GREENFIELD – Donning chef hats and carefully checking the temperature of each patty, Greenfield-Central High School students are ready to create burger masterpieces in restaurants now — or at least in their backyards this summer.
G-CHS culinary students earlier this month took part in “Burger Wars,” where they split into teams to create a specialized burger recipe, grill patties to perfection and plate burgers professionally for judges.
Students Ronnie Ball and Devlin Richards were eager to see how their Buffalo Mac Burger would do — competing with other teams is fun, they said, but it was even a competition between their own group to decide which flavors to use.
“If this isn’t good, we have him to blame,” Richards said, laughing and pointing at Ball.
Their risky flavors – drizzled with honey BBQ sauce – actually paid off with a “best flavor” win for their class.
Other winners during the 10 a.m. block of class included The Golden Burger for most creative name (a classic burger topped with a hash brown); and The Nacho Burger, best plated burger. Other flavors included Mushroom Swiss Burger, a Wet Frisco “Shmungus” Burger, and The Spicy.
Sophomore Bee Jacobs said the timed competition was both fun and nerve-wracking as she chopped lettuce for The Golden Burger.
“It’s anxiety-ridden but at the same time, you have the adrenaline of trying to beat everybody,” she said.
The end-of-year Burger Wars competition is always a hit with students, teacher Janelle Keusch said, because they like the speed and competitive edge.
“They all get the same burger and the same bun; it’s their job to make it their own, come up with toppings and make it what they want to be,” said teacher Janelle Keusch.
Some students went outside to grill burgers, supervised by a teacher. Others stayed indoors to toast buns with butter, mix sauce ingredients and add fresh vegetable touches.
The class used to be all about home cooking; now Principles of Culinary focuses on restaurant-style food safety and ensures meat gets cooked to the proper temperature and food handling rules are followed.
Teachers and staff members who have a planning period were invited to judge the burgers, and did so by sampling small bites of each one.
“They do a great job of teaching kids — anything they do is always above par,” said teacher Cliff Henderson. “What really stands out is getting these kids to work together in a restaurant-style setting.”
