Sliders at Home

I love sliders but they are hard to find in NYC so I have come up with a method for replicasting the White Manna method in my kitchen:

http://beefaficionado.blogspot.com/2008/03/home-cooking-sliders.html

For White Castle sliders, here's a pretty easy method - season your meat with salt and pepper, mix to combine; then, using a rolling pin, roll the meat out on a cookie tray until it's 'White Castle' thin (place the meat between two slices of wax paper, makes it easier to work with); Refrigerate so it's chilled and easy to work with; then cut into small squares; poke steam holes in 'em. Heat a grill or pan, add either fresh diced onions and a little water, or reconstituted dried minced onions and water. Put the patties on the onions, top with the buns (either the Martin's mentioned above, or hot dog rolls cut to size), cook/steam 'til they're done. I've used this method several times, and I can get real close to what the Castle sliders taste like. Fortunately, I have several Castles nearby, so I don't have to make these unless I'm motivated to.

quote:

Originally posted by BeefAficionado

I love sliders but they are hard to find in NYC so I have come up with a method for replicasting the White Manna method in my kitchen:

http://beefaficionado.blogspot.com/2008/03/home-cooking-sliders.html

You refer to sliders, which take their name from the White Castle Slyder (whigh is a registered trademark), and then say they are hard to find in New York City. However, there are quite a number of White Castle locations in and around New York City, including three or four in Manhattan, alone.

The key to making White Manna burgers at home is to use the Potatoe Roll. Without it it is not the same burger.

Powers Hamburgers in Fort Wayne Indiana makes little "mini" onion burgers the same way as depicted in your meathod - great little burgers with almost a cult following locally.

http://www.hollyeats.com/Powers.htm

@ Michael Hoffman. Actually there is only one White Castle left in NYC but I don't eat there, White Castle uses frozen beef. I subscribe to the George Motz ideal that burger beef must never be frozen. Sliders is not a name that is specific to White Castle but a generic term for small burgers in general. White Mana (Jersey City), White Manna (Hackensack) and White Diamond all serve sliders in NJ. These are authentic burger spots that have been in existence for decades and represent what White Castle formally was. These days the Castle is just fast food dreck, the aforementioned spots are genuine road food

@ Mikez629 Agreed, that why I only use Martins Potato dinner rolls

For a White Castle specific recipe (as opposed to the White Manna model I was striving to replicate) try this link:

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2005/06/recipe_white_ka.html

The reconstituted (never fresh) onions steaming into the beef patty and salty pickles is what makes the flavor in my opinion...oh and the proper grease to everything else ratio.

quote:

Originally posted by BeefAficionado

@ Michael Hoffman. Actually there is only one White Castle left in NYC but I don't eat there, White Castle uses frozen beef. I subscribe to the George Motz ideal that burger beef must never be frozen. Sliders is not a name that is specific to White Castle but a generic term for small burgers in general. White Mana (Jersey City), White Manna (Hackensack) and White Diamond all serve sliders in NJ. These are authentic burger spots that have been in existence for decades and represent what White Castle formally was. These days the Castle is just fast food dreck, the aforementioned spots are genuine road food

Interesting. I had six Castles in Columbus on Saturday and they tasted the same as they did when I first had them in the 1940s in the Bronx. The term slider was coined by White Castle customers, and the company has since registered the word Slyder as a trademark.

I'll be in Brooklyn end of March and there seems to be a White Castle on Myrtle Ave at Wycoff. I'm looking forward to sliders as much as I did some 10 years ago in Chicago at the W.C. near Midway.

I hope I won't find it closed. If open, I know I'll find it as good as always. There are no W.C. restaurants in Maryland.

Kevin

One of our supermarket chains sells White Castle Burgers in the frozen food section. The packaging has all the White Castle Branding - logos, print style etc. Haven't tried them yet. Has anyone else???

There is a White Castle near the corner of Bruckner Blvd. and Soundview Ave. in the Soundview neighborhood of the Bronx, not far from Hunts Point. I pass it every day on my way home.
And the Bronx is still part of NYC.
Ron

quote:

Originally posted by Foodbme

One of our supermarket chains sells White Castle Burgers in the frozen food section. The packaging has all the White Castle Branding - logos, print style etc. Haven't tried them yet. Has anyone else???

