Taste Test: Onion Burgers

Onion Burger Taste Test.

Our onion burger taste test derives from two distinct American culinary legacies. In 1921 in Wichita KS, Walt Anderson and Billy Ingram founded America’s first fast food restaurant, White Castle, selling hamburgers steamed with onions. A few years later in Ardmore OK, Ross Davis began serving burgers with an equal amount of onions and meat as a cost-saving measure during the Great Depression. Because we love onions, we decided to do a straight-up comparison and include a third version from the irrepressible J. Kenji Lopez-Alt.

The basics: each burger included 2.5 ounces of fatty hamburger meat; we happened to have some ground Wagyu beef from Aldi but 80/20 ground beef would do just fine. Onions were sweet Vidalias except for Toné dried onions (you can find them at Sam’s Club*) used for the White Castle version.  We cooked the burgers one at a time in an 8 inch non-stick skillet, a home cook’s compromise since the commercial version would be cooked on a griddle. As with Texas BBQ, the bun needs to be as cheap as possible with little structural integrity; we found a package of 8 buns for $1.29 at Aldi. Cheese was individual slices of cheap American cheese. Each prep got a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper at some point.

The results? We will cut to the chase and say all these burgers were terrific. You could not go wrong making any of them if you’re an onion lover; if you’re not an onion lover the aroma would quickly drive you from the house. Let’s take a look at the characteristics and technique of each test.

Oklahoma Onion Burger.

Taste Test #1: the Oklahoma Onion Burger. A ball of meat was smashed into a hot skillet with a spatula and onions were pressed into the top. When the meat was sizzling and a good amount of fat had been released, we flipped the burger so the onions could caramelize in that greasy nectar and topped the now-cooked side of the patty with cheese. Buns were draped over the side of the skilled and turned several times so they could steam in the heat and onion vapor. When the onions were nicely browned, we pressed the bottom bun into the cheese to hold everything together then flipped it onto a plate, added the onions that had come loose in the pan, and pressed down the top bun.

Result: onion-onolicious. The caramelized onions melted into the fat and the bun and the end product really did not feel like it had too much onion. This gets the ribbon for the easiest and most straightforward prep.

White Castle Onion Burger.

Taste Test #2: White Castle Onion Burger. The biggest difference vs the Oklahoma Burger is the lower temperature of the griddle so the onions and meat will steam instead of sizzle and caramelize. A quarter cup measure (the form factor we had used to shape the meat patties) was filled with Toné dried onions and then water was added to reconstitute them. After they softened in a few minutes the onions plus their liquid were transferred to the skillet over medium heat. Once they began producing steam we added the burger, pre-flattened as thin as we could get it, on top of the onions so it did not touch the surface of the griddle but was insulated by a layer of onions.

At White Castle the patties have holes in them so they cook through without being flipped; we found in our home kitchen we had to very carefully turn the burger after a couple of minutes without disturbing the layer of onion underneath. A slice of cheese was added on top. All this time the buns were steaming on top of the layer of onions, inner sides down. When the cheese had melted, we transferred the bottom bun to a plate then used a spatula to scoop out the burger and the layer of onions underneath. The remaining onions in the pan were added on top and the top bun was pressed down to cement everything together.

Result: pillow-soft perfection. The layers of meat, onion and cheese and their enveloping fat blended into a cohesive unit with the consistency of a dim sum bao. Bite into it, and you get the taste experience of all the elements at the same instant.

Kenji Hybrid Onion Burger.

Test #3: Kenji hybrid onion burger. Kenji set out to perform one of his elaborate experiments to find the best way to execute the Oklahoma burger, but decided along the way the technique in the White Castle burger was actually better. The main contribution of this version is his effort to add as much onion taste as possible. Most of the 2.5 ounces of onion was finely diced to break open the cells with maximum surface exposure, and the remainder was grated with a box grater to produce a good amount of juice. Juice and diced onion were added to a pan over medium heat and allowed to steam for a moment, then the burger was added on top. We cooked it until red juices appeared on the surface, carefully turned it without disturbing the layer of onions underneath, and added a slice of cheese. The buns were steamed in a manner similar to the White Castle prep but didn’t get as soft because there was less liquid in the pan.

Result: onion breath for days. This was definitely the most onion-y of the three preps, while sharing their overall excellence. Props to Kenji for using his wife’s new juicer to make onion juice (rather than the more rudimentary box grater method) and somehow convincing her not to divorce him.

We are generally fans of pickles and yellow mustard on burgers, and added some after the taste test, but these allium aristocrats didn’t really need it; they were perfection in their own right. If you care to try this at home and don’t feel like eating 3 burgers at a sitting, you should know like Texas Schoolburgers they reheat beautifully in the microwave for breakfast.

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