- Luke Zahm: This week on Wisconsin Foodie: - Hamburger, hamburger, hamburger, hot with an onion in the middle and a pickle on top.

Makes your lips go flippity flop!

- Luke: Here we are in beautiful Seymour, Wisconsin.

- The hamburger was born here in 1885.

- We are at Burger Fest and we're gonna have ourself a celebration of the hamburger.

- Participant: We're cooking a 200-pound hamburger.

- Announcer: The 2023 burger eating contest.

- The physical sensations that I'm experiencing are not pleasant.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to undertake the ketchup slide.

Seeing the wonderful history of the hamburger that calls its home right here.

The smash burger.

Yeah, now's the fun part.

Smash 'em down.

And this is the epitome of us, Wisconsin.

Booyah.

[upbeat music] Wisconsin Foodie would like to thank the following underwriters: ♪ ♪ - The dairy farmers of Wisconsin are proud to underwrite Wisconsin Foodie, and remind you that, in Wisconsin, we dream in cheese.

[people cheer] Just look for our badge.

It's on everything we make.

- Did you know Organic Valley protects over 400,000 acres of organic farmland?

So, are we an organic food cooperative that protects land or land conservationists who make delicious food?

Yes, yes, we are.

Organic Valley.

[lively banjo music] - Announcer: Employee-owned New Glarus Brewing Company has been brewing and bottling beer for their friends, only in Wisconsin, since 1993.

Just a short drive from Madison, come visit Swissconsin and see where your beer's made.

- Wisconsin's great outdoors has something for everyone.

Come for the adventure, stay for the memories.

Go wild in Wisconsin!

To build your adventure, visit dnr.wi.gov.

- Twenty-minute commutes, weekends on the lake, warm welcomes, and exciting career opportunities, not to mention all the great food.

There's a lot to look forward to in Wisconsin.

Learn more at InWisconsin.com.

- With additional support coming from The Conscious Carnivore.

From local animal sourcing to onsite, high-quality butchering and packaging, The Conscious Carnivore can ensure organically raised, grass-fed and healthy meats through its small group of local farmers.

The Conscious Carnivore.

Know your farmer; love your butcher.

- Luke: Additional support from the following underwriters... [contemplative music] Also, with the support of Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

[upbeat, lively music] [butcher paper rustles] We are a collection of the finest farmers, food producers, and chefs on the planet.

We are a merging of cultures and ideas shaped by this land.

[meat sizzles] We are a gathering of the waters, and together, we shape a new identity to carry us into the future.

[glasses clink] [sharpening knife] We are storytellers.

We are Wisconsin Foodie.

[soft, bright music] Today, we're in Seymour, Wisconsin, and northeast, outside of Green Bay.

Home of the burger.

We are at Burger Fest.

- Home of the burger, baby, woo-hoo!

[twangy music] - Bill Collar: In 1885, Seymour had a fair.

A young lad from Hortonville drove his oxen over there.

He had some lumber and built a little shack in the middle of fairgrounds, near the horse racing track.

He had some frying pans, some coffee and some bread, and a lot of chopped beef.

It was chopped up real fine.

It was hamburger, he said.

I'm Bill Collar.

We're in the Seymour Community Museum and it's Burger Fest, which is a celebration of Hamburger Charlie making the first burger in Seymour in 1885.

Now this is Hamburger Charlie right here with his crew.

And this was in 1941.

And he came to Seymour every year from 1885 to 1951.

Well, we've done a lot of research on this, and it goes back to Hamburger Charlie first coming here to Seymour in 1885 and he had a, there was a Seymour Fair and he had an ox cart and he brought up some meat from Hortonville, and he was selling meat at the fair.

He chopped it up into meatballs, but people wanted to walk around the fairgrounds and eat.

And they couldn't do that with the meatballs.

So Charlie had an idea and he took that meatball and he packed it down into a patty, put it in between two pieces of bread, and he called it a hamburger.

