Sabrett Hamburger Review

What:
Sabrett Hamburgers

Build:
1/4 lb. Burger patty (single & double), fried onions, dill pickle chips, Velveeta Cheese, hamburger bun.

Comments:
Sabrett hotdogs are an icon in the tri-state metro area. Affectionately known as "dirty water dogs", they are the staple of every hotdog pushcart in New York and New Jersey. Their casings have a trademark "snap" when bitten and their recipe allegedly contains more garlic than any other hotdog on the market, giving them their unique flavor profile. Sorry Chicago, Sabrett hotdogs are in a different league than your "Vienna Sausages" (take that Abe Froman).

"Yes Virgina, Sabrett actually makes hamburgers too". 

I rarely post homecooked foods, but I think Sabrett's hamburgers deserve this honorable mention, at the very least.

I stumbled onto Sabrett's frozen hamburger patties at a local grocery store last summer, so naturally I had to try them. I grabbed the box from the freezer and when I saw the price tag I promptly put them back on the shelf. Fourteen ($14) bucks for 8 - 1/4 lb frozen burgers - WHOA!   

I then proceeded to talk myself off the ledge with a quick, internal, "life is short" speech, and put them back in my shopping cart. 

Pay no attention to the photo on the box cover which shows grill lines on the burger! These burgers are to be cooked on a flat grill or pan fried ONLY! And be forewarned, they cook very fast. In hindsight, I should've thawed the patties before cooking them, but my curiosity was peaking and I was hangry.

These burgers should not be cooked beyond a temperature of medium! In fact, the best thing to do is to take them off the grill while still medium-rare, and let them finish cooking (in the bun with the toppings) wrapping them in foil or waxed paper to allow them to rest for a full 5 minutes. I call this tempering. That's probably not the correct term for this, but I like it. Tempering, yes, good.

So here it is...
I felt the meat was pressed a bit too tight causing the burger to resist the bite just a little too much for me. However, with that said, they will most likely be okay as long as you don't over-cook them like I did. The burgers have a great old-fashioned, rendered beef fat taste that sent me back to my childhood in the 1960's.

~~Cue the flashback sequence~~

The 1960's was a time when the most popular frozen hamburgers were a brand called "Topps".  The Topps Meat Company was established in 1940 in Elizabeth, NJ and by 2007 they were one of the country's largest manufacturers of frozen hamburgers. Later that same year, a breakout of E-Coli contamination in the factory caused by "inadequate sanitation" led to the company's demise in October, (damn shame).

Topps burgers were made to be cooked over a charcoal grill, making them the tri-state area's most popular hamburgers for decades. Wherever there was a cookout, you'd find Topps Frozen Hamburgers.

 

*Cookout is the Jerseyan term for "outdoor picnic".

Back to Sabrett's...

Both the aroma, and the flavor of the meat are spot-on, and it was a familiar flavor that made me think, "I've tasted these burgers before" - somewhere in Jersey - maybe at Hiram's Road Stand in Fort Lee, or perhaps in Wayne at the old Anthony Wayne Grill that closed decades ago, or was it in Cedar Grove at Friendly's Ice Cream in the early 70's? Perhaps it's the Hot Grill's burger in Clifton? I get the distinct feeling Sabrett hamburgers are all around us - and always have been. 

All in all, and at the very least, Sabrett hamburgers are worth a try. So get creative and send me photos.

Sorry, no autopsy shots this time....