Contradictions in a Bun

Burger Iowa

They are contradictions in a bun, simultaneously the scourge of nutritionists and the piece de resistance for low carbohydrate dieters - hold the bun, please. Although they have been around for at least 800 years, they recently celebrated their 100th birthday. Despite being the most popular meal of the masses, they fulfill any gourmet criteria.
Hamburgers have it all: hot (meat) and cold (lettuce); sweet (ketchup) and sour (pickle); acidulous (onion) and alkaline (bun). Textures range from charred to soggy and every color of the rainbow is stacked between their buns, even Maytag blue. They account for four out of every ten sandwiches served in restaurants and almost half of all burgers are consumed during the summer.

In America they are a guilty pleasure for which no one apologizes. After a New York City restaurant gained notoriety by claiming the most expensive burger in America, a $41, a war of decadence broke out, with prices reaching $100. Now hundred dollar burgers are the greatest contradiction of all, for the simple sandwich is the long time poster child for affordable food in America. In the last 50 years, fast food systems made it possible to raise a baby calf from 80 to 1200 pounds in fifteen months, rather than the five years it took a century ago. Iowa was ground zero for that revolution, first with king corn changing the feeding habits of cows, and then with the innovation of modern meat processing, which began with IBP in Denison.

Hamburger is Iowa’s birthright, the cheapest protein in the history of the world. But modern food systems have a downside. Unheard of before the 1980s, E coli bacteria now lives happily in the intestines of most U.S. feedlot cattle, comfy in the acidic rumens that corn diets. Mad cow scares have people tracing carcasses to their origins, since parts of scores of different cattle can wind up in a batch of burger that comes from the modern processors. The fatter, tastier flesh of corn fed, feed lot cattle also raises red flags at cardiologists.

Today Iowa is a trove for healthier burger choices. Dennie Heuton’s Mr. D’s Cattle Company raises the same wagyu bulls from which Kobe beef is cut, crossing them with Angus cows. His Iowa ranches produce cattle that have more good cholesterol and less bad. Brent and Joni Christensen, who raise free range cattle in Corning, Iowa, can trace their burger to a particular cow. They never use growth hormones nor antibiotics.

Frank Reitsma of Deo Gloria Elk in New Sharon has found a local market for his antibiotic and hormone-free herds, whose “diet is 99 % pasture.”
Other farmers’ burgers are also capable of showing consumers a better way to eat. Not only do free ranged cattle have richer taste than most commercial burger, they are also free of hormones produced by fear and loathing, common to animals abused in typical livestock confinements. Hunters know that animals who are wounded, but not killed instantly produce bad meat, because of the chemical changes wrought by the suffering. Confinement cattle’s whole lives are wrought with suffering.
Nick Wallace of Wallace Farms and Irene McCoy’s organic Grasstravaganza burgers are also filled with good fatty acids and cholesterols that grain fed beef lacks.

All kinds of formerly “exotic“ meats are now popping up in Iowa health food stores and restaurants. Ostrich thrive in Central Iowa for the same reasons. Elk are raised for meat in several parts of the state and sold at farmers markets All these wild meats have fewer fats and calories and more good cholesterol, omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin E than factory beef.

Gourmet Burgers at Home

We gathered a six-pack of burger wisdom compiling this story.

1.) Because of their fats, typical feed lot, supermarket burger cooks slower than exotics and grass fed burgers do. They also shrink more. So adjust your temperature and cooking time down when using non-traditional kinds of burger.

2.) Flavor, not to mention aroma, comes from searing burger without burning it. This is called the Maillard factor and it works best on traditional corn fed beef, because this happens when fats bond with proteins at high heat. That’s why expensive, lean burger has the complexion of soot. Most of the best chefs prefer a burger mix that is only 75 - 85 % lean. Moisture retards the Maillard factor, so some chefs pat their burger patties dry with paper towels before grilling. Burger meat needs to be fatty, and this is not all bad. Burger cholesterol carries satiety messages to the brain. That is why the Atkins Diet works.

3.) Searing can be done on a flat top grill, over an open flame or burning coals, but electric stoves don’t get hot enough. Pans don’t work because collected fats exceed their smoke point and burn the meat.

4.) Fresh beef performs better than previously frozen patties.

5.) Patties should be loosely hand-packed, as tightly compressed patties can not aerate, and lose moisture.

6.) Burgers to some are just delivery systems for buns, lettuce, tomatoe, pickles and condiments, so use the freshest garden foods and the best condiments.

Iowa’s Celebrity Burgers

Siouxland diners queued up for “taverns,” or “Charlie Boys,” since Prohibition days. These loose meat sandwiches are a tradition in Sioux City bars to this day. After being rejected for a McDonald’s franchise, Vincent Calligan built his own fast food store, the Tastee Inn & Out, which looks pretty much like it did when he opened it half a century ago. The restaurant sold “tastees,” a variation on the “taverns.” Like the “Charlie Boys,” named for the son of founder John Miles) still served at the Miles Inn (2622 Leech, 712-276-9825), “tastees” are specially sauced ground beef sandwiches which require too much labor to appeal to the fast food giants.

Tastee Inn & Out is now run by Vince’s daughter Jean Calligan and Jean’s daughter wrote an off-Broadway play about growing up in the restaurant. Calligan’s neon sign at 2610 Gordon is original and the café is still strictly a drive-through. The biggest change in half a century was redesigning the driveway, for driver’s side pick-ups, something that wasn’t necessary back when no one ever drove alone.

Up the road in Lemars, Bob’s Drive Inn (Highway 75, 712-546-5445) has been serving taverns, in their signature spices, since 1949.
At Ross’ 24 Hour Family Restaurant, under the freeway by-pass in Bettendorf (430 14th Street. 319-355-7573), fresh ground beef and freshly baked buns have been keeping burger lovers happy for more than 60 years. Cynthia and Ron Freidhof‘s “Ross burger“ is a loose meat special on the lines of Sioux City‘s taverns.

