The secret to a great burger is nothing less than love and care, according to Josh Brignola.
“You’ve got to have a lot of love for what you do,” Brignola, chef with Copperz Brewing Co., Hamburg, said as he loaded cheddar onto a grill full of sizzling patties. “You’ve got to respect the people that are going to eat your food.”
Copperz Brewing Co. manned one of dozens of burger stands grilling up goodness in Hamburg Saturday.
The city’s 21st annual Taste of Hamburg-er Festival was an event that couldn’t be missed for Adam Gantz, who wasted no time digging into one of Brignola’s Oktoberfest burgers.
“It’s great,” Gantz said of his meal, which featured a LaFaver beef patty topped with Swiss cheese, beer mustard, apple caraway sauerkraut, and black forest ham on a pretzel bun.
Gantz, of Schuylkill County, said it was his first time coming to the festival, and he wasn’t disappointed he made the trip.
Many of the grill masters in Hamburg Saturday weren’t just there to flip patties—some, like Hess Catering, aimed to prove their mastery of meat in the event’s burger competition.
Hess offered up their Skook burger, which turns city chicken—a Schuylkill County culinary staple—into a burger.
“We have a special sauce, and we serve it with cheese, lettuce and tomato,” said Gary Hess, co-owner of Hess Catering. “(City chicken) is a famous thing (in Schuylkill County).”
Hess said his recipe hadn’t won in previous years, but he’s used customer feedback to refine it, and thinks the Skook burger has a strong chance of coming out on top.
Burger cooking wasn’t the only competition Saturday. The festival’s dine and dash race gave Hamburg’s speed eaters a chance to slam down a pair of burgers—in between sprinting two miles.
The rules of the race were simple: eat one burger, run one mile, inhale a second burger, then leg it back while fighting off a food coma.
Race organizers said times usually average in the 20-to-40-minute range, with the race’s best runners clocking no better than 14 minutes.
Winner Abraham Rogers shattered those standards, sailing across the finish line in about 13 minutes and 30 seconds.
The senior at Hamburg High School was winded but composed after his win, giving the impression he would have no trouble tossing back another burger or two.
“I feel great. I run cross country and track, I’m a distance runner, looking to run in college too,” said Rogers, 17.
Victory was sweet for Rogers, even though the dine and dash burgers left something to be desired.
“I think I would’ve preferred them if they had some In-N-Out sauce,” Rogers said with a laugh. “I’m from California, I’m an In-N-Out guy.”
Elsewhere at the festival, people congregated around a stand offering heaping plates of ribbon fries: Fresh fried potato chips loaded with bacon, cheese, and other fixings.
Plates of ribbon fries and giant burger hats were among the few items that could be easily seen floating through the packed crowd.
The smell of fries and meat even drew a forest legend out of his cave—bigfoot, or at least Rick Myers wearing a full bigfoot costume, was on the hunt for the festival’s finest burger.
Myers paused his burger prowl to take pictures with festival goers, including Juniper Meidernos 2, and Percy Meidernos, 7.
Their dad, Dylan Meidernos, said he’s been coming to the burger fest ever since he moved to the Hamburg area five years ago.
“I usually like the mac and cheese burger (by Backwoods Brothers Authentic Texas Cuisine),” Meidernos said.
Event organizer Deena Kershner said that besides the over 40 burger stands, there were about 180 additional stands, offering everything from handcrafted artwork to elderberry syrup.
Kershner, executive director of Our Town Foundation, which runs the fair, has been heading up the fair committee since its start 21 years ago.
Organizers noted that this will be Kershner’s last year leading the fair organization, with the responsibility passing to Lynn Weiler.
The money raised from the festival help fund Our Town Foundation’s revitalization efforts.
Those efforts have included restoring the Hamburg Strand Theater and opening a new, permanent event stage at State Street Square, Kershner said.
“We’re struggling, we have all these parking lots we have to man,” Kershner said. “I get it, no one wants to be away from the festival…but we need volunteers if people want this to continue.”
The one-day festival draws 30,000 to 40,000 annually, Kerschner said.
Those interested in volunteering with the organization can call Our Town Foundation at 610-562-3106.
For festival participants like Mark Woodward, co-owner of the West Reading Tavern and Restaurant, the event offers a chance to showcase their menu’s highlights.
Woodward and chef Shalamar Woods cooked up the tavern’s whiskey smokehouse burger, a 28-dry aged beef brisket and short rib burger featuring Jack Daniels barbeque sauce.
“We sold a couple of hundred burgers today,” said Woodward.
Source: Berkshire mont
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