Yeah, I had them for dinner last night and also for breakfast this morning and just now for lunch. They really are pretty good. (I buy the box of 16 for $9.99 @ Publix. Best to open one end of the plastic pack containing 2 sliders, sprinkle several drops of water into the bag and microwave for 62 seconds (1100 watt oven).
Sometimes I add pickle or ketchup, but mostly eat them as-is.
(actually, I had Rotelli w/ meatsauce & Italian sausage at 6:30 this morning and then the sliders at 7:30....I forgot!)
They're the authentic burgers, complete with the little onions & all. Really fun to have in the freezer for that quick-fix!

Went to visit #3 son in college. Opened his refrigerator and there
was nothing other than a bottle of milk and a bunch beer in there.
Opened the freezer and it had 2 boxes of White Castle "Belly Bombs"
freezing away.

quote:

Originally posted by the ancient mariner

Went to visit #3 son in college. Opened his refrigerator and there
was nothing other than a bottle of milk and a bunch beer in there.
Opened the freezer and it had 2 boxes of White Castle "Belly Bombs"
freezing away.

Thousands of college kids have survived on WC "Rat Burgers". Especially late at night after consuming some malt beverages!

Call them whatever you wish, I don't care. Growing up in the south I ate pert nert a ton of Krystals long before I heard of White Castle. I can devour either or both, at the same time!
Here's how I putem together at home.....
First I order dried chopped onions, big sack, from Pendery's in Texas. While awaiting their arrival I make sure to gather up sufficient cheap yellow mustard, cheap thin sliced dill pickles, cheap fat ground beef, American cheese slices "right size" buns and potato chips, paper plates and napkins. I get out the well seasoned castiron griddle which sits atop two stove eyes. If thats too small, I have another which covers the entire stove top.
Dried onions arrive. Pour them into a big pot, cover with 4 or 5 times volume of water overnightish.
Now were ready to get cooking. Steam the onions. This may be done ahead, just refrigerate. Big broad pot of water allowing for an "onion pan or rack" to hold an abundance of chopped onions. Set this up, top the onions with salt pepper and whatever you wish. Flip and turn the onions until about half cooked. Get that cheap meat rolled out thinly between layers of plastic wrap on a cutting board. Using a pizza cutter, cut out the appropriate size patties, then using the handle end of a wooden spoon make 5 spaced indentations through each patty. Bring the griddle up to temp. Have a semi trained friend ready to assist, iced down beverages(one in hand), along with good friends and a beautiful New Mexico sunset...........
TURN ON the kitchen vent fan... Cover the grill with a generous amount of the onion, very closely slap down the meat patties, top with the bottom half of the bun then the top half. Cook..... When done, top with the "stuff" and enjoy.
MY way for 15 or 20 folks. No complaints, they keep coming back.

The frozen White Castle sliders are definitely NOT the same as the ones you get fresh in the restaurant, but if you don't have a White Castle or Krystal in your area....they're decent.

quote:

Originally posted by Navy_Brat913

The frozen White Castle sliders are definitely NOT the same as the ones you get fresh in the restaurant, but if you don't have a White Castle or Krystal in your area....they're decent.

Unless you make them at home, which is what this thread was about. Alton Brown dod a segment on making your own sliders, which I tried, and are pretty good. I recently saw a bit on White Manna's method of sliders on Diners, DriveIns & Dives, which I 'm going to attempt this weekend.

I would try a search for Krystal in Maryland. They burgers are almost the exact same as White Castle. The mini chili dogs are good as well.

quote:

Originally posted by KOK

I'll be in Brooklyn end of March and there seems to be a White Castle on Myrtle Ave at Wycoff. I'm looking forward to sliders as much as I did some 10 years ago in Chicago at the W.C. near Midway.

I hope I won't find it closed. If open, I know I'll find it as good as always. There are no W.C. restaurants in Maryland.

Kevin

That and Ramen Noodles.

quote:

Originally posted by Foodbme

quote:

Originally posted by the ancient mariner

Went to visit #3 son in college. Opened his refrigerator and there
was nothing other than a bottle of milk and a bunch beer in there.
Opened the freezer and it had 2 boxes of White Castle "Belly Bombs"
freezing away.

Thousands of college kids have survived on WC "Rat Burgers". Especially late at night after consuming some malt beverages!

quote:

Originally posted by Navy_Brat913

The frozen White Castle sliders are definitely NOT the same as the ones you get fresh in the restaurant, but if you don't have a White Castle or Krystal in your area....they're decent.

and don't forget to put ketchup on them. i'm pretty sure the frozen white castles don't have ketchup. at least they didn't for a time, which i thought was odd.

quote:

Originally posted by rouxdog

Call them whatever you wish, I don't care. Growing up in the south I ate pert nert a ton of Krystals long before I heard of White Castle. I can devour either or both, at the same time! Here's how I putem together at home...
... When done, top with the "stuff" and enjoy. MY way for 15 or 20 folks. No complaints, they keep coming back.

