BonnerSprings.com

Weather kept away all but a few contenders for Saturday's hamburger cookoff at the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame. Still, for a group of hamburger lovers from Lawrence a few drops of rain were worth it.

The event, "A Salute To Hamburgers," provided everything participants needed to grill and flavor ground beef, including condiments and an industrial-sized grill.

Maureen Warren came from Lawrence and made what she called "Mexi-Kans" burgers, having kneaded guacamole and salsa into the ground-beef patties, and topped them with cheddar jack cheese.

Jim Dunleavy, also from Lawrence, described his patties as Hawaiian-style, stuffing them with pineapple and Swiss cheese.

Another Lawrencian, Allison Hansen, arrived at the event with Dunleavy and Warren and grilled her burgers with no add-ons.

"I just thought it sounded kind of fun," Hansen said, adding that the day before had been stop day at Kansas University, the last day of classes before final exams.

Bonner Springs Mayor Clausie Smith and KBMC television news anchor Dan Weinbaum served as the judges for the cookoff. Smith said his standards were based on the taste of the burgers, appearance and that they not be dry.

"That's the most important thing," Smith said, "no matter how it looks."

Smith said the way he usually has his burgers is "however my wife gives 'em to me."

"I've been eating burgers my entire life, so I consider myself somewhat of an expert," Weinbaum said. "They gotta be juicy and flavorful. They can't be burned too much."

Mike Myer, of Overland Park, said he learned the way he cooks his burgers from "an old Marine" when he was in the Army. The key to Myer's burgers, he said, was to use Vidalia onions and put them in between mustard and the tomatoes.

"You're basically cooking a pocket of food," Myer said, and he's been doing it that way for 10 years.

"All my friends love it," he said.

Because overcast skies and intermittent rain kept the number of cookoff participants low, Tim Daugherty, director of the Ag Hall, said he and his staff were inviting everyone who came to the Center on Saturday to take part and help themselves to some free hamburgers cooked just how they like them.

The winners of the cookoff were all from Lawrence: Jim Dunleavy, first place; Allison Hansen, second place; and third-place, a tie between Drew Vartia and Maureen Warren.

The winners received prizes of gift certificates from Homespun Hill Farm of Baldwin City, Amy's Meats of Lawrence, barbecue cookbooks, picnic cooler, and T-shirts from the City Market in Kansas City, Mo.

Comments