In spite of the attractiveness of other offerings, hamburgs will almost always be the number one food-seller in your cafeteria. An analysis of the sales mix should all but convince you of this. Instead of trying to broaden your customers’ culinary horizons with more exotic offerings, first learn as much as you can about the product they want, then determine the best way to prepare it, serve it and make money on it.
The Effect of Cooking
Heat affects flavor, color, tenderness and digestibility of meat, with excessive heat resulting in shrinkage, drying, toughening and subsequent loss of flavor.
For meat to be considered “done,” its protein must be coagulated. This begins at 140 deg. F. up to 155 deg., after which the protein begins to toughen. Oxyhemoglobin, the protein that gives lean meat its red color, coagulates and turns brown at 140 deg. F. The higher the heat of coagulation, the more similarities the protein will have to rubber.
Fat melts between 90 deg. F. and 120 deg. F., depending on which part of the animal it comes from. Some of this fat leaves the patty when it is cooked causing the patty to shrink, but much of it is absorbed by the muscle fibers, giving the product its juicy qualities. As the fibers are cooked more, less fat is absorbed, there is more shrinkage and moisture is lost. As the moisture provides the volatile medium for the nitrogenous extracts that give beef its aromatic flavor, overcooking spoils the taste.
The idea, then, is to cook the meat until the protein coagulates, the aromatic flavor elements are at their peak and the outer surface is crust-like and browned. This can be accomplished by cooking with a higher heat source and depending on carry-over cooking (the process relating to the tendency of meat to cook after it is removed from the heat source because the heat on its outer surface is conducted inward).
Equipment for Cooking the Hamburg
Conduction, convection and radiant heat have been around since Caesar. Only the microwave oven has added a new dimension to the question of how to cook a hamburg.
The Katmandu of the hamburg is Hamburger University in Elmhurst, Ill. Here McDonald’s teaches its new franchise aspirants the way to cook a hamburg on an electric griddle. They use fresh (not frozen) 1½-oz. patties and set the griddle temperatures between 325-400 deg. F. With frozen patties, the griddle should be brushed with frying oil and the temperature kept at the lower range of 325 deg. F.
The advantages of using the griddle are: 1. close regulation of temperature stability and tolerances on the thermostats, 2. a surface which, when properly maintained, will not cause the hamburg to stick. 3. efficient fuel usage where various sections of the griddle can be regulated to match production requirements, 4. multiple use with other products such as grilled sandwiches, and breakfast meats.
The griddle’s most serious drawback is its need for a trained operator. Equipment manufacturers specify that a particular griddle can cook 2,000 hamburgs an hour, but the purchaser finds he can seldom reach a capacity of 600. The reason is that the manufacturer lies and the operator does not have a system set up to maintain constant flow.
Burger Chef, McDonald’s largest competitor, tries to overcome the need for trained operators by utilizing a conveyor broiler. Like griddles, they come in several sizes and capacities, but they are essentially set-up for full-run production. The conveyor broiler is as flexible as the griddle, but the capacity is closer to that claimed by the manufacturer. Power usage is much greater because of heat loss in the open tunnel. The temperature of the quartz reflectors is between 1600-1800 deg. F., yet the surface temperature of the hamburg will be around 375 deg. F. These high temperatures cause flare-ups and shrinkage, but since the flame is above the meat surface, there is none of the carbon build-up that gives the charbroiled taste.
Charbroiling can be done with either gas or electric-fitted ceramic coals under a grate. These surface broilers impart a “charcoal” flavor and create an atmosphere when cooked in front of the public. The same flavor can be obtained with direct contact electric heating units. The disadvantages of the surface broilers are: 1. inefficient power usage (operators tend to keep them running at full capacity all the time), 2. carbon build-up under the grate preventing adequate heat transfer, 3. heat loss and slow recovery of most grates, 4. hamburg pulling apart when it sticks to the grate. Finally, the need for a skilled operator is critical with the surface broiler because the heat is changing constantly.
