Another Hot Beef Injection
I like burgers and I have opinions about them. I like reading burger 'blogs and I keep an eye out for word of especially tasty ones in my area. But they're burgers, you know? Not haute cuisine. There's such a thing as burger snobbery, the attitude that "the good is the enemy of the best" when in fact, with respect to burgers, it's the other way 'round. I mean, if you can obtain a superlative burger without too much trouble (defined as expense and/or travel), that's one thing, but I'm not going to turn my nose up at reasonably priced burgers right at hand just because they are good but not great and/or come from chains.
And I'll gladly admit that there's such a thing as a disgusting burger. I had one at my office building's annual picnic a month ago or so. It was a bit dry and mealy but not unpleasantly so. What was unpleasant was its crunch. I don't mean the crunchy brown crust that a griddled burger develops, because these were grilled and served from a bath of hot, sad burger jus. No, these were crunchy inside, shot through with seemingly large-sand-sized, somewhat resilient particles. The only explanation I came up with was that the caterer wasn't too choosy about getting de-gristled meat from the packer, which wouldn't suprise me at all given the appearance of the catering operation.
(Also, in the interests of full disclosure, I eat more than my share of fast-food and short-order chain burgers, and am satisfied by [if not always, or even often, with] them.)
Anyway, there are six or so not-really-chain burger joints in my metro area that have been getting a fair bit of press lately, but none of them are in my community, so I hadn't been to any of them until Saturday. That's when a movie I wanted to see required me to visit another community, which happened to be home to one of the six. So I paid a visit and got a plain cheeseburger. The burger looked and smelled good, and had nice juice. But the cheese (sliced American) had a sharpness that I'm not used to in American cheese, and that I thought was a bit stronger than it should have been. The meat was basically OK but had an unusual undertaste, which maybe has something to do with the dry-aged beef that I hear they use. I'm not a beef connoisseuse.
Just to be sure about my basis for comparison, the next day I went to my local Fuddrucker's and got the same thing. It was juicy but not as juicy, but it lacked the strong cheese flavor and unusual undertaste, it was $1.50 cheaper, and it was 20 minutes closer. Verdict? The ostensible snob burger is a six-dollar burger (the notional burger that Hardee's invokes as a marketing ploy) that costs eight.
And I'll gladly admit that there's such a thing as a disgusting burger. I had one at my office building's annual picnic a month ago or so. It was a bit dry and mealy but not unpleasantly so. What was unpleasant was its crunch. I don't mean the crunchy brown crust that a griddled burger develops, because these were grilled and served from a bath of hot, sad burger jus. No, these were crunchy inside, shot through with seemingly large-sand-sized, somewhat resilient particles. The only explanation I came up with was that the caterer wasn't too choosy about getting de-gristled meat from the packer, which wouldn't suprise me at all given the appearance of the catering operation.
(Also, in the interests of full disclosure, I eat more than my share of fast-food and short-order chain burgers, and am satisfied by [if not always, or even often, with] them.)
Anyway, there are six or so not-really-chain burger joints in my metro area that have been getting a fair bit of press lately, but none of them are in my community, so I hadn't been to any of them until Saturday. That's when a movie I wanted to see required me to visit another community, which happened to be home to one of the six. So I paid a visit and got a plain cheeseburger. The burger looked and smelled good, and had nice juice. But the cheese (sliced American) had a sharpness that I'm not used to in American cheese, and that I thought was a bit stronger than it should have been. The meat was basically OK but had an unusual undertaste, which maybe has something to do with the dry-aged beef that I hear they use. I'm not a beef connoisseuse.
Just to be sure about my basis for comparison, the next day I went to my local Fuddrucker's and got the same thing. It was juicy but not as juicy, but it lacked the strong cheese flavor and unusual undertaste, it was $1.50 cheaper, and it was 20 minutes closer. Verdict? The ostensible snob burger is a six-dollar burger (the notional burger that Hardee's invokes as a marketing ploy) that costs eight.
posted by Dr. Bubbles at 11:31
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