So that's the first time anywhere in the world that the hamburger patty was actually made between two pieces of bread and called a hamburger.

[upbeat music] Well, we had a town meeting to see how many people were interested in really promoting Seymour as the original home of the hamburger.

And I used to dress up like different characters in my history classroom.

And another gentleman who was really into this, he said to me, "Bill, we need somebody "to dress up like Hamburger Charlie in his white outfit with red suspenders and so on."

And I said, "Well, sure, I can do that."

So, I did a little more research and found out what Hamburger Charlie's chant was and how he used to talk to people.

And he played the guitar, would sing.

He was really quite a character.

So then, oh, they had maybe 60, 70 people at the community meeting, and he said, "And we have a special guest tonight.

And here he is, Hamburger Charlie."

And I came rushing in.

I gave the chant.

Hamburger, hamburger, hamburger, hot with an onion in the middle and a pickle on top.

Makes your lips go flippity flop.

Come on over, try an order, fried in butter.

Listen to it sputter.

Does that make you hungry right there, huh?

Well, I was Hamburger Charlie for about 20 years, but then I got too old to cut the mustard.

It's very demanding.

And, of course, guy with a uniform on, a lot of people want to have their picture taken with him and all these young girls and so on.

I thought, well, maybe we should really have a younger Hamburger Charlie.

So a couple other people took over and I believe we're on our third or fourth edition now of Hamburger Charlie.

And he does an outstanding job.

[upbeat music] - All right, we're here in Seymour with the man, Hamburger Charlie.

Charlie, set us up here.

There's been a lot of different theories and competing theories about the home of the hamburger.

Seymour claims to be the originator of the burger.

- Ben Braun: Yes, so Seymour is absolutely the home of the hamburger.

About 15 years ago, there was a trial and every city had to come present their case, their evidence as to why they were the home of the hamburger.

And so Seymour won that trial based on having the best evidence, putting the hamburger born here in 1885, newspaper articles, interviews with live people.

That's why the hamburger was born here in 1885.

- Well, let's live it up man.

- Absolutely.

- We gotta get some burgers.

Here we go.

Thank you, brother.

- Ben: You got it.

[chill music] - Yeah.

Here we go, my man.

Thank you, brother.

Boo-yah.

So, I've got my burger.

I've got my napkin.

I got my "Oh, Snap!"

pickle made in Appleton.

We're gonna make our way over to the condiment table and get this thing dressed up just like me.

I've got the ketchup.

I've got the mustard.

We're gonna get some onion on this thing and we're gonna have ourself a celebration of the hamburger.

We give it a quick undress here.

Oh yeah.

I already like the looks of this.

We're gonna start with some mustard.

Ketchup, mm.

One of the things I love about small town festivals in Wisconsin is just kind of the uniquity and the fact that, like, we're gonna have thousands of people eating burgers today, and we've got the Tupperware with the diced onions.

It's my jam.

Mm.

I would say this burger looks good enough to eat.

Let's dress it back up.

Boom.

Give it a soft pat and I'm ready for lunch.

Moment of truth.

[upbeat music] What better way to spend a day than in Seymour, Wisconsin, home of the hamburger, enjoying one of their delicious pieces of history that we're known for and adored around the world?

[upbeat music] - Luke: All right, my man.

- Darren Campbell: Hi.

- I am so excited.

Can you just set us up, like, what are we doing here?

- We're celebrating the home of the hamburger, cooking a 200-pound hamburger in honor of Charlie Nagreen who invented the hamburger right here in Seymour back in 1885.

- Luke: That's incredible.

What time did this burger get on the grill?

- It got on at 8:00.

It takes us about an hour to prep.

So we come here and get the pan set up.

We gotta take all of that hamburger, pack it up, seasoning, some special ingredients that we keep secret, mix it all up, and then, get it on by 8:00.

[Luke laughs] - That's incredible.

