Burger and Beyond’s – Bacon Butter Burger DIY

Lets with start from the outside in.  I think this has to be the new gold standard for burger buns for me.  They were wonderfully fresh and smelled delicious when I opened the package. So fresh that they were soft enough to squeeze, but firm enough to bounce back. Burger and Beyond have another level of DIY kit, could they be the best burgers in London?

The Bun: 20/20

Let’s with start from the outside in.  I think this has to be the new gold standard for burger buns for me.  They were wonderfully fresh and smelled delicious when I opened the package. So fresh that they were soft enough to squeeze, but firm enough to bounce back.  A beautiful golden colour and a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top, but not too many.  But what gives this a perfect score is the cooking instructions.  Rather than simply toasting and buttering they recommend putting a pat of butter on first and then frying, sort of how a good grilled cheese sandwich is.  I’ve had butter fried burger buns once before on a trip to Wisconsin so kind of knew what to do and what to expect here.  But leaving them in the fry pan with a lid on after cooking so they could steam a little was a new idea.   I now think this is the best way to prepare a burger bun.  A little crispy from the frying but still soft from the butter and steam, and the fried butter adds a nice flavour.  They held up well during eating and the meat to bun ration was right too.  I simply can’t think of a way to improve them.

The Toppings: 8/10

The bacon was excellent.  Thick and well marbled, with a great smoky flavour.  And two slices per burger was a lot.  I was wrongly worried it would overpower the burger, but also wondering where I could buy this on its own for my next breakfast next Sunday.  The onions were pickled which surprised me, as I had planned to fry in the bacon fat.  They were quite pungent, the smell of vinegar was strong, but they could act as both a relish of sorts and onion, so I followed the instructions and left them as was.   They were good in the final product but perhaps mixing with pickle and or tomato would have just improved these a little bit.   

The Condiments: 7/10

I was excited to try and the burnt butter mayo that came in the kit, but was not blown away by the taste.  I tried it on its own and can attest to it being a unique flavour, but I can’t say that I tasted burnt butter or could even describe what flavour was really added.  It was a nice consistency and a very good mayo overall, so no complaints but not sure that burnt butter mayo is the new must have condiment.   There were no instructions to add mustard or ketchup but out of personal preference I added my normal amounts of both and thought they complimented the rest of the burger nicely.

The Cheese: 18/20

Each burger came with two slices of good American processed cheese.  I know for some there is no such thing as good processed cheese but as someone who grew up on it as a household staple I can say that a bad one tastes like paint scrapings! A good one may not have the complex flavour of a pepper jack or stilton, but it does melt very well and add a creamy texture to a burger while delivering a better flavour than it ever could cold.   So a score of 18 represents the best processed cheese can do.   

The Patty: 20/20

When I opened the package of beef, it didn’t seem like it was going to make four proper size burgers (I have two teens in the house so quantity matters).  But when I cut the package open and made the four requisite meat balls, I could tell the quality of the meat was excellent, with lots of fat marbled in. The size of each was a little bigger than I had guessed. I followed the instructions and squashed the meatballs into 1.5 cm patties as instructed and cooked for one minute a side on a hot, buttered cast iron griddle.  Fast and simple, although there was a fair amount of spattering fat so be warned.   The amount, texture, taste, juiciness, etc. was perfect.  We had a couple of beef crumbs on the griddle so tried on their own and it was delicious without all the trimmings. The fried butter and the beef went very well together to create a creamy, savoury flavour.   This will be how I cook burgers from now on. 

The Taste: 20/20

The balance of flavour was incredible.  With each bite you could taste the cheese, the beef, the onions, the mayo, the bacon and the bun.  No one ingredient overwhelmed the others as I feared. Not only was the meat to bun ratio perfect, the meat to everything else ratio was spot on too.   More on the fantastic flavour in my overall section below.

Our Verdict: 93/100

When a friend kindly offered to pick up a DIY kit from Burger and Beyond, I was sure it would be pretty good.  In fact, I thought it would be the best burger I’ve had since lockdown began.  But I wasn’t expecting it to be nearly as good as being in a proper burger shop.After the first bite I knew it wasn’t nearly as good as being at the restaurant. It was much better!  And never have I been so happy to be so wrong about so many things.  This wasn’t a burger…this was a work of art.  And I had cooked it. The bun, the mayo, the onions, the beef, the cheese, and the bacon all pretty much perfect in their own way…and like a symphony, the great individual performances were magnified by all performing together to create a harmony of tastes in my mouth. 

I thought preparing the burger at home would mean it was inferior to the restaurant version.It might be. I look forward to finding out some day when the quarantine is behind us. The whole experience was definitely superior. As you open each ingredient package, you can see, touch, smell and taste the quality.  You immediately understand that there must have been months of taste testing and experimenting to get each item just right. As you experience the smells of each ingredient as you prepare them, you appreciate them much more in the finished product.  It would compare to listening to each instrument practice for the symphony so you can better pick out the individual performances, even while appreciating the entire concert as a whole.

I will now make two fundamental changes to my home burger preparations going forward.  First I will definitely fry the buns in butter, and steam them.  And I will no longer use a BBQ which allows the fat to drip away.  High heat on the griddle for me from here on out.I must say that Burger and Beyond has done a great job preparing these kits.  The ingredients all come together in a well-packaged box, complete with ice packs to keep the meat and cheese cool on the way home.  And the instructions are the right combination of simple to follow but detailed enough to get it cooked just the way they want. So a big thank you to Burger and Beyond, for making the lockdown feel a little less painful.  And to the generous friend who convinced me to try and sorted out the logistics.   A top 3 burger ever, and definitely the best cooked under this roof.