Wayback Burgers

 

                      We're Having Wayback Burgers !

The True "Old Fashioned Hamburger".  I call them way back burgers. There’s a restaurant chain called “Way back Burgers”,  they are very similar to Wendy’s. Their burgers are not the old time hamburger stand burgers. In spite of the hype, there is only one restaurant in Ohio that I know of that serves genuine "old fashioned hamburgers".. Wendy's you're not even close.

Hamburgers are pretty simple and all are made with the same basic ingredients but they can taste very different. A grilled hamburger taste different than a fried one. And a hamburger fried in vegetable oil taste different than one fried in lard or Crisco. The secret to making authentic old fashioned hamburgers is not exotic herbs and spices. The secret of these burgers was born in the great depression era of the 1920's and 30's.  Many foods had their beginning in this era because of the need to use what you had on hand and to economize. I often made burgers but they were never the same or as good as the hamburgers I ate at the hamburger stands when I was young, something was missing. 

Hamburgers is one of our favorite quick and easy meals. It took me many years to discover the elusive secret of the burger stand hamburgers. I finally learned how to make burgers that are tender, juicy and taste sooo good. Great burgers need great buns and you can rarely find them in the bread isle at the local grocery. We found a source for buns that don't turn waxy or doughy when moist or chewed. 

Most restaurants are better at serving up social experience on internet media than serving good burgers. Some restaurants want you to believe the perfect burger is a combination of a "mile high...multi patty, multi cheese burger served with a plethora of exotic condiments added so that you have to smash it down with your hands and dislocate your jaw just to get your mouth around it. The condiments are cheap and the size gives the illusion that a hamburger is worth fifteen to eighteen dollars. Those burgers are for gullible people that have more money than sense. It's a good gig if you can fool people into thinking any hamburger is worth more than three dollars. Kewpee’s Hamburger Stand in Lima, Ohio serves burgers that are far better than the fast food joints but is not the one authentic restaurant I mentioned.

The only condiments I use are pickle, onion and mustard. These burgers are great with homemade fries or onion rings and a homemade milkshake. We make our fries from russet potatoes and deep fry them until golden brown. We make onion rings from homegrown Candy Onions.

In the 1950's and 1960's, before the "drive-thru", there were "drive-in's", a type of restaurant where customers ate their meals on the premises without leaving their cars. In the 50's and 60's the drive-ins brought your burgers to you on a tray that hung on the window of your car. They were wrapped in wax paper, dripping with heavenly juices and often served with fries and a milkshake. No restaurant today can match the goodness of the food or the experience of those drive-in's.