The Ultimate Burger

In this video Nathan and Max break down the components of the ultimate burger. As Nathan says, “Maybe you don’t have it every day–maybe you never have it–but it’s still kind of cool to know what the ultimate burger is.” While we agree that just knowing about the ultimate burger can be incredible, judging by how our mouths are watering now, maybe we actually could eat this burger every day! How about you?

For more on the components that go into this cheeseburger, check out the interactive feature that The Wall Street Journal put together about it.

If you would prefer to watch this video on YouTube, it can be found here.

The Science of Hamburgers

Levitating CheeseburgerBarbecue season is in full swing, which has John Tierney of The New York Times thinking burgers. He mused over Modernist Cuisine‘s contribution to the world of hamburgers in the June 6 piece in the Science Times section of the paper. What would happen, he wondered, if Nathan Myhrvold and haute-hamburger creator Daniel Boulud had a cook-off? Nathan explains the physics of spatula-frying burgers and the process of making the ultimate burger by a combination of sous vide, liquid nitrogen, and deep-frying techniques, as demonstrated in MC. The book also goes into much greater detail on, and contains beautiful illustrations of, the transformations that beef and other meats undergo during cooking.

As for who would win a cook-off… well, we know who we would pick. Leave a comment to let us know what you think.