Texture is Everything

TheDailyMeal.com: How to Make Your Own White Castle Slider at Home

The fact that White Castle makes and distributes their own hamburger bun was a bit of a road block for us in the beginning, but we think we figured it out. "Texture and freshness are key," Richardson warned, so we wrapped our buns in a damp kitchen towel and zapped them in the microwave to give them a steamed, soft quality.

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The Challenge

This tiny burger, of which 550 million were sold last year, is the ultimate recipe challenge. The slider is so popular that if the amount of the hamburgers sold since 1921 were laid side by side, they would reach the moon and back. To replicate it is a challenging task, but we took it on.

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The Beef

First we start with the beef, which according to Richardson is 100 percent all-natural USDA-approved. A special blend of specific cuts is chosen to create the slider patty, he said, and we decided to go with an equal amount of ground chuck and ground beef.

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The Buns

As Richardson said, the beauty of the slider is how the shape of the patty aligns perfectly with the shape of the bun. We used Martin’s Party rolls, which come in a bag of 12, but any square mini-roll will do, just so long as the patty is the same shape.

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The Width

A lot of Anderson’s fame is due to his invention of the hamburger patty, which he developed when he flattened a meatball with his spatula because it was cooking too slowly. The beauty of the White Castle slider is its thinness, and we rolled ours out to ¼-inch thick using parchment paper and a rolling pin.

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The Shape

It wouldn’t be a White Castle slider unless it was a square, so we made sure to cut our sheet of beef into 3-by-3-inch squares. We found that a pizza cutter was the most efficient way to cut them up, but a regular spatula will do the job as well.

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The Design

White Castle is the first and only fast-food chain ever to cook their patties with holes in them. The layout was designed so that the patties cooked faster, and has been patent-protected since 1945. We wiggled a straw into the patties to give them some punctured love.

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The Onions

Part of the slider’s luster is those little white flecks of onion on the patty. We finely chopped ours and sautéed them for a couple of minutes before adding the patties so that they were just slightly cooked — retaining a crisp bite but giving a mellow cooked-onion flavor.

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The Power of Ste...

"Never underestimate the power of steamed grilling on a bed of onions," Richardson suggested, and we took his words literally. After he told us that one of White Castle’s standards of excellence was that there should never be an area of a White Castle griddle bigger than a dime that’s not covered by onions, we were convinced they were steamed.

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Texture is Ever...

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The Pickle

Richardson described it as the perfectly placed pickle, and we couldn’t agree more. We used one dill pickle slice to top our patties, and we didn’t feel a bit of shame about it.

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The Results

After the trials and tribulations, we think we’ve created a masterpiece with this recipe and have succeeded in replicating the slider in all of its glory. The finished result: a plain patty topped with sautéed onions and a pickle, and wedged between two steamed buns — ketchup optional*. We hope you agree, but please share with us your thoughts, comments, and concerns.

Click here to see the White Castle Slider Recipe

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