[FTC Disclosures] I received a free sample package of Kingsford® Flavored Briquets. I didn't sign up with Certified Angus Beef® Brand this year (logistical reasons only), but I am attending an expenses-paid BBQ seminar with them later this month.
Think about the best burger you have ever eaten. The best burger that I have ever had is from Melvin's in Elizabethtown, North Carolina.
Elizabethtown is a small town, about 3,500 people today and even fewer people back in the 70's when I had my first Melvin's burger. Melvin's was also known as the Pool Room because that's what it started out as. Today the pool tables have been replaced with dining booths, but the burgers are still amazing. The food is so good that at lunch, the line stretches out of the back door. But the crew is lightning fast, and you never have to wait for long.
For me, the only way to get a burger at Melvin's is ATW (all the way) - topped with chili, creamy slaw, diced fresh onion, and yellow mustard. You can get a similar burger at Cookout, there it is called "Cookout style." I was craving a Melvin's burger the other day so made a homemade version.
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| A Carolina-style ATW burger is absolutely a messy burger! |
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| Melvin's used to have the local Red and White Store grind their beef, but now they do it in-house. My grandmother once told me that they grind white bread in with their beef. I heard another rumor that they put breakfast sausage into it, but that would make more sense for the chili. I will experiment with that this summer. All of my ground beef blend (brisket and sirloin flap) was frozen, so I ran to Food City and picked up a package of Schweid and Son's The One Percenter, which are made from USDA Prime Certified Angus Beef® Brand chuck. |
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| For this cook, my weapon of choice was my PK Grill. I just felt like grilling old-school, and this grill is about as basic as you get, in a good way. I used a chimney full of Kingsford® pecan flavored briquettes. |
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| Melvin's burgers are cooked on flattop griddles, so I flipped a set of GrillGrates to create fire powered griddle. Inverted GrillGrates are quite effective at transferring heat, so you have to cut your cook times by about 10-20%. I did these about 3 minutes a side. As soon as they were done, I seasoned them with finely ground NMT Beef Rub v.2. |
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| I used the chili recipe from our Chorizo Chili Cheeseburger recipe for this burger. Melvin's uses a creamy mayonnaise-based chopped slaw. I was out of mayo but I had a bottle of Lane's Sorta White BBQ sauce so I used that as my coleslaw dressing. |
