How-to's, Recipes, Behind the Scenes
PrintHamburger America: Dyer's Burgers
Burger documentarian George Motz visits Dyer's Burgers in Memphis to investigate the joint's unique deep-fried hamburgers.
"Back then, they didn't have the flat tops and all this, so they cook in a cast-iron skillet," Dyer's owner Tom Robertson says. "As you cook more burgers, the grease grows, and eventually it becomes a deep-fried hamburger. We strain and process our grease daily, but we've never thrown it out and started over, so somewhere in there's molecules from 1912. That's what makes it so good."
Further Reading
Dyer's Burgers [Roadfood.com]
Hamburger America [Director George Motz's website]
This clip is an excerpt from burger documentary Hamburger America by filmmaker and burgermeister George Motz. The complete video is available on DVD at Mr. Motz's website, HamburgerAmerica.com
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10 Comments:
So I'm no food scientist or health inspector, but are there any dangers in reusing that oil from 1912? And what's the advantage of deep-frying a hamburger versus the "normal" method? Does it make it more tender? Does it just taste like a big ball of grease? These are the questions I am left with after watching this hamburger video.
amateurgourmet at 11:37AM on 12/06/06
Having eaten at *three* of the Dyer's I feel imminently qualified to comment. I ate at the original on Cleveland when I first came to Memphis. It was in a shack, a shack that *still* in 1984 had "black" and "white" entrances. Oh , the signs were down but it was obvious what the past had held. There is none of the original "grease" at any of the Dyer's now. There was a big press deal when they moved to Bartlett and had a police escort for the "grease." This was when the feuding over just who was the "real" Dyer's began. Then the original closed and moved just up the street on Cleveland. Owned by Vietnamese. They still made the burgers, but added Vietnamese items to the menu. Then they closed. The one downtown came along late in the game and I actually have no idea who owns it since there have been various people claiming to be derived from the original for years. Don't know if you detailed any of this history in your audio as I keep mine turned off as I find audio annoying. I used to get a bag ful of these burgers for my professional class since I consider them the absolute ultimate greaseburger. Hey, this ain't something I am particularly proud of - just something I happen to know a little about.
ChefCarey at 5:39PM on 12/06/06
Oh, and the original Dyer's had a sign on the wall that read: "We dip 'em, McDonald's don't." This alluding to the fact that insiders could get their bun dipped in the grease the burgers were fried in.
ChefCarey at 5:43PM on 12/06/06
I love it that they call it grease. Not oil, not even drippings. It's grease.
Also I think I just learned the secret to getting a nice, flat, round hamburger patty. My handformed ones always end up as too thick pucks.
nita at 10:25AM on 12/07/06
Hambuger America certainly influenced my recent trip to the States, trying to eat at as many burger joints featured in the film.
Dyers has to be the second most memorable of them all. It's quite the experience to sit at the counter and wonder if you're breathing in calorie-infused air. The way they pound those things into the ground then fry them until you're sure they're overcooked. But the moment you bite into those greese monsters, you realize why people still come into here after all these years. (Despite the multiple owner/locations.) It's just that good.
But I have to add, the fries were better than the burger, and that's saying a lot. They were phenomenal.
-M- at 10:55AM on 12/07/06
Well, the fries at the Vietnamese incaranation were atrocious. While I do love Vietnamese food, the egg rolls and fries were done in the same fryer. Somehow the pairing didn't work.
ChefCarey at 2:17PM on 12/07/06
I lived in Memphis years ago and had the good luck of having a friend take me to the original. I was skeptical at first but after taking the first bite, I fell in love with their burgers. The double/double was the best I have ever had.
SPIFIMAN1 at 4:47PM on 02/02/07
I, too, started eating at Dyers -- the original -- in the '80s. At that time, it was run by several middle-aged gentlemen who had all been working there for years -- Mr. Kahn (sp?), Mr. Kidd, Farley and, in later years, a very talkative and fascinating guy named Dick West. You could get single, double, double-double or triple-triple burger, or a "split dog", a cold coke or orange crush or a beer, but you could not get fries, no way, no how. If you asked for fries, the standard response was "We don't got 'em. You want chips?" I believe you also could not get lettuce or tomato. Ketchup and mayo were frowned upon. The proper addition to the standard "all the way" burger (onion, pickle, mustard, pepper) was hot sauce and/or more pepper. Period. Sometimes they would close Dyers early in the day if business was slow and it was a good day for fishing. The history and evolution of Dyers in recent years is indeed convoluted, and I don't know if anyone truly knows the whole story. Someone should write a book, or at least a lengthy feature article. Here are some facts, but it's far from the complete story. Yes, the original one on Cleveland Avenue did move from its freestanding "shack" building and gravel parking lot, across the street and down the block into a strip center. (In an act of extreme heresy, the site of the original location was turned into a Burger King.) That was the first reincarnation of Dyers, and the one that famously had a sheriff's escort for the grease. But the first "new" location was actually run by some of the original proprietors (or family thereof). Only later did it become a Vietnamese restaurant that, nevertheless, still served (approximately, anyway) Dyers burgers. Around this same time, some people with some affiliation to the original (but a separate faction, I believe, from those operating the new Cleveland location) opened a location on Stage Road in Bartlett, a suburb of Memphis. It featured a lot of deer and fish trophies on the wall and was especially popular among the Bartlett police force. Later that Dyers moved down the road, to another Bartlett strip center, on the same road. That location didn't last long, and the last time I went by there was a sign on the door that said "Closed. For good." Meanwhile, the Beale Street location opened, as well as Dyers Cafe on Summer Avenue. I'm not sure how "connected" the two enterprises are. The Summer location has an expanded menu, with other fried things -- fried mushrooms, fried dill pickles, fried this, fried that. Those latter two Dyers are what remain today. There may have been other locations as well. Not sure how the "rights" to the Dyers name has worked through all this. If anybody knows a more complete history, please share. Dyers trivia: In the very early days, the original Dyers served hot tamales. One last thing: Fans of the original Dyers would do well to check out the Texas Tavern in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. Similar food and feel, but it's open 24 hours a day.
-dlh- at 6:03PM on 03/19/07
I grew up in Memphis and was introduced to Dyer's while in college back in the late 70's. Since serious academia was hand in hand with prolific dopesmoking, a Dyer's visit could take the edge off the munchies like nothing else (except maybe a throbbing Broadway Pizza). It was in the tiny shack on Cleveland, and the skillet of grease sat there at the front, bubbling like a tar pit, supposedly unchanged since 1912. The big deal was the double double, which was always nearly dunked in the grease, bun and all, unless you stopped them from doing it.
On many afternoons, the place was patronized by some of the local Memphis wrestlers like Professor Tanaka and Tojo Yamamoto, who would put away a couple of triple triples and a six pack of Schlitz, then they'd get in the Professor's bigass Lincoln and go to their match up the road.
I remember their onion was the hottest onion I've ever had, but it was perfect for these burgers. they were remarkably non-greasy, very flavorful. The new places may have co-opted the history, but they can't stand up to the original.
texzilla at 6:54PM on 04/23/08
Go away, MISSSEXY. Your ALL CAPS nonsense is annoying.
Adam Kuban at 6:52PM on 07/15/08