Customer Reviews

Build a Better Burger: Celebrating Sutter Home's Annual Search for America's Best Burgers

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Build a Better Burger presents the winning recipes from the annual Build a Better Burger National Cook-off held annually and sponsored by Sutter Home. Recipes begin trickling in during the Summer and the best are invited to compete in early Fall in the beautiful Napa Valley where the grand prize is a whopping $50,000. With that kind of money on the line, you know that these are people who take their burgers seriously. The book begins with a brief but breezy history of the burger as well as some of the notable fast food burger chains such as McDonald's and White Castle.

The book presents the winning recipes by year beginning with 1990. These are no everyday burgers, however. These creative recipes use just about any ingredient you can think of. Not limited to just beef, these recipes call for ground turkey, chicken, pork, buffalo, lamb, tuna, Salmon, even Italian sausage and shrimp! Among the exotic burger recipes contained in the book are such gems as: Three nut turkey Burgers with tropical fruit salsa, Peppered Lamb Burgers with hot tomato jam, Salmon Burgers with Lemon cilantro mayonnaise, Samurai Burgers made with tuna, plum jam, and fish broth, and Chipolte Honey BBQ Bacon Burgers with Gorgonzola cheese. No...these are not your everyday backyard burgers.

That's its appeal and maybe a bit of its weakness as well. First, many of the recipes contain some rather unusual ingredients. Items such as Moscato, South African peppadew, and dried Guajillo chiles are things you probably won't find in the average grocery store. The recipes are well presented with gorgeous color photography of the finished creations. They're certainly mouth-watering to view but I wonder if they will have broad appeal. Honestly looking through the dozens of recipes I could only pick a handful that I'd really want to try out. Perhaps others are more adventurous than me. If you are, then this is certainly a great place to start for some new and exciting recipes.

I'm a sucker for cookbooks that accompany each recipe with a color photo of the end result. I saw this book for six bucks at the bargain section, so I thought it was a steal. However, when I got home to actually read some of the recipes, I was very intimidated and discouraged. I had never shopped for, nor heard of the majority of ingredients that the recipes were calling.

What I eventually realized, was that this book is listing nothing short of award-winning burgers. Thus, the contestants who were vying for a spot on this cookbook had to be extremely creative. All of these burgers would take at least an average of 30 minutes to prepare and build, not to mention tons of money spent on locating foreign ingredients that you'll probably never use again until you make the same burger in the future.

Furthermore, you will not find these gourmet burgers anywhere, other than perhaps upscale restaurants that would probably ring up tabs in the $100 range for two. It's just not practical from an average restaurant's perspective, due to the cost, time and effort required to construct one of these things.

Perhaps this is the kinda book that I'll come to appreciate several years down the road, as I hone my cooking skills and expand my culinary IQ. But currently as a self-teaching, novice chef, operating out of a small apartment kitchen, these recipes are way over my head.

This is the perfect book for those who believe a good burger depends more on fancy toppings to flavour it and not on the quality of ingredients that make up the "meat" of the finished food.

Does anyone remember, "Where's the beef?"

Before starting, the first question should be, "What about the beef?"

There's a difference between freshly ground sirloin and store-ground round with 30 percent fat; just as there is a difference between "rare" and "well done" steaks. Sadly, this book doesn't begin with a lesson in good beef (from a cursory glance, neither do many other cookbooks). But, it has room for a brief history of 'Sutter Home Vineyards' and the origins of burger chains.

Apart from that, the recipes are interesting. An example of ingenuity is the 'Sauerbraten Burgers' with four ingredients for the topping, six ingredients for the wine basting sauce and 10 ingredients for the burger -- starting with "2 pounds ground beef". Good start. Now, is that 30 percent fat ground round? Or 7 percent fat? Surely not ground sirloin? If so, say so!

Or does it matter? Why the half cup of finely crushed gingersnaps? To add flavour, or to soak up excess fat? Building a better burger is somewhat like building a better house; it's not just the quality of workmanship that matters. It also depends on the quality of materials; a house built with 6-foot studs will be different, cheaper of course, than one built with 8-footers.

It's not that this is a "bad" book; it's just that it would help greatly to provide a basic introduction to the best beef for burgers -- or lamb, turkey or any other main ingredient. Then explain the heat; just as with pizzas, there's a vast difference between one cooked at 300 degrees and one done at 900 degrees.

That said .... the list of ingredients and toppings is truly fascinating. Anyone who's learned to cook a perfect burger without "extras" will find this an invaluable guide to some truly delicious dining experiments and experiences.

But first: Learn the basics before you expect magic from "1 tbs Paul Pridhomme's Meat Magic Seasoning Blend'. Okay?

If you are looking for an alternative to your basic burger this is the book for you! My favorite is the shrimp, salmon and crab burger. Really great recipes that are sometimes easy to make and sometimes take some time. But the flavor is worth the work. Enjoy.

I bought this for my father who heard about it on NPR. It has inspired him to make gourmet burgers that everybody loves!

Fabulous book - I ran a burger restaurant in Dublin, Ireland for sixteen years in the 70's and 80's and thought I knew it all 'till I saw this. Takes the humble burger to new heights. I haven't had a chance to try the recipes but they sound absolutely delicious. Tell me, how do I become a judge?

Interesting burger recipes. most are not that difficult. Great ideas to spice up your bbq!

I was lucky enough to be a finalist in the 2003 Build A Better Burger Contest in the potato contest. The book features my name.

There are lots of wonderful recipes in the book. I am sure you can adapt them for indoor cooking. And, you can mix and match---a burger from one recipe with the toppings from another recipe. As a plus, Chef Star (the head chef at Sutter Home Wine) gives a wine paring for each burger.

You will get a year's worth of burgers from this book.