I have done my own variation of sliders much like what other folks have tried. I use Martin's potato rolls. I put the pre-made burgers back in the plastic bag and freeze them for later, .
I like your recipe and will try that too. If nothing else, it will allow me to finally get rid of the dried onins in my cabinet.

mark

1. Dehydrated Onions I seen the White castle staff empting a huge bag of dried onions the last time I went thru the drive -thru
2. I read that some sources suggest you spin the hamburger (cheap, tube variety, lots of fat) in a food processer to to a mussy fine grind
Another souce suggested you also thin the hamburger with "Strained Veal" (Gerber Baby food) to create even more paste-like texture. (YUM)
Roll out with a rolling pin between Wax paper or Plastic wrap ... I have attempted the holes with the ends of a chop stick, but never got it,
I used a electric skillet with a bed of re-hydrated onions, my atempts to roll hamburger to 1/8 of an inch, I in the mid-west, we can
get Soft Dinner rolls, which are probably Potato(e) based from GFS, right size for this project ...
But the reality is ... 0200AM in the morning, this is too much work for a product that is a 24/7 drive thru about 5 miles away
and you get a case of 30, with cheeze, which leaves ample left overs for breakfast

burgers for breakfast! You're my kind of guys!

Not odd at all. White Castle dosn't put katchup on their burgers.

quote:

Originally posted by tommyeats

quote:

Originally posted by Navy_Brat913

The frozen White Castle sliders are definitely NOT the same as the ones you get fresh in the restaurant, but if you don't have a White Castle or Krystal in your area....they're decent.

and don't forget to put ketchup on them. i'm pretty sure the frozen white castles don't have ketchup. at least they didn't for a time, which i thought was odd.

There is a place on the Upper East Side called Sassy's Sliders on 3rd Avenue between 86th and 87th Streets. According to the webite, they opened around 1995. They have a 1950s decor and are owned by the same guy who runs Carmine's and Virgil's in Times Square. I don't think that exactly qualifies it as Roadfood and I've never been there, but I thought you might want to know anyway. The website is www.sassyssliders.com. I saw the menu for Shopsin's the other day online and he has sliders there as well. The website for that is www.shopsins.com. I have yet to go there, but a lot of people have told me he is doing some pretty great stuff. It's at 120 Essex Street in the Lower East Side (inside the Essex Market). There is a White Castle in Manhattan. It's at 8th Avenue between 36trh and 37th Streets. I used to eat lunch at one in Long Island City around the corner from my job and loved it. But I couldn't eat it too often or I'd regret it.

quote:

Originally posted by tommyeats

quote:

Originally posted by Navy_Brat913

The frozen White Castle sliders are definitely NOT the same as the ones you get fresh in the restaurant, but if you don't have a White Castle or Krystal in your area....they're decent.

and don't forget to put ketchup on them. i'm pretty sure the frozen white castles don't have ketchup. at least they didn't for a time, which i thought was odd.

quote:

Originally posted by daytrader106

Not odd at all. White Castle dosn't put katchup on their burgers.

Apparently they do in some places. I have never been to one that does. But I saw on one of those food shows where they visited a White Castle where they do out it on and they have some cool looking ketchup dispenser they use. I personally do not think they need ketchup but maybe that is just becasue I am used to it that way.

They'll put catsup on for you if you ask at the drive-thru, and they have those packets of catsup and mustard inside. I always have them put mustard on when I get them, and no pickles.

quote:

Originally posted by hatteras04

Apparently they do in some places. I have never been to one that does. But I saw on one of those food shows where they visited a White Castle where they do out it on and they have some cool looking ketchup dispenser they use. I personally do not think they need ketchup but maybe that is just becasue I am used to it that way.

at the WC's I've been to in NJ they put ketchup on the burgers by default. I wasn't aware that that varied from location to location, however, but that shouldn't be a surprise as McDonalds and other chains also vary with regards to ketchup/mustard/etc from market to market.

I remember Krystal's being a onion, pickle, mustard default. Mmmmmm. It's been too long.

Ohhhhhh how I miss those Krystal burgers. I used to have them every spring break when my family went and visited family in Daytona Beach!