OnlyBurger: Interview with Brian Bottger

On Friday, I had the unique pleasure of sitting down for an hour with Brian Bottger, Owner/Operations Director of OnlyBurger. We talked about Brian's history in restaurants (and construction), food politics, Schlosser and Pollan, the challenges of running a food truck, and of course, burgers. There's a wonderful story about a late night mobile food turf war on a popular Durham street, but I digress...

The OnlyBurger truck offers traditional, West-Coast style griddled burgers. Lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mustard, and ketchup are included; and in words I don't dare paraphrase:

"We’ll give you mayo if you want it. Buns are butter toasted to make them all crispy-like and tasty."

The truck runs 7 days a week in and around Durham, and frequents places like Sam's Quik Stop, various spots on the Duke campus, and the Saturday morning farmer's market on Foster St. Locations for the day are posted each morning on Twitter. As of late, Brian's even made the occasional appearance in Raleigh, including a stop at the Big Boss Brewery. OnlyBurger accepts cash and DukePoints on campus, and credit cards in other locations. You can call in orders, but if there's a line, you'll be on hold for a while, so its best to call early or just show up. The truck does lunch, dinner, and the occasional late-night on campus, and in a typical lunch run, will use 20 to 30 lbs. of fresh ground beef.

The beef is Montana Ranch Brand, the folks who also provide beef for Earth Fare. The Piedmontese cattle are raised by a co-op of ranchers who use a mix of grass and grain for feed, all vegetarian, with no antibiotics or hormones. Brian grinds fresh every morning and uses 100% chuck. He's aware that other chefs use blends, but much like myself, he prefers the simplicity. And with the beef being Piedmontese and partially grass-fed, its somewhat leaner than the typical burger, which explains the longer cook time and the slightly longer wait at the truck. But as many of us in the area know, its well worth the wait. The buns are produced by a local supplier, Mary Jane; its a traditional soft, white bun, but it holds up well to the toasting and the burger. Its soft enough to stay in the background, but it holds up a double without any signs of stress.

Brian is originally from California, and like many from the West Coast, is a die-hard In-and-Out guy. While sharing his love of In-and-Out, Brian also shared his history in restaurants - dating back to when Alice Waters started shaking things up in the fine dining world, and through places such as Butterflies and Enoteca Vin in Raleigh, Il Palio in Chapel Hill, and Nana's and Pop's in Durham. He even did a brief stint in construction, which ultimately led him to the realization that there wasn't one place where you could always get a great burger in this area. Sure we have Char-Grill, Cook Out, and Wimpy's, but these honestly don't come close to what OB serves up. And its that good every time.

Brian makes the patties a little larger than In-and-Out, somwhere between 4 and 5 ounces. The extra thickness helps hold in some of the moisture since the fat content is somewhat lower. It means each patty spends 7-8 minutes cooking, but comes out juicy and flavorful with the crust only a griddle can provide. OB offers a choice of American, Cheddar, or Swiss, as well as bacon, and the menu includes turkey and veggie burgers as well (Gardenburger with an added touch for those who are curious).

The truck offers special burgers from time to time as well. When OB first began showing up in the late morning at the farmer's market, the farmers let him know that he was free to come much earlier. This inspired Brian to do something with a nod to breakfast. Since he was within arms' reach of farm-fresh eggs and in-season heirloom tomatoes, the fried egg and heirloom tomato burger was introduced and was an instant hit. As summer faded to fall, the heirlooms went out of season, but the fried green tomato and egg burger was the perfect replacement.

He's also recently featured a bacon and Bleu burger, with Danish Bleu cheese. This burger sometimes includes a red onion jam made with caramelized onions, Balsamic vinegar, apricot preserves, and some assistance from his wife. In March, to celebrate the one year anniversary of Wine Authorities, Brian came up with the Jackaroo to complement the Shiraz the wine store was featuring. This burger came with fried onions, barbecue sauce, and pepperjack cheese. But when I asked about his ideal burger, with little hesitation, the answer was a medium-rare burger, sauteed onions and mushrooms, extra sharp Cheddar, and spicy brown mustard. Brian - if you read this, I wouldn't mind seeing this as a Wednesday special...

Brian gets it when it comes to food. In his words, "It's the food that makes the food." His goal was to create a simple burger, made with the best ingredients, that's consistently good. Its evident in his the care he puts into selecting the beef. What impressed me even more was the equivalent level of attention to the fries. He starts with Idaho potatoes, and uses the Belgian soak-blanch-fry technique which results in some of the best fries I've ever had. And yes, they're the skinny kind. A normal order is a bit more than one person needs, but its worth the occasional indulgence. And its no where near the ridiculous overload one gets at Five Guys.

