but my wife can’t stand them. Frankly, I’ve never met someone else who likes these burgers, yet the place is oddly full every time I get a chance to stop by. I guess they just have a small group of dedicated fans.
The main reason this burger is so influential is because White Castle was the flagship of things to come…
Drive-Thru Burger and Diner Burger
Did you know that ketchup didn’t appear on restaurant burgers until McDonald’s was on the map? The savvy owners realized what a phenomenon American burgers could be (due to their very cheap production cost and the speed they could be cooked and served). Yet the biggest problem was they didn’t really attract children.
Well, what’s a better way to attract kids than by covering your food in sugar sauce? Let’s face it, that’s essentially what ketchup is. Thus, McDonald’s began serving their burgers with ketchup in an effort to attract children, and it totally worked! Not only did it work on kids, but ketchup became one of the all-time most popular condiments on any burger, and is now universally associated with American food.
The drive-thru burger is easy to classify: a thin patty prepared on a skillet or charcoal grill, served on a thin white bun with American cheese and generally smothered in ketchup, mustard and pickles. Every establishment has its own spin, but it’s easy to recognize a drive-thru burger when you see one.
Diner burgers (or restaurant burgers) are roughly the same, though usually with some added bells and whistles and served at an inflated price. They’ll include a thicker patty and higher-quality bread. Often they’ll advertise different cheese (cheddar is popular) and be covered in unique toppings like French-style onions, bleu cheese, bacon, etc. The thing is, at the end of the day toppings are just toppings, and the underlying burger tends to remain the same. And you know what? I’m here for it. Give me burgers!
Smokehouse Burger
Burgers become a different creature entirely when served at a steakhouse. While most burgers are just a pre-ground mash of 80% lean ground beef, the smokehouse (or steakhouse) is different. Smokehouses obviously deal with a lot of meat that they have to trim, leaving them with tons of tiny scraps of meat. Thus, they’re not working with yo’mama’s ground beef; they’re creating their own high quality, freshly ground patties from a variety of cuts (the most popular is mostly chuck, supplemented with sirloin or tri-tip, and with some tallow added).
The result of a smokehouse burger is a gorgeous, thick, crumbly patty that is incredibly juicy. It can safely and quite happily be served medium rare (though I have my doubts on whether it’s worth cooking ground beef medium rare).
Another fun thing about the smokehouse burger: ketchup is forbidden. Or at least it should be. This burger has such incredible flavor that adding a strong sauce would ruin it. The best addition to a burger of this caliber is a pile of caramelized onions and a pickle spear on the side. Save the ketchup for your fries.
Your Burger
Finally we reach maybe the most important burger of all, and that’s your burger. Do you cook it fast on the propane grill? Do you sear it quickly then bake it like Gordon Ramsey? Do you cold sear it like I tend to do? How about wrap it in fry dough and deep fry it because you’re a blue-blooded American and you will be free?
No matter your style, when you make a burger you enjoy some of the greatest peasant food on the planet. And summer is around the corner, so go forth, fire up a grill, and make burgers.
Matthew Christensen
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2023
Email the author! matthew@dvo.com
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