On this week’s “Good Eats: Reloaded”, Alton Brown redoes his old hamburger recipe. Instead of grilling or pan frying, he forms the patties and then deep fries them in a Dutch oven. It seems to be based on Dyer’s Deep Fried burgers which I guess are famous but I’ve never heard of them. As much as I like fried foods, the idea sounds kind of crazy to me. Has anyone here tried it?
I saw the same show you did. A brief discussion with my sister and her daughter ensued and we immediately proceeded to the kitchen to test the proposal.
Never again, it was a complete failure. A dry, unsatisfying, depressing failure.
I’ve done it a few times after seeing Dyers do it on TV. You have to have the oil really hot, cook the burger with a quick in and out and eat it immediately or else it does dry out. Good in a different way and fast and easy especially if you’re making fries and have the oil ready. My favorite way now is to pan fry about halfway done and hit it with a torch to give it a quick char and finish cook.
Fixed title.
No. Doesn’t sound that great either, to be honest. Not sure I really get the point, unless you’re battering and frying the whole thing, bun and all, Monte Cristo-style, and I’m not sure I would even want to eat that.
The idea is that when you grill or pan-sear a burger, you’re only going to get that sear on the parts that are actually in contact with the pan or grill.
By deep-frying, the thinking is that the whole thing will be uniformly seared all over, and if you do it right, it won’t be greasier or drier than a normally cooked burger.
I hadn’t heard of deep frying burgers, but I have heard of cooking steaks sous-vide and then deep frying them for the reason I mentioned above. Haven’t done that either.
I don’t see any reason it would turn out dry if you do it correctly (hot oil, reasonably fatty meat, at least 20%). If it dries out before the outside cooks properly, then just raise the temp of the oil.
Anyhow, I’ve never tried it, but one of these days when I’m deep frying something else, I’ll have to give it a shot.
We went to an Octoberfest-type event this year and my son got a deep-fried burger. But this was a fully dressed burger (cooked patty, cheese, lettuce, onion, bun) dipped in batter and deep-fried. That’s what I thought this thread would be about.
I had a bite. It was… okay, I guess, but not better than a regular hamburger. More of a novelty.
I’ve been to Dyer’s, and it was good, but I didn’t consider the burger anything that special. My wife loved the deep-fried twinkie, though.
Dyer’s is also famous for straining and reusing its fryer oil for the past hundred years. When the restaurant moved a few decades ago, apparently Memphis turned the transport of the oil into a parade across town.
You sure it wasn’t a hazardous waste movement with a police escort? 
Now, fix the recipe.
A bunch of “Good Eats: Reloaded” recipes have gone down this route - not fixing/improving the original recipe, or giving a complete alternate, but providing a wacky alternate. Like the gluten free Christmas cookies with twice the work, twice the cost, and half the flavor of the originals.
I used a friend’s password to watch the first two Good Eats Reloaded episodes and really liked them. Then the password stopped working and I haven’t caught up. I’m going to try reverse searing a steak next time I cook one. Sounds like all the benefits of sous vide with none of the expensive bulky equipment. And I’ve been cooking my noodles in less water recently and it’s a great method. The pasta water gets really starchy and a ladle full goes well in the sauce. Going to try my hand at cacio e pepe soon.
Deep fried hamburger? Maybe. I’m not against the idea but I suck at deep frying in general. It could be a good way for me to practice.
Gluten free cookies? :eek: That sounds horrifying. What happened to you, Alton??
I’ve done both. The Pros of the reverse sear is that you get a better crust and you don’t have to deal with the equipment. The cons are that it’s not as foolproof (you need to take the steak out as soon as it hits the right temperature) and you won’t get quite as even of cooking, unless your oven goes down to 150 degrees.
Have you actually made them or are you just assuming they don’t taste as good?
No, and I never will. I see no point in ruining a good burger like that. The first thing that will happen when the patty hits the hot oil is that most of the fat in the burger will liquefy and join its brothers in solidarity. The resulting patty will be more like sawdust than meat.
I’m assuming on the flavor. From the ingredients list & watching the original & reloaded episode, I stand by my “twice the work, twice the cost” comment. If anything, I’m understating the cost, given that quality AP flour is dirt cheap, and his replacement mix very much is not.
ETA: If you’re making cookies for someone who can’t have gluten, great, use his recipe. But I don’t see the point in the extra work & money for people who can eat gluten all day.
From my perspective, the point of hamburgers is that they are cheap and easy. Frying them means they are a lot of work to cook, a lot of work to clean up, and then I’d have to throw out a pot of oil. No way.
I’ve never had a deep fried hamburger patty, but I have had a deep fried hamburger (if that makes any sense). The Miccosukee Restaurant on Tamiami Trail in the Florida Everglades sells what’s called an Indian hamburger. Think fry bread filled with ground beef, served with shredded lettuce and tomatoes. It’s so good.
There’s a local bowling alley place that did something like this. it was really good but they took it off the menu, along with their wide selection of fries.