Every time I go back to the office with food from the truck, people are invariably drawn to the aroma. It's really that good. I've even got a standard speech to cover what, when, and where. In talking to Brian, its evident that he takes the utmost care to provide a top quality product. He's an intelligent, articulate guy with an interesting and diverse past, and a great future ahead. Along with his partner Tom Ferguson, he's set to open a brick and mortar location on Shannon Rd. later this year, and with the reputation he's built, its sure to be an instant success. There's even a rumor about a new veggie burger.

Grass-Fed Beef?

Last week, A Hamburger Today had an article on which type of beef makes the best burgers: grain- or grass-fed. They referenced a Discovery News article that had some great info, including the finding that grass-fed beef actually has a larger carbon footprint. Carbon emissions on a typical grain-based feedlot are higher per kilogram, but since the animals gain weight more rapidly, the overall methane output is less. An Australian study found that on average, grain-fed cattle produce 38% less methane than their grass-fed counterparts. However, some researchers find that in grass-fed pastured, the grazed land can act as a carbon sink, offsetting the higher methane production. Eating the grass and subsequently fertilizing the pasture with waste creates healthy soil which can trap carbon.

Additionally, other environmental factors make grass-fed beef a compelling choice. There is abundant evidence that commercial feedlots have significant negative effects on air and water quality. The practice of maintaining waste lagoons is a huge contributor. In the most extreme cases, these lagoons can rupture, causing fish kills and massive groundwater contamination.

The NRDC has a great article on the effects of commercial feedlots on the surrounding environment and human health. As manure decomposes, gases including ammonia and hydrogen sulfide are released. This gas is dangerous at low levels and symptoms can range from diarrhea to death. Additionally, nitrates from waste lagoons can seep and contaminate ground water. Lastly, use of antibiotics is prevalent in commercial feed operations, due to the volume and close proximity in which these animals are kept. These antibiotics also make it into waste, groundwater, and our food supply, which only exacerbates the problem of drug-resistant bacterial diseases.

The distinction between these 2 types of beef is something I've been paying especially close attention to lately, with the arrival of Turtle Mist 100% grass-fed beef from Gelbveih cattle. The last post was about the pot roast I made; the arrival of the snow this past weekend gave me a great opportunity to further experiment. I defrosted a 1.5 pound chuck steak, ground it using the coarse die on the KitchenAid, and separated into 2 batches - a 6 ounce burger and the remainder for chili.

The Burger
This was one of the best burgers I've ever had. My initial concern was that the chuck by itself wouldn't have enough fat to keep the burger moist, but this turned out not to be an issue. I formed the patty, seasoned the outside with salt and pepper, and seared on a flat-top griddle over high heat for 3 minutes on each side. The result was a perfect medium-rare burger.

It wasn't as juicy as a grain-fed chuck patty, but it was plenty moist, with enough juices to soak part of the bun, and the grass-fed flavor was amazing. There was an obvious dense quality to the meat as compared to typical grain-fed chuck, but I enjoyed the texture immensely. I would not recommend cooking past medium or the patty would likely be tough and somewhat dry.

The Chili
The idea to make chili was largely inspired by a discussion with my officemate last week. We were talking about making Cincinnati chili, and he'd found an article sharing the technique of boiling the ground beef (as opposed to browning) before adding to the chili. This takes the excess fat off and gives the meat a great texture.

I decided to use this method, slightly modified. I took the remaining ground chuck (raw) and added it to the Crock Pot. Then a can of pintos and a can of diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, 3 cloves of garlic, and some dried local chiles drom this summer. 8 hours on low and it was amazing.

Since the grass-fed beef is so lean, there was no need to drain the excess fat from the meat before simmering. And the gamier flavor is ideal for chili.

Which is better?
Based on my recent experiments, I'll be sticking with grass-fed beef for the foreseeable future. It's a little pricier than grain-fed, but I'm finding that I eat smaller portions since its a denser, leaner protein. I still need to experiment with other cuts; I've got some tenderloin and a hangar steak that I'm looking forward to preparing, but so far, the pot roast, chili, and burger all get high marks.

However, as important as taste and texture are, the environmental, ethical, and nutritional concerns must be considered. Although I'm more carnivore than not, I believe that animals should be treated humanely. I like to know the meat I'm eating enjoyed a decent existence grazing in pastures and not being pumped full of chemicals in a pen. Additionally, anything I can do to stem the tide of commercial feedlots is a worthy effort in my book. These factors coupled with grass-fed beef being leaner and high in omega-3's tells me this is the right choice.