×

He’s a beef booster

In Lake City, Larry Irwin is putting a new twist on burgers

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby Larry Irwin, owner of the Lake City Drive-In, offers some tips to his staff on how to cook a great cheeseburger.

LAKE CITY — Make no mistake, the humble hamburger still reigns supreme from backyard barbecues to fast food drive-ins across Iowa. But this Iowa icon also provides the perfect palette for culinary creativity when Larry Irwin showcases his Burger of the Month flavors.

“I’m not doing anything fancy,” said Irwin, who has run the Lake City Drive-In since 2012. “I just like cooking down-home, comfort food.”

While it’s hard to beat a classic bacon cheeseburger, which remains one of the Lake City Drive-In’s top sellers, customers also love the monthly burger specials. Favorites include the Taco Burger (spiced with taco seasoning and chipotle and topped with nacho cheese-flavored chips), Darcy’s Meatloaf Burger, the Swiss Mushroom Burger and the Ranch Burger (enhanced with homemade ranch dressing, Pepper Jack cheese and bacon).

“Burgers of all types are always our top sellers,” said Irwin, who serves more than 50 burgers a day, on average.

“It’s fun to experiment with new flavors and feature them as the Burger of the Month.”

Top tips for unbeatable burgers

Interestingly, this adventurous spirit in the kitchen isn’t second nature for Irwin, who spent more than 30 years of his career in finance and banking. “I never did much cooking at home,” said Irwin, who grew up on a cattle and grain farm between Lohrville and Rockwell City. “I certainly never thought I’d run a restaurant.”

Irwin has found that offering new menu items is one of the secrets to keep people coming back to the Lake City Drive-In. Inspiration for the Burger of the Month comes from a variety of sources.

“Sometimes our customers suggest ideas,” he said. “A lot of the Burger of the Month ideas come from my son, Chris, who is an agronomist in northeast Iowa. He travels a lot for his job and tells me about burger flavors he discovers in various cafes.”

While unique flavors are part of the fun, a great burger starts with the basics, said Irwin, who shares the following tips:

• Select an 80/20 ground beef for the best flavor. Irwin always uses fresh beef, never frozen patties, to make his 1/3 pound burgers.

• Preheat the grill before you place the hamburger patties on the grill.

• Cook the hamburger patties over medium heat. If the temperature is too high, it’s easy to burn the outside of the burger and leave the inside undercooked, said Irwin, who cooks his burgers for about five minutes on each side.

• Season the patties on the grill. Irwin sprinkles a mix of garlic powder, onion powder, Lawry’s seasoning salt, table salt, white sugar and black pepper on both sides of each hamburger patty as the meat cooks.

• Don’t forget to butter and toast the bun before serving the burger.

Time-saving systems in the kitchen are also invaluable. Since the Lake City Drive-In is located on Main Street across from South Central Calhoun High School, things can get hectic when hungry crowds stop by, especially during volleyball tournaments and home football games. Irwin plans ahead on these days and cooks each hamburger patty for two minutes per side before placing the partially-cooked patties in a warm slow cooker. When the crowds arrive, it only takes a couple more minutes of grilling time before the burgers are ready.

This strategy also pays off during planting and harvest, when the drive through becomes one of the busiest places at the Lake City Drive-In.

“You can always tell when an order is going out to farmers, because there are at least five or six cheeseburgers in there,” said Irwin, a farmer himself.

Keeping things simple while adding a little variety is the key to a great burger, he added.

“I love the flavor of beef. If I could only have one meat for the rest of my life, I’d choose hamburger, because I can make anything out of it.”

Darcy’s Meatloaf Burgers

Irwin will be featuring these meatloaf burgers, made from a recipe shared by Darcy Maulsby of Lake City, as the Burger of the Month this June.

2 pounds ground beef

1 1 / 2 to 2 cups herb-seasoned stuffing mix (experiment to find what amount helps the burger patties stick together the best)

1 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 /4 cup milk

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

1 / 4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Combine ground beef, stuffing mix, onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a separate bowl, beat eggs, milk, and barbecue sauce. Combine barbecue sauce mixture with meat mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar and dry mustard. This mixture can either be spread as a glaze while the burgers are cooking on the grill, or the glaze can be mixed into the burger patty mixture before the burgers are grilled.

Shape beef mixture into patties. Grill over medium heat to desired doneness. If using the ketchup mixture as a glaze, spread over the top of each burger during the final minutes of cooking on the grill.

Ranch dressing

While this makes restaurant-sized quantities, scale down the recipe for home use.

1 gallon regular mayonnaise

1 / 2 gallon buttermilk

2 packages (3.2 ounces each) powdered ranch dressing mix

Combine all ingredients and stir with an electric mixer. Refrigerate.

Boom Boom sauce

This spicy sauce has a kick and tastes great on burgers and salads.

4 cups Thousand Island dressing

3 / 4 cup buffalo hot sauce

1 / 4 cup red pepper flakes

Combine dressing, buffalo sauce and red pepper flakes; refrigerate.

Sloppy Joes

1 pound hamburger

1 can chicken gumbo soup

Ketchup and mustard, to taste

Brown sugar, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

Brown the hamburger; drain. Add soup and season with ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, salt and pepper until the desired flavor is achieved.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today