How to cook (and not cook) cafe car hamburgers

[Phil S]

Took the Pametto Alexandria to Kingstree, then Kingstree to Wilson with a connection to Durham. Southbound I bought a burger. The meat was more or less authentic but the bun was a soggy (though warm) mess. On the return trip the café attendant (different woman) said "absolutely not. I separate the roll from the meat and cheese, nuke the meat and cheese first, then the bun just lightly. Otherwise the bun comes out all soggy."

Do tell, but damn, it really helped.Probably most of you figured this out ages ago but I thought it might be good info for at least some readers.

Now can I get the next café car attendant to take the trouble. Probably

Cheers,

Phil S.

 

[Train2104]

Took the Pametto Alexandria to Kingstree, then Kingstree to Wilson with a connection to Durham. Southbound I bought a burger. The meat was more or less authentic but the bun was a soggy (though warm) mess. On the return trip the café attendant (different woman) said "absolutely not. I separate the roll from the meat and cheese, nuke the meat and cheese first, then the bun just lightly. Otherwise the bun comes out all soggy."

Do tell, but damn, it really helped.Probably most of you figured this out ages ago but I thought it might be good info for at least some readers.

Now can I get the next café car attendant to take the trouble. Probably

Cheers,

Phil S.

Are these the same as the hamburgers sold in Regional cafe cars? (I'd think so)...when I had one the attendant just tossed the