Taste Test – White Castle Frozen Cheeseburgers

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I’ve been going to White Castle for more than 40 years.   I’ve even eaten there when I have been stone cold sober.   I like ’em.   The “southern version’ – Krystals, I like them too.

I’ve had the frozen White Castles before, never had much luck with them at home.  I haven’t had them since I started this burger odyssey, and it’s a nite out for Mrs BDB, so it’s another burger night at home.

I’m sure you are acquainted with White Castle.  You may not know it was America’s first fast food chain.  You may not know the “white” symbolized cleanliness, because in 20’s in the Midwest, just about everyone had read Upton Sinclair’s account of (non) cleanliness in the meat packing industry, and folks were a bit reluctant to consume ground beef.    So Walter Anderson and Billy Ingram made their Wichita restaurant the epitome of cleanliness – including spotless white uniforms, and stainless steel interiors.  Some credit Anderson with inventing the hamburger bun, but you’d get an argument on that from many Portlanders.

The burgers come in a six pack, 3 cello packs of two each, and they very closely resemble the ones in the restaurants.    The instructions are simple:  open one end of the cello wrap, nuke 60 seconds if frozen, 30 seconds if thawed.

I’d never tried “thawed” before, so that seemed to be the plan for tonight.  The burgers in the restaurant are frozen patties, with five holes in each, cooked on a bed of onions, on one side only.  Orginally, they were supplied by Swift, and came 18 to a pound.   I didn’t weigh these, I should have.

Following these instructions produced a burger with a taste and texture nearly identical to the restaurant.   In the diner, they are served sans condiments, except for one lonely pickle chip.  I added a squirt of mustard to mine, and a handful of the Northwest’s own Tim’s Potato Chips.

I’ve bought them before, and I’ll buy them again.  Especially now that I’ve figured out how to cook them!

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