It’s May, it’s 2023, it’s time for another Burger Competition!
The game really is on now, this being our 4th year in making burgers and the ideas are outside the box.
Burger 1 – Chuck & Cluck
- Burger patty seasoned with Garlic powered, Paprika, Salt & Pepper
- Sticky onion Relish (Red onion, sunflower oil, red chilli, garlic cloves, musc0vado sugar, white wine vinegar
- Diced chicken breast seasoned with red & green chilli’s and dried chilli seeds and a little beaten egg to bind.
- Tomato
- Lettuce
- Mayo with a squeeze of lemon juice
Burger 2 – Moo & Oink
- Season Burger Patty
- Pork Belly Lollipop
- Apple Sauce
- Raclette Cheese
- Hovis Bun
Burger 3 – Gimme S’mores
- Graham Cracker Base
- Toasted Marshmallow Fluff
- Seasoned Burger
- Chocolate Sauce
- More Toasted Marshmallow Fluff
- Graham Cracker Top
Julian’s is Burger 1
And straight away, before we even get to cooking, there is a problem.
The dreaded Covid has hit again and Julian is unable to make it.
In an effort to make sure we can still include him, Sam & I suggest we make his burger for him.
Time means however that we are not able to make his burger to his recipe and we’re missing some key things that would have added more to the burger.
The burger is beef and chicken together. We start to make the burger patties and then cut a whole out of the middle, rather like a doughnut.
The chicken mixture is then added to the middle to form the overall patty.
We tried to use the egg binder of the chicken very sparingly so that it wasn’t too liquid so that it held in shape
We don’t have the time or the ingredients to make the sauce so we have to leave this off the final made burger. I know this would have added flavour and given it a better texture. The mayo base did help a little especially with the lemon juice hit, as did the lettuce and tomato to bring it together.
The burger itself was quite tasty, they did fall apart a little as I think we managed to use too much egg binder. It’s impossible to say what it could have been, we’re sorry Julian.
Burger 2 is SParky’s
This starts 1 inch thick strips of pork belly, skin scored and seasoned with pink salt and the meat seasoned with Angus & Oink Cherry Kola rub and left in the fridge overnight.
The following morning, these strips are coiled up to make lollipop type shapes and then the burger patty is made, seasoned with Angus & Oink Dirty Cow rub.
The pork belly goes onto the smoker and takes around 2 hours to cook.
The Cherry Kola rub keeps the meat looking very red and most of the skin n the outer edges of the lollipops does crackle, we use a blow torch to catch the rest.
Apple sauce is added to the bottom bun, then the burger, the pork belly and then to top it all off, melted raclette cheese is poured over the top of each one.
This is a monster of a burger! You cannot fit it all in your mouth (Sam somehow manages it).
The smell of the raclette cheese on top is quite off putting, I thought it would cut through the sweetness of everything but it’s actually just adding a taste that isn’t that nice with everything.
The pork belly melts and the crackling is loud.
Burger 3 belongs to Sam
We all knew what Sam’s plan was, we all thought it wouldn’t work and really, is it a burger without a proper bun?
With the burgers on the bbq to grill, the building of the bun began
1 Graham cracker loaded with a tablespoon of marshmallow fluff that is blow torched to give it that toasted marshmallow taste. The same is done for the top bun.
The burger is then placed onto of the marshmallow, a squeeze of chocolate sauce and the top bun applied.
It’s very gooey, it’s very sweet and yet it somehow all comes together when it really shouldn’t.
Is the actual meat overpowered by sweetness? Yes but you still do taste the meat.
Am I covered in melted marshmallow? Yes.
Do I want another? Yes.
It’s simple in design and takes the crown for this years Burger Competition.
We know that the 5th Annual Burger Competition will take place in May 2024 and, all being well, will be held in another location.
For reference
Sam – 2
SParky – 1
Julian – 0
