Continuing my new-found obsession with frying a hamburger, I did some intense research today. OK, so I googled "deep-fried hamburgers."I was shocked, SHOCKED to discover that the vibrant niche of restaurants that specialize in fried burgers can be found right here in Alabama. Specifically, it seems to be centered around Decatur and Athens (where my parents live in the northern reach of the state).
Here's an article on the phenomenon.
Of interest to my upcoming experiment (next Wednesday is fried-burger Wednesday) is this section:
It seems simple, but it is not, according to the cooks. NeSmith and her sister, Betty Garrison, have cooked about every NeSmith hamburger in the past 20 years.
"You have to know exactly how much meat to put in your hand," NeSmith explained. "If you get it too thick, the hamburger won't cook to the inside. Cooking is an art."
Depending on how hot the grease is, NeSmith said, it takes between 13 and 15 minutes to cook each hamburger.
So it sounds like they're just dropping patties into the oil and letting em fry for quite a while. I might try that, but we had also discussed breading it in corn-dog batter and frying it. Now, if it takes 15 minutes to fry these things, that would scorch the hell out of the batter. I can't think of anything breaded I've fried that long and didn't burn.
So what to do? It sounds like thin patties are the answer, but where's the fun in that? Dare we pre-cook the burger with a sear? Would that be any more effective? Would any breading actually stick to seared meat? Probably.
Put on your thinking hats, people. How are we going to do this?
The photo, btw, is some random girl eating a "deep-fried hamburger" at a North Carolina fair. They seem to have used breading and a stick, which I'd ideally like to avoid (though Asterian reader Greg has proposed using the stick, then removing it and eating it on a bun).
UPDATE: A co-worker from Decatur said he's eaten many a Penn's burger (mentioned in the article). He said he "loved them as a kid, but I wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole now." The burgers are a half-and-half mix of breading and meat, squished together and fried. They're then set aside and fried again to warm it up when you order one. The texture is very soft, unless you ask for it "extra crispy," he said. Personally, this isn't what I want to try...
7 comments:
Well, we can try batter-less, but I think the corn-burgers would come out better and wouldn't quickly kill the oil with cow grease.
I'll be having a salad next Wednesday, thank you very much.
It sounds like Greg and I will be tackling this mission solo. Not a lot of community support. Maybe we'll do it after being all manly and splitting logs on Saturday.
I'd totally be in for some kitchen laboratory work if I were still in town.
Beef generally isn't happy without some searing, and dropping hamburger directly into the deep fryer probably wouldn't have very satisfactory (for example, something edible).
You're probably going to have to go the crust/batter route, maybe pre-cooking the hamburger a little to make sure it's done all the way through -- although if you want frying to remain the primary cooking method, you could go with a "searless" method like steaming or pouch-cooking for the pre-cook phase.
Let us know how it works out!
I think if we limit the amount of meat (no need to go all Hardee's thickburger on this) that the battered hamburger would be just fine. I think this is where the long and thin "dog-shape" comes in handy as it makes sure that the meat has as much surface contact with the oil as possible.
Sadly, I sold that a while back to help finance the house. I think it paid for one of the drywall screws.
I ran across your blog about deep frying hamburgers as I am now trying to find out the best method for doing this. Dyer's in Memphis has a fried hamburger that is delicious. Here is a link that shows how they do it. I know this is over a year after your experiment, but thought you might like to see it done.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid340430154
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