A decade in the past, I used to maintain a foldable desk and chair in my trunk, all due to meals vehicles. They’d publish a menu and placement on their 40K+ Instagram, and identical to that, some random parking zone would blow up. There could be 4 or 5 vehicles lined up tight, every with a generator buzzing within the again, and a line of about thirty individuals deep within the entrance. When those self same vehicles would hit a favourite brewery, you understand it was on!
As of late, the components has modified. If I occur to go to a brewery and if there’s a meals truck, I would eat their meals.
That’s, till Hammer Burger.
I’ll always remember my first Hammer Burger… knee-deep within the pre-vax pandemic, I ordered by way of their web site (which was booked by time slot and would shortly promote out), drove to some random cul-de-sac in Orange, and picked up a bag with my title on it subsequent to a jug of hand sanitizer. The odor was so unbelievable that I needed to pull over after just a few blocks to analyze. With my automobile AC blasting, I unpackaged the tasty meat morsel and shoved it into my mouth. One chunk? Nah, I’m ending this entire rattling factor proper right here subsequent to the freeway onramp.
Now, I’ve had quite a lot of smashies, however this burger is totally different. First off, a Hammer Burger has a particular entrance, again, and sides because it’s served with a kind of an underbite, the place the skinny cracker-like patties grasp considerably out the entrance, begging to be eaten first. Then, there’s this unctuous but crispy maillard response that occurs to the meat when it will get that skinny that amplifies the beefy taste. Subsequent is the burger as a complete with the crunch of the pickle and zesty end of the sauce. Wow. It’s simply so burgery.
“What makes the good burger? “Steadiness. The patty goes with the cheese, the cheese goes with the pickles, the pickles go together with the sauce, and the bun holds all of it collectively,” notes co-owner Curt Scheetz.
By definition, a smash burger is solely a ball of beef that’s pressed right into a flat floor. Proprietor Kevin Hammonds notes, “we’re really transferring away from the time period “smash” and going to the time period flat…which is humorous as a result of it’s based mostly on a foul evaluation we obtained the place somebody mentioned the burger was means too flat.”
Curt, who does a lot of the burger urgent, notes, “it’s extra than simply stress, it’s a motion,” whereas gesturing his palms like he’s mortaring a brick wall. “Every beef ball is sort of a snowflake and desires to smash its personal means…as you smash, you must learn it and go the best way it desires to go,” Curt continues. “To get the proper thickness, we’ve got to gauge the temperature of the grill, the temp of the smasher, and the temp of the fridge close by. It’s important to have a sizzling clear skillet, and a chilly hammer, in any other case the meat sticks,” provides Kevin.
With regards to the remainder of the components, “every part is made on the truck…properly, besides the buns, mayo, and mustard,” says Kevin. The home pickles, burger sauce, and array of fry dipping sauces are very properly thought out and make the burger and fry combo a no brainer. The garlic sauce, which Kevin calls “Hammer frosting” is great for dipping the burger in.
Each Kevin and Curt are not any strangers to beer; Kevin comes from being a brewer on the Bruery in addition to Gunwhale Ales, and Curt is a Cicerone who has labored at locations like Ballast Level, Gunwhale, and others round Orange County.
The places Hammer Burger chooses to be at aren’t random by any means. “We select our brewery mates from North OC in Huntington all the best way all the way down to San Juan Capistrano,” says Curt. Each are from the Anaheim/Orange space in north OC, in order that they like to stay to that space due to fuel and time. “It’s actually essential to create a Bermuda Triangle of places so individuals can all the time discover us,” he continued. What’s additionally distinctive concerning the truck is that they’re constant on some days of the week. Thursdays are all the time at Bottle Logic, Fridays at Flashpoint Brewing, Saturdays at Radiant Beer Co, and so forth.
A brand new menu is about to drop quickly, which is able to embody a plant-based model of the Hammer Burger (Unattainable patty, vegan sauce and bun), in addition to a brand new spicy model that features onions grilled in native Infinity sizzling sauce.
Discover Hammer Burger by way of their web site: hammerburger.com