I love that there's special ingredients that can't be discussed on camera.

- Darren: That's it.

- Once we get it on, about how long does it cook for?

- Darren: It'll be about five, six hours.

- Luke: Okay.

- Darren: We try to flip it after around four hours or so.

Once it gets up to about 120, we'll pull it, do the special flipping process, and then put it back on until about 2 o'clock, which will, that'll be about six hours.

- And then, we're talking, like, buns?

Like, how do we do this?

- Darren: Once we're ready to serve, we'll take it out of that pan and flip it onto a flat tray.

Our local grocery store, Don's Market, cooks us a big bun.

So we slice it, open it up, and then off of that tray, we'll slide the burger right onto the bun, cover it with cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles, put the top bun on, and then slice her up.

- I can't wait to see the reveal.

I'm not gonna push it.

We're gonna let the burger do its thing in there.

- Darren: Yup, yup.

- But you can rest assured that I'll be right here when you guys are getting ready to flip that thing and get it on that bun.

I'm excited.

- Darren: Sounds good.

- Thank you, brother.

- Darren: All right man.

- Keep up the great work.

- Darren: Thank you.

[upbeat music] - Hello, Seymour Burger Festival.

How we doing?

[crowd cheers] I said how we doing?

Make some noise!

[crowd cheers] You guys ready to see a bunch of people eat some burgs or what?

- Here we are in beautiful Seymour, Wisconsin, and I'm about to engage in a time-honored tradition of the burger eating.

10 minutes.

As many burgers as you, 12?

12 minutes, oh, great.

12 minutes for as many burgers as I can cram in my pie hole, which will keep me from delivering unnecessary monologue.

Got an on-site paramedic too.

I'm gonna need to get hosed down after this, I tell you what.

- Announcer: Five.

- Let's go Luke.

- Announcer: 4, 3, 2, 1.

Let's get to eating.

- Oh, that's dry.

- Announcer: Those are pretty good sized burgers.

Little less than 10 more minutes to go to see who will reign supreme this year's the 2023 burger eating contest champ.

How you could do this contest and not have a bellyache afterwards is beyond.

All right, coming up on a little over a half minute.

- Announcer 2: Definitely no easy task.

It's just, there's no condiments on this burger.

I had one last year and I mean, they're delicious, but you don't, there is nothing to help you kind of get it down.

That's why we have the water.

Contestant number nine.

He's got the wardrobe going.

How are the burgers going though?

They going down smoothly?

Putting them down his, he's almost on his second plate.

Seymour Burger Fest 2023.

Make some noise for these contestants!

[crowd cheers] Here to entertain you.

- I'm six and a half burgers in.

- Announcer: Burger eating contest.

- The physical sensations that I'm experiencing are not pleasant.

- Announcer: Here we go.

Sixty seconds everybody.

Sixty seconds.

- Crowd Member: It's not gonna kill you!

- It might.

- Announcer: Last 30 seconds.

Crowd, we need you involved cheering them all down the longest leg of the stretch of the burger eating contest.

Here we go.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

There we go.

Round of applause for all of our contestants.

[crowd cheers] Applause for all of our contestants.

[Luke groans] Third place, all right!

Seven and three quarters, our third place finisher.

How do you think-- I mean, this is pretty good content for the show, I'd say.

- Yeah, this is really good.

I know why they call it Seymour now.

If I see more burgers, I might lose it.

- Third place, everybody, come on.

- Camera Operator: So how you feeling there bud?

- Not good.

Really, really not good.

Seven and three quarters burgers.

Plus the one that I had just for fun earlier today and a Red Bull and you know, some fruit this morning, thank God.

But I don't feel good.

Surprise.

Ugh.

You know, I went in with six burgers as like, kind of like my baseline.

Just 'cause I wanted to be able to at least come back to my own kitchen with a little bit of professional credibility.

It's one thing saying that, you know, I'm gonna go and do a television taping.

