For Father’s Day, the kids chipped in and bought Steve this mini burger press at Williams-Sonoma:
We tried it for the first time tonight. Steve’s 21 year old son is leaving on Friday for a summer internship in Ghana, and he requested a very specific “last supper” with us-- cheeseburgers and a birth year wine since he wasn’t able to get home a couple of months ago for his 21st birthday. The wine was '88 Montelena. The meat was a 2.5 lb Painted Hills chuck roast that we cubed, froze, and ran twice through our KitchenAid attachment’s coarse plate. We tossed the ground beef with nothing but kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, and then measured out about two ounces of ground beef for each patty…
I was skeptical that the patties would come out easily (or whole) once we pressed them, but with the exception of a few that I needed to loosen with a butter knife, most of them slipped right out.
Steve grilled them for about two minutes per side, and they were perfect. They held their uniform shape-- something we’ve never accomplished with hand-formed sliders.
This seemed like a silly tool to me, but I was very pleased with the results. If you like little burgers, this is a great way to make them.
Nice, Melissa.
I’m kind of surprised at how popular sliders have become. They’ve kind of taken foodservice by storm. So many restaurants are scrambling to get a “basket of sliders” on their menus. Of course, few go to the trouble to grind their own meat.
What did you use for buns?
Goes to prove the old Lee Buck Trevino canard, “It’s not the arrow, it’s the Indian.” I have the same camera Mel has. The results speak for themselves.
Through-out history, albeit, mine, my friends and I have always referred to White Castle burgers as sliders. Is this where the ‘new’ naming convention originated?
Other names for White Castle burgers:
Murder Burgers & Belly Bombs. The latter I can attest to myself, but my story would have to be dated around 1978, and somewhere around 4 am, after some under aged imbibing.
I used Oroweat round dinner rolls, which looked like hamburger buns on a 2/3 scale. They were slightly bigger around than the burgers… next time, I’m going to make my own. I think Kim Adams posted a recipe a couple of years ago.
I’m making these tonight. The dough is rising right now, and it was a pleasure to make and knead. Very smooth, soft, silky… I think they’re going to be really good.
I goofed. In my effort to follow the King Arthur recipe precisely, I forgot that I was planning to make sliders and made full size buns. Oh well. We made full size burgers instead.
The buns were delicious and yes, they smell a lot like challah. They really hold together well. As Steve commented, though, the delicate flavor gets lost when you’re eating a loaded burger. Still, they were very easy to make, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Melissa - that looks awesome! I will definitely give that one a try.
FWIW - I think the best store bought option for sliders is the King’s Hawaiian Rolls, and should be available almost everywhere. We picked some up a few days ago, and they are the perfect size.
Great idea! I used to see them everywhere when I lived in So Cal, but I haven’t noticed them here in OR. If I can find them, I’ll give them a try. I’ll also try to make smaller buns with the King Arthur recipe sometime before the end of summer.
The King Arthur recipe has twice the sugar and half the eggs of my favorite challah recipe.
The Challah My Bride’s Grandmother Made
7 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil or melted shortening
1 heaping tbsp. salt
4 large eggs
2 packets dry yeast
1 egg yolk (for egg wash)
2 tbsp. poppy seeds
Proof yeast, mix, knead until smooth and elastic, two rises, braid, final rise, apply egg wash (yolk thinned to paint-like consistency with cold water) with pastry brush, shower with poppy seeds, bake at 400F approx. 25 minutes.
