The "Steamed hamburger / cheeseburger" thread
 

Ted’s? I can’t comprehend a steamed burger. Do they taste that great? The meat is only steamed?
ive had steamed ground pork in Chinese restaurants but I don’t think I’ve ever had steamed ground meat. I know that many steamed dumplings have some form of meat.

https://www.tedsrestaurant.com/img/m...riden_Menu.pdf

My dad and I did both Ted's and K Lamay in the same day. We ordered one cheeseburger at each place and cut in half. Ted's uses mozzarella and K Lamay uses sharp white cheddar. Both were good, but my dad liked Ted's and I liked K Lamay's.

Ted's: K Lamay:

This steamed burger thing is just surreal!!

For those who have spent any time in the American south, the classic steamed burger is White Castle, of course

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation...ers-have-holes

So... having seen the videos... how would I make the steamed burger with steamed cheese at home? This is whack.

The biggest difference is that White Castle simply slaps on a slice of American cheese right before it gets boxed. A tray of steamed cheese looks amazing.

I miss White Castle.

Don't forget about Principal Skinner's steamed hams...

These steamed cheeseburgers are... a thing. I find them pretty disgusting. I grew up not too far away from the small area where these are common. The cheese part I like, gooey cheese is delicious and I wouldn't mind it on a burger that had some texture. The steamed beef patties taste disgusting. It's mealy, oddly textured, and bathed in the parts that you want cooked off on a griddle. It's almost slimy.

Making one at home is very easy and I'd recommend never bothering to do it.

Or in the midwest (where the most stores are) or northeast. From wikipedia: "Current White Castle markets include Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Detroit, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Louisville, Lexington, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Nashville, New York, NY/New Jersey/Pennsylvania, Phoenix, and St. Louis."

I'm not embarrassed to say I've visited two in the Chicago area fairly regularly, although not in a few years.

Make no mistake though, it's barely a burger, more like a "I know it's bad for me but tastes so good" snack. Preferably at the end of a long night at the bar on the way home.

How best to steam cheese?
now for a cheeseburger, I slice and warm the bunny bun with slices of cheese (both sides) in the toaster oven at 250; I also add cheese to the burger on the grill for the final minute. So maybe I’ll continue to grill the meat and attempt steamed cheese instead of having the cheese on the bunny bun.

setup a steamer basket or insert in a sauce pan. Put a bowl or something with the cheese and little bit of cream or something to emulsify it after melting. Melt it.

and I still use water for the steaming? Or is the cream used for the steaming?
thank you!!!

uhhh. the water.

then where does the cream go?
i only started cooking on a daily basis in March. I’ve been a restaurant diner for decades.
maybe I’ll fly in Y again one day.

you quoted my directions. read them.

Very different processes:

White Castle cooks the burgers on onions on a griddle.
In CT, the burgers are cooked in steam cabinets. No griddle involved.

Although their marketing department would claim otherwise, I don't consider White Castle burgers steamed.

I’m excited to try this steaming cheese!! Fun.

If I were to try steamed burgers at home, I would boil 1+ cup of water, pour it into my Instant Pot, place burgers inside on a trivet or in a springform, manual them for 0-1 minute, and after a few minutes, quick release. A metal measuring cup for the cheese. I have some packages of grass fed in the freezer. I'll give it a try this week or next.

Yes about Connecticut; I went somewhere in 2009 that purportedly was the first in the country to do it. Can't recall.the name of the town, but the steamed burger was alright.

Anyway, if I were in CT for food, I'd go to Pepe's, and have a lobster roll...just not on the same day.

My child was extremely uninterested in having steamed cheese so there’s a chance that I’ll never know the concept of steamed cheese!

Do you not make sauces and foods in a big pan? Say you have a tomato sauce and meatballs - just as it finishes cooking, add sliced or grated cheese, put a lid on the pan and the steam from the food melts the cheese - far easier than putting it under the grill. Only downside is that the cheese never browns.

fun idea! I’ll try it :-)

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...362f88469.jpeg
Pre boiled water, trivet, mini loaf pan, seasoned grass fed beef 85/15.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9a49b1b2a.jpeg
Four minutes high pressure, rested 10 minutes / natural release, added chunks of sharp cheddar which mostly slid off into the fat/juice, replaced the lid for 10.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6791ea4e7.jpeg
Had to scoop out cheese with a spatula.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5b20be85d.jpeg
First bite and a middle bite were juicy, the fat and juice ran down my fingers and hand... but the rest of my bites were dry. Gonna tweak the formula for the next round.

thank you!! This is great information. I look forward to the update. Did you like the dry parts?

After starting the 4 min high pressure cook, I trimmed and washed the frisee, put a pound of bacon end pieces in the toaster oven, and opened the cheese package and cut blocks. All of that sucked up time and maybe the burger was left steaming too long? I dunno. Tomorrow, I'm going to cut the time.

Really disappointed with the dry texture. I had a 1 lb package of meat divided into 3 burgers, so I will report back with breakfast burger results tomorrow.

So, since I’m the one that sent boxo to Ted’s as a former resident of the Meriden/Wallingford area of Connecticut where you find these, let me clear up a few things. Ted’s like K Lamay does use white cheddar for their burgers. It’s a proprietary recipe.

Second, I’d consider the southern “version” of this to be Krystal not White Castle as I don’t remember seeing any White Castles around living down there but Krystals everywhere.

Now, for duplicating the steamed cheeseburger... I probably wouldn’t have used an Instant Pot. The temperature was likely too high and that’s why it dried out. The steam cabinets are atmospheric pressure steam or just a little hotter. The cheese is usually in a separate container and it has to be scraped out to be put on the burger. I’ve never had one that was mealy but they do look a little grey.

The other thing that could have made it dry was what type of beef was used. I don’t think that they use a lean ground beef which would help it stay moist. shows how I would do it.

I thought Ted's uses mozzarella. Anyway, I see what you mean about atmospheric steam. When I try tomorrow, I'll set the iP to 0 minutes and after a couple minutes, quick release. I believe that was my first formula that I didn't follow. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32731406-post17.html

Okay, wow, atmospheric steam made all the difference. Thank you, Bluehen1 .

I boiled water in my kettle, poured it over the trivet.
Set the Instant Pot to 0, left the steam valve all the way open for about 5 minutes at full boil.
Turned it off, put the cheese on top, lid back on for a few minutes.

The steam was allowed to cook the burger without the high pressure (closed valve) squeezing the juices out. The patty shrunk much less, less grease and juice inside the loaf pan. Every single bite was a juicy mess. I'd call this a success.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4f7aa78e8.jpeg
Less shrinkage with the valve open, so it fit the bun better. Added a few bits of bacon today.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bfe8f6191.jpeg
Every single bite was a hot juicy mess.

No Maillard reaction, forget it.

And the only time White Castle becomes acceptable, even good, is after 2 AM and past a certain level of intoxication.

Having gone to college in the greater Meriden area, this thread makes me somewhat nostalgic, although I have to admit I have never tried a steamed cheeseburger (for starters, I prefer my burgers without cheese). They’re also responsible for the best diner in Middletown CT burning down a few years back—someone left the burger steamer on (fortunately the diner has rebuilt since).

yikes about the fire

how did you like the steamed hamburger, no cheese??

CT isn't really a hotbed for lobster rolls. With that being said, if you were going to Pepe's (and building off of the burger discussion here), Louis Lunch is a required.