It's another to say that I got third place in the home of the hamburger, Seymour, Wisconsin's burger eating contest.

I feel like I earned it and I'm kind of feeling like I need to earn a nap now.

Like, even just, like, 10 minutes.

[upbeat music] Ladies and gentlemen, world record holder, Tim, at the Seymour Burger Festival and we are about to undertake the ketchup slide.

All right brother, you gotta give me like the skinny, the lowdown on the tips and tricks for the ketchup slide.

- Tim Schmidt: Well, you know, just kind of getting low and getting far on that first jump, and you want as little drag as possible.

Kind of riding right in this area.

Just cruise, man.

- Right there.

- Tim: Just cruise.

- Luke: I can feel it.

- Tim: Yep.

- Luke: So glad I did all those crunches yesterday.

- It's those pecs right there.

It funnels it.

It's hydroplaning.

- That's right, like that.

That's what I want, shoulders back.

head up, one eye open.

- Tim: Oh, yeah.

[upbeat music] [crowd cheers] [upbeat music] - Come on over here.

You were also at the burger eating contest as well.

You took third place earlier today in the burger eating contest.

You got your Go Pro.

So this is, and you're here with your crew too, right?

With your camera crew?

- Yeah, we're making a TV show for PBS called Wisconsin Foodie.

And what would a television show about Wisconsin food traditions be without the Seymour Hamburger Festival?

- Announcer: Thank you so much for being a part of this and letting the world know about Burger Fest.

Man, so good luck to you.

[upbeat music] Luke, are you ready?

Here we go.

Luke is on his way down.

[upbeat music] Round of applause for Luke and his TV crew for coming out here for Burger Fest.

- My goals for the day were to come to Seymour, experience Hamburger Fest.

So eat some burgers, which I did.

I took third in the hamburger eating competition.

I did the ketchup slide, and now it's time for the hot air balloons.

So, I'm gonna go get cleaned up and we're gonna live this day to its fullest right here in Seymour.

[upbeat music] - Announcer: Thanks so much to everyone coming out!

Burger Fest 2023!

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Enjoy the rest of what is left.

[upbeat music] - This is the perfect way to cap off the Seymour Hamburger Festival with balloons in the park launching behind us, the community out, the "Beer Barrel Polka" in the background.

I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend in Wisconsin then getting out, eating the burgers, running the ketchup slide, seeing the wonderful history of the hamburger that calls its home right here.

And just like these balloons, it's time for us to split too.

I can't think of a better way to spend a weekend in Wisconsin.

This place, just like the hamburger, is home.

[gentle music] The hamburger, the food by which all chefs shall be judged.

The American hamburger is as classic as apple pie, and learning about its history and the fact that it originated in Seymour, Wisconsin.

It brings into perspective a much larger relevance.

How Wisconsin is connected to ideas and foods that circumnavigate the world.

And so, today, I thought that we would be able to put together the smash burger.

First and foremost, we gotta season this meat.

So I'm gonna reach for my standards, salt and black pepper, and get this thing mixed up.

I wanna make sure that I thoroughly mix it so there's not pockets of seasoning.

That would be bad.

Nobody wants that extremely salty bite.

So we work this beef to ensure that all aspects are evenly seasoned.

We're gonna take an about, probably let's say a half a pound of this burger and I want to ball it together.

Now, there's two reasons for doing this.

First and foremost, I'm creating the vessel which will actually cook on the griddle.

But secondarily, I wanna make sure I work out all the air pockets 'cause air pockets, when they expand with this delicious, beefy flavor, will blow open.

And we don't want that.

I have seven of these beautiful beefy balls.

And what I need to do now is take the griddle and position it over the fire.

And again, I wanna make sure that I add these when that griddle is still relatively cool.

It allows that fat to seep out slowly instead of intensely searing on the first hit.

And before we let it get too warm, I wanna get these burgers on that skillet.

