When an opportunity arose to spend a sunny afternoon in the company of Danny himself with a group of like-minded burgerados learning how the 2022 National Burger Champion does it – I was straight on to it……
Danny Hawkes is the man – the man behind the name, the man behind the burger, and now the man with the National Burger award. All from a lockdown start-up serving burgers to his local community, his reputation has grown bringing with it more than just a gong, but wide spread recognition.
Danny’s Burgers is set up in the rear of Fierce and Noble, an achingly cool independent brewer set on the outskirts of Bristol. The building itself is unusual, in that it is the most vivid of colours in blue and purple, so difficult to miss – although, down a side street that is not immediately obvious in how to access, so visible but at the same time slightly hidden. It has a vibe that suggests that you might have just found a little jewel.
Waiting outside for the doors to nirvana to open, I was soon joined by people – lots of people. It would appear that I was not going to be alone on this most special of adventures. And interestingly, I wasn’t the only one that had traveled a little way to get there – one couple had travelled there from East London, a couple of mates from Wales had also made the pilgrimage to see how the man himself does what he does.
Soon, the doors opened and we were ushered in to a small, but perfectly formed tap room – complete with barman taking orders for your first free pint/ drink of your choice (the course comes with 2 free drinks from Fierce and Noble). Drink in hand we wandered through to the yard through the brewery itself. Now, I’m sure I’m not alone, but I am partial to a nice bit of welded metal, and brewing gear always seems to have the best. Maybe its a combination of the high shine, the size of the tanks or the smell of alcohol in the air, but I’m always impressed by these set ups. Unfortunately there was no brewery tour as part of the day (maybe something for the future!?).
The yard at Fierce and Noble is a compact affair, being city-bound as you might expect – but they have still managed to squeeze in an impressive amount of seating under a big-tip style marquee, all facing the main event – the infamous Danny’s Burger van, a hot plate already heating up and several prep tables. Having found a seat (close to the front, I like to be close to the action where food is involved!) I was all set to soak up the atmosphere and burger knowledge alike.
Very soon, Danny came to greet us having set up the last few items and making the last checks on his prep. My personal impressions of Danny are of a man that is not only knowledgeable about what makes great food (he was a quality and developmental chef for another local establishment) he has a view that greatness doesn’t mean complication.
His oration style is very conversational and easy to listen to, and as he told his story about how he came to be the UKs No.1 in a few short years you come to realise that he talks a lot of sense – and more importantly with no airs and graces. Danny is as down to earth as it gets and tells it like it is.
My own takeaway from my time listening to Danny’s story is that sometimes, simplicity is king and more importantly you need to think about repeatability and how you can pair down your ingredients to be as interchangeable as possible. Interestingly, his 3 ‘core’ burgers all us the same ingredients, with just the addition of bacon, change in preparation/ cooking technique and a choice of sauce to make 3 unique burgers. This allows a simplified and speeded up preparation cycle before each trade-day, and more importantly still means that each burger can be repeated for the same great tasting result each time.
When asked about salad in a burger, Danny’s take was a clear one, and one that I personally agree with – salad should be minimal and very thinly sliced if needed, but better still is to leave it out. How many time have we as the faithful burgerati taken a bite from a juicy looking morsel, just for half of it to squeegee out due to a thick sliced tomato adding to the pattern on the front of your shirt…and worse still wasting precious food? The message is clear – salad should be on the side, not in the bun!
Next on the agenda for the day was a brief conversation around the tools that you actually need to cook a professional quality burger, and some of the techniques that the pros have developed – most of which is you will have seen already.
The tool list is surprisingly short, you need a good, hot flat surface for your smashing, something to smash them with (in this case a heavy lump of chromed steel, but a spatula and baking paper will suffice), a spatula for flipping (if using a different item for smashing), a cover and a squirty bottle with water is all you need to get going. Sure, you can spend huge amounts of money on all the latest gear, but the lesson here is simplicity.
Next up was a talk around sauces – the good, the bad and the ugly. As we all know, the sauce on a burger can make or break a burger, acting as a flavour modifier for the burger as a whole. Get it wrong and no matter how finely tuned your beef blend is, your burger flavours will be washed away in a sea of slimy mayo. Get it right and the additional opportunity to add differing flavours can elevate even the dullest of patties to burger perfection. Luckily, Danny has also spent a good amount of time working through this dilemma. The secret to a good sauce is good quality ingredients (unsurprisingly) which adds not only to flavour but to the feel of the sauce as well. Cheaper ingredients can sometimes taste flat, and ruin any crispy or contrasting textures that have been carefully crafted in to the end product.
Danny is first to admit that he started to produce his own sauces using very careful ratios – but quickly realised that the colour and taste was all that really mattered. He know makes it in large quantities, adjusting as he goes to ensure each batch is as good as the last.
Once we had all had a chance to make our own sauces, to our own taste (and a short pit-stop for refreshed beers) it was time to get down to the main event.
Danny took us through his set up, what he preps before the cooking even begins and how he lays it out to maximise the effectiveness and speed at which he can move through the process. Buns are pre-toasted, then dressed and laid out in the packing awaiting the cooked element, cheese is pre-sorted into little piles of 2, and in a way that makes them easy to grab, the onions and patties are all to hand ready to go – and then it’s off to the races!
Very simply put, prior prep makes the process work. That’s the real secret here – think about what you want to achieve, what you can do before you need to start the time crucial bits and how simply you can put it together.
Once the bun is prepped, a ball of the burger mix is placed on the hot plate and immediately seasoned with salt. It doesn’t need any more seasoning – let the meat speak for itself! Press the whole thing in to the hotplate, and then feather out the edge – this is a new technique to me, but as Danny describes, it gives the burger some texture in that the frilly edge crisps beatifully, and also caramelises to add a deeper, richer flavour – give the whole ting a flip, add cheese and the top of the bun and you’re nearly there.
The final step is to add a squirt of water directly on to the hot plat next to (but not on top of!) the burger and quickly cover the lost to trap the steam in. This does a couple of things – firstly the steam is super hot, so it helps the cheese to melt quickly. It’s also really wet, so it infuses and softens the bun lid. It also helps to transfer some additional flavour throughout, so you end up with a soft, warm bun with additional burgery goodness…….add to your pre-prepared bun bottom and devour….
All in all, the 3 hours that we got to spend with Danny and the team was very enjoyable. I know that for some people the idea of spending that time talking solely about one type of food is a little bonkers, but to the initiated buregerati it was a real treat. Danny has plans to continue his masterclass, and I can thoroughly recommend it!
If this sounds like the kind of thing that you would like to take part in, DM them on their Instagram page (@dannys_burgers_uk) or check out their website at http://www.dannysburgers.co.uk.
- The 10th Annual National Burger Awards
- Almost Famous – completely fantastic!
- Danny’s Burgers – The Masterclass
- Smiths of Bourton
- The Almost Famous Homie
The Burger Blog 
Leave a comment