Cool Things You Probably Didn't Know About Hamburgers
Tracing the origin of the hamburger, National Geographic described how 13th century warriors under Genghis Khan unintentionally invented minced meat. As they rode their horses through Mongolia and on into Russia, they stored meat under their saddles and found that it tenderized the meat. Later, the Russians started mincing raw meat for steak tartare, and in Germany, it became the Hamburg steak.
Since then, there have been many theories proposed on the creation of our beloved hamburger. It’s likely that people just started putting the beefcakes on bread to make it easier to eat. But who was the first to serve the meat patty on a bun? Some say that it was a food vendor at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, when he ran out of pork sausage and substituted beefcakes. (They say that necessity is the mother of invention!) There are, however, reports of others who served Hamburg steaks on buns before the World’s Fair. One was Oscar Weber Bilby in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who served grilled Angus meat patties on homemade yeast buns at a Fourth of July cookout in 1891.
We may never know who actually invented the hamburger, but its unplanned debut at the 1904 World’s Fair (along with another American favorite – the ice cream cone) was well received and its popularity took off like a skyrocket.
Did you know?
In 1888, an English physician named Dr. Salisbury prescribed three ground beef meals a day for various ailments. Hence the name Salisbury steak.
White Castle was founded in 1916 by Billy Ingram and Walt Anderson. Ingram created a utensil made of saw-blade steel to turn and flatten the patties. Today, most kitchens are equipped with that utensil – the spatula, and the original one made by Ingram is now preserved in a temperature-controlled glass case at the Ohio State Historical Society.
During World War I (and again, during WW II) many people referred to hamburgers as liberty steaks and sauerkraut as liberty cabbage in an effort to avoid their German-sounding names. In the 1930s, hamburgers were sometimes called Wimpy Burgers, named after the hamburger-loving character in Popeye cartoons.
Did you know that Burger King’s Whopper predates McDonald’s Big Mac? The Whopper debuted in 1957 while the Big Mac wasn’t introduced until ten years later, and the two big fast food hamburger chains have been in competition with each other ever since. In 1997, McDonald’s created the Big N’Tasty to compete with the Whopper, but Burger King parried by introducing a two-patty burger, the Big King. And so it goes…healthy competition. But overall, McDonald’s is a larger company and wins hands down in sales and revenues.
A McDonald’s customer named Matt Mamgren claimed he purchased two hamburgers in 1989, ate one, and forgot about the other. A year later he found the uneaten hamburger still in its original wrapper in his coat pocket. He was surprised to discover that it looked and smelled the same as it had the day he bought it. He started collecting and documenting the condition of the fast food burgers, with the same results. He speculated that they didn’t decay because of all of the chemicals and preservatives in them. In 2001, Mamgren and independent film-maker Len Foley made a scare-video, “The Bionic Burger”, warning people about chemical additives in McDonald’s burgers. Their premise was quickly debunked by scientists who explained that the patties had been preserved because of low moisture and dehydration, similar to jerky.
You can watch the video, “The Bionic Burger” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYyDXH1amic&t=86s
In 2008, Burger King released a cologne called “Flame: Fire Meets Desire” that smelled like a grilled hamburger. It was in a small spray bottle packaged in a black pouch and it sold for $3.99. In 2015, Burger King Japan released another cologne, this one called “Flame-Grilled Whopper”. It was priced at 5000 yen (about $42. US) and came with a free Whopper. Only 1000 bottles were produced in a limited edition released on (what else?) April Fools’ Day. But Burger King was not unique in this area. In 2012, Pizza Hut Canada created their own scent, “Eau De Pizza Hut”.
In 2010, Mallie’s Sports Grill & Bar in Southgate, Michigan, set the world record for the largest hamburger menu item, the Absolutely Ridiculous Burger, weighing more than 338 pounds. Advance orders were necessary, as it took about twelve hours to prepare, and the price tag was a hefty $1,999 in house, or an additional $200 for delivery. A smaller version of Mallie’s burger, weighing around 186 pounds, was noted by Guinness Book of World Records in 2009.
Shhhh…..this one’s a secret! Well, not really, but did you know that McDonald’s has a Secret Menu? On it, you will find the Land, Sea and Air Burger, which combines three of their most popular selections – Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish and McChicken – into one huge (really, really huge) sandwich, all for $8.49. Actually, many restaurants have a secret menu, including Dairy Queen, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Arby’s, Subway, Panera, Starbuck’s and many more. For some establishments not as tolerant as Burger King, where “hold the pickle, hold the lettuce” is expected, a secret menu simply refers to any off-menu variations, but for many restaurants there are actual lists of items not offered on their regular bill of fare.
Check out www.cbsnews.com/picturess/secret-menu/ for some eye-popping examples.
At your next barbeque, why not play hamburger trivia? You can impress your guests with your depth of knowledge about hamburgers. And another way to impress your guests is to serve Sizzle King beef and turkey patties. Look for Sizzle King in your local grocery store or supermarket. Our line of frozen quarter pound patties offers convenient and affordable burgers without skimping on quality and taste.