The cold skillet, as it gradually warms, renders the fat and allows that really delicious, crispy caramelization to happen on the outside.

A Maillard reaction, in fact.

Now while we're letting those cook, I'm gonna go back to my cutting board quick and I'm gonna bust up some onions so we get some of those working on there too, because griddled onion on my burger is how I roll.

[gentle music] Yeah, now's the fun part.

We're gonna take these burgers as they're on this griddle and smash 'em down.

All that hangry aggression that you've got going on goes right into the burger, smashing it directly on the skillet.

Now, it's time for the flip.

And now the part that really ties it all together, I'm going at it with some American cheese because the cheeseburger is an American classic.

So I'm gonna take and lay these on and then immediately remove 'em from the heat.

And I'm gonna let that heat coming off of that burger really melt this down.

Last but not least, I wanna take these brioche buns and quickly kiss 'em on the grill, just to get a little toast on 'em.

And then, we're ready to eat.

So, I've got my burgers smashed up with American cheese on top.

I've got griddled onions on one plate.

I've got these brioche buns that have been lightly toasted on the skillet.

And now, it's time to put together the burger.

Hmm, this is the epitome of delicious.

This is the epitome of Americana, and this is the epitome of us, Wisconsin.

I could definitely eat seven and three quarter of these.

With the American cheese, the griddled onions, and that burger that's been smashed.

You get that crispy crust on the outside and the flavors marry together in something that tastes like home.

I will say with all these burgers, I sure am glad I have these amazing friends to come help me eat 'em because burgers are best shared with the people that you love.

So.

without further ado, Wisconsin Foodie crew, come and eat.

[gentle music] - A good friend of mine who really got the Hamburger Fest off the ground and was instrumental in our museum and everything was Tom Duffy, and Tom first approached me to play the role of Hamburger Charlie, but he was the main organizing force.

And unfortunately, we just lost Tom a few weeks ago.

But he was a fantastic person and very interested in history and Seymour, and did so much for our community.

Tom Duffy.

- I feel like I got burger in my hair somehow.

It's okay.

- Everybody always asks, like, "Oh, do you, do you throw baby oil on?"

- Yeah.

- No man, it's just natural body.

- Arthur!

Oh, am I supposed to be up now?

That was really close.

What happens if I projectile vomit on the ketchup slide?

- Camera Operator: Oh yeah, now give me another.

Now give me another, work with me.

There we go.

Make me love you.

Now, make me hate you.

Beautiful.

- Luke: Wisconsin Foodie would like to thank the following underwriters: ♪ ♪ - The dairy farmers of Wisconsin are proud to underwrite Wisconsin Foodie, and remind you that, in Wisconsin, we dream in cheese.

[people cheer] Just look for our badge.

It's on everything we make.

- Did you know Organic Valley protects over 400,000 acres of organic farmland?

So, are we an organic food cooperative that protects land or land conservationists who make delicious food?

Yes, yes, we are.

Organic Valley.

[lively banjo music] - Announcer: Employee-owned New Glarus Brewing Company has been brewing and bottling beer for their friends, only in Wisconsin, since 1993.

Just a short drive from Madison, come visit Swissconsin and see where your beer's made.

- Wisconsin's great outdoors has something for everyone.

Come for the adventure, stay for the memories.

Go wild in Wisconsin!

To build your adventure, visit dnr.wi.gov.

- Twenty-minute commutes, weekends on the lake, warm welcomes, and exciting career opportunities, not to mention all the great food.

There's a lot to look forward to in Wisconsin.

Learn more at InWisconsin.com.

- With additional support coming from The Conscious Carnivore.

From local animal sourcing to onsite, high-quality butchering and packaging, The Conscious Carnivore can ensure organically raised, grass-fed and healthy meats through its small group of local farmers.

The Conscious Carnivore.

Know your farmer; love your butcher.

- Luke: Additional support from the following underwriters... [contemplative music] Also, with the support of Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

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