At Mason City’s Pro’s Sandwich Shop (625 S. Federal, 641-424-2662) the Beef Delights come in green and white checked wrappers, but are just a local variation on the same loose meat theme.

In Des Moines, where Ted’s Coney Island (3020 Ingersoll, ) and George the Chili King (5722 Hickman, 515-277-9433 ) have been making the same loose meat burgers for over half a century, they are simply called beef burgers. Though there is nothing simple about them. Ted’s grinds their own meat, from inside rounds, and cook it heavily peppered, with allspice and other secret spices, on the stovetop, 90 pounds at time, for three hours, with constant stirring. George’s method is similar, but more secretive.

In Ottumwa, loose meat sandwiches are called “canteens,” after the ones sold at Canteen in the Alley (112 E. 2nd Street, 641-, 682-5320), a little 1927 diner that has a parking ramp built over and around it.

In Marshalltown, Taylor’s Maid Rite (106 S. 3rd 641-753-9684) has been serving their loose meat burgers for over 70 years, but that is nothing compared to Stone’s, still referred to as “that place under the viaduct, down by the vinegar works” though the vinegar works are gone with the wind. Stones (507 S. Third Ave., 641-753-3626).

Probably Davenport’s most famous burger comes with some 19th century history too. Boozie’s Bar and Grill (114 ½ W. 3rd, 563-328-2929) is in an old downtown building and is named for a cat reputed to be the original owner. The Boozie Burger includes three cheeses and bacon and Boozie’s original hot sauce.

In Waterloo, Steamboat Gardens (1740 Falls Avenue, (319) 232-0344)
packs them in for $.49 beef burgers on Saturday afternoons, and $.99 Steamboat Burgers on Mondays. Here, “a haystack” means a burger with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese.

That would be a Reuben burger at Iowa City’s Hamburg Inn #2 (numbers 1 and 3 are no more). HI#2 (214 N. Linn, 319-337-5512) has probably sold burgers to more people than any other independent restaurant in the state. Joe Panther opened the place during the Great Depression and sold burgers for a nickel. Both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton stopped by, as do most politicians during the Iowa Caucuses. Today, the motto is "Comfort Food In a Fifties Time Capsule," the burger is still fresh ground daily and the place was featured in the Washington Post’s “Great American Hamburger Debate.”

In Johnston’s Greenbriar (5810 Merle Hay Rd. 515-253-0124) chef Troy Trostel will serve his lightly packed, flame broiled burgers with any sauce in his vast European repertoireFor over 40 years at Christopher’s in Des Moines (2816 Beaver, 274-3694), the Guidecessi family grind their burgers from the trim of prime rib, filets and other middle meat, season it with shallots, garlic and salt, and grill half pound, hand packed burgers on a flat top.

At Maxie’s in West Des Moines (1311 Grand, 223-1463) the half pound Maxieburgers have been made the same way for 65 years - hand packed and char seared. They were dubbed “Happy Max” in Jeff Hagen’s book “Searching for the Holy Grill.”

Along the Mississippi River, Iowans also seem to like maximum burgers. At Café Mississippi in Guttenburg (431 S River Park Drive, 563-252-4405) the half pound burgers are smothered with caramelized onions and served on rye bread.

The Irish Shanty's giant Gunderburger keeps Gunder on the map, even after it lost its post office and incorporation. At the venerable The Cellar in Keokuk (29 South Second, 319/524-4040), the fresh ground burgers are half pounders, which makes then small up the road in Fort Madison. There the burger buzz is called the “Wally” and it’s a full pound of fresh chuck, with four slices of cheese, sautéed mushrooms and onions, sold at Walt and Jake’s Fort Diner (8th Street and Avenue H, 319-372-1949).

Elsewhere, burgers are distinguished by their cooking method. Smokin' Jakes (117 Broadway, Arnolds Park, 712-332-5152) grills their Smokin’ Burgers over hickory. So does Hickory Park (1404 Duff, 515-232-8940) in Ames, with their “Hickorys.” At Archie’s Waeside in Lemars (224 4th Ave NE, 712-546-7011), they are slowed cooked at low temperatures. At Winston’s (601 Locust St. 515-245-5454 ), owner chef Steve Little reconstructed his grill hardware to get a bigger flame for searing his burgers.

Then there are the exotic burgers. Raccoon Bend Golf Club in Jefferson serves 7 ounce wagyu burgers for $6.50 and 14 ounces for $7.25! Dorothy Stitt’s Olde Broom Factory in Cedar Falls (125 West First Street, 319-268-0877) makes an emu burgers. The Iowa Buffalo Company in Mediapolis (213 Wapello St S, 319 -394-9790) reported double sales, and changed their name, after they began making burgers out of bison. Buffalo burgers can also be found at: Circle C in Lamotte (806 Pleasant St., 563-773-2352) ; Skyline Inn and in Kalmes Restaurant in St. Donatus (Highway 52 South, 563- 773-2480); Point Restaurant in Dubuque (2370 Rhomberg Ave., 563-582-2418) and Thunder Bay Grille in Davenport (655 N Brady, 563-386-2722).

Grasstravaganza
641-449-3254, grassfedmeat@yahoo.com.
Klinge Farms
563-783-2456

Thankful Harvest
712-365-4433, mailto:tagerman@netlic.net

Wallace Farms
630-466-8723
info@wallacebeef.com

Heartland Elk
2200 Woodland
heartlandelk@hotmail.com

Iowa Buffalo Co.
213 Wapello St S, Mediapolis, IA 52637 319) 394-9790