The microwave oven which uses an entirely different concept merits some consideration. Microwaves are “X” band radar waves generated from a magnetron power tube. They have a penetration depth of 2-3 in. and cook by rapidly polarizing and reversing the polarity of the molecular structure of the medium. The degree of polarization is related to the amount of moisture in the substance. A china plate will not heat up in a microwave oven, but a piece of meat (70 per cent moisture) will cook leaving the plate cold.
The advantage of microwave is the speed of cooking. A 4-oz. hamburg can be cooked in 25 seconds. Two 4-oz. hamburgs will take close to a minute because the speed is dependent on small units.
Since microwave does not cook the surface and depends on conduction for internal penetration, there is no surface browning. Also, penetration coagulates the protein well above 140 deg. F. causing toughening. This is not a major problem with hamburgs, but is important for non-ground meats.
To sum up on microwave, it cannot cope with the production demands of the noon-hour rush. It must be used with other equipment that will provide browning, and it usually generates a certain degree of consumer resistance. Microwave is mostly used as back-up equipment or a re-heat tool to bring frozen items to serving temperatures.
Cooking Systems for Hamburg
Whether you use a griddle, a conveyor broiler, a surface broiler or a microwave oven, successful use of the equipment depends on the production system. A properly-trained operator should have his input ingredients, processing equipment, output assembly and serving system completely delineated and geared to match demand.
It is faster and quality is better if the system flows instead of pulses. A pulsating system, where the entire load is assembled and served, causes bottlenecks and backup while the production unit is reloaded. For the system to flow, the product should be in varying degrees of completeness at all times.
For example, hamburg on a griddle between 325-400 deg. F. should be cooked until the blood oozes out the top. It should be flipped and cooked until the blood reaches the new top surface. At this point, the hamburg will be medium. For well done, flip the hamburg once more. The grill cook should flow the hamburgs from left to right, removing the flipped burgers from the right and adding fresh patties to the left. He should never press down on the hamburg because this tends to drive moisture and flavor out.
Costing the Hamburg
Since the hamburg is a dominant element of sales mix, its price-cost relationship must be continually reviewed. Like a cup of coffee, it is a necessity item and your customers know what they usually pay for it. The materials cost can vary between 20-40 per cent, but the turnover should also enter into pricing consideration.
In determing cost, include all elements—the patty, bun, service, paper plate or bag, condiments and napkins.
| 3-oz. Hamburg patty | $.1219 |
| Hamburg roll | .0291 |
| 5-in. Fluted plate | .0125 |
| Ketchup, salt, pepper | .0230 |
| Napkin | .0055 |
| .1920 |
| Cost | Selling Price to Nearest 5¢ |
|---|---|
| 20% | $ .95 |
| 25% | .75 |
| 30% | .65 |
| 35% | .55 |
| 40% | .50 |
Price-cost considerations should also reflect labor, and if it escalates, food cost must be reduced.
The Meat
The composition of hamburg depends on the specifications you give your suppliers. And if you cannot decide what is best for you, your supplier will undoubtedly decide what’s best for him.
Government regulations allow the fat content of hamburg to vary between 15 and 30 per cent. Federally-supported lunch programs are all bid based on 30 per cent fat, whereas MacDonalds, America’s no. 1 hamburg seller, specify their patties at 16 per cent. Most operators feel that shrinkage of the patty becomes excessive above a 20 per cent fat content.
Hamburg usually includes all scraps from boning and cutting operations, although forequarters with poor conformation will usually be boned out for ground beef. Consequently, all primal cuts contribute to hamburg, although little tenderloin is used. The rougher cuts are favored for hamburg, but chuck, rump and round are often ground and marketed at higher prices tagged as “ground chuck,” etc.
Ground round contains 16 per cent more water, 4 per cent more protein, 31 per cent less fat and 17 per cent fewer calories (when cooked) than hamburg made from the cuts above. Thus, ground round is less flavorful and drier than the rough cuts.
The hamburg market relies mostly on meat below choice level (meat is graded prime, choice, good, etc.) because it is leaner, thus cutting down on shrinkage. The meat is also usually taken from cows and bulls rather than steer, as the former is redder in color and thus more pleasing aesthetically to the consumer. Hamburg specifications usually state only those classes of meat to be excluded, allowing the supplier to mix different grades. Hopefully he will then pass on the savings.
The size of the patty must be specified, as well as the shape. Most suppliers offer the ounce content or number per pound, but you may have to get the shape you desire. For instance, a square hamburg appears larger in a round bun, yet most machines press round patties.
Soya Protein Extenders
Anyone who lives with cost analysis of menus is aware of the profit squeeze. Customers will not pay 95¢ for a 3-oz. hamburg. If you continue to cut down on portion size to maintain cost, the day will come when your customer will open his hamburg and find that you could no longer afford to include the patty.
Enter crude soy bean protein. Soy beans are pressed to remove the oil and the remaining crude protein is mechanically extended into fibers similar to cotton candy. These fibers are spun into bundles according to the desired shape and texture of the finished product. The extenders used in hamburg are flour and pellet forms of the protein which serve to extend the meat’s bulk.
Soy protein is a nutritional powerhouse. It contains low carbohydrates, low fat and high protein content. The amount of water depends on the type of soy product. There is little roughage and whatever fat is present is polyunsaturated (no cholesterol build-up in the blood stream).
The flavor of soya protein is distinctly “beany” and manufacturers must add back the water-soluble nitrogenous extracts from real beef and in some cases animal fat, to mask it. Unfortunately this beef flavor can easily be “washed off” since it is water soluble.
Laboratory test panels have shown that the presence of soya protein in hamburg is undectable up to 50 per cent content, but most suppliers recommend a 40:60 ratio. This means protein costs about 40 cents a pound, whereas even the largest buyers are hard pressed to buy 18-20 per cent-fat-content hamburg at less than 60 cents.
Legally, there are federal, state and local regulations that must be checked (your meat supplier knows the details), but basically the only problems that could arise would be in labeling. A soyburger is not a hamburger in the eyes of most consumers, but are you ready to offer them a choice between a 100 per cent all-beef hamburg for 70 cents and a “skiburger” of the same size for 60 cents.
Storage
Although meat must be inspected before and after slaughter, handling during boning and cutting can introduce contamination from workers and equipment. Although not harmful at the innoculation level, bacterial reproduction follows a logarithmic growth curve which, with the right pH and temperature conditions, quickly putrifies the meat. You cannot vary the pH (making the product more acid would retard microbial growth) without changing color and flavor. Consequently, lowering the temperature to prevent further contamination is the only way.
For storing fresh meat, a holding temperature range between 32-36 deg. F. is best, for meat freezes at temperatures below 28 deg. F., causing the patty to lose shape. It should not be stored in large blocks because the cold will not penetrate to the interior, but in relatively flat portions. Even under optimum storage conditions all fresh beef should be cooked within one to two days.
Since delivery conditions in most ski areas rule out the use of fresh beef, the patties should be purchased frozen and kept frozen. Proper freezing requires liquid nitrogen or plate freezers available only in meat-packing plants. The temperature should be kept at —10 deg. F. If higher storage temperatures are employed, door loss (the heat brought in when the freezer is opened and closed) will generally cause temperature cycling in the range of crystal formation (15-25 deg. F.). The result is large ice crystals similar to hoar frost and corn snow. These crystals rupture the cell walls in the meat causing a drop loss when it is thawed robbing the meat of moisture and flavor.
Conclusion
Every food service operator must know as much as he can about the product he is selling. Written specifications should be supplied to every supplier. Understanding the effect of the cooking process and consumer demand will help the operator to select the proper equipment and develop a complementary system of product flow. Finally, the operator must continually cost his menu and seek every means of holding cost while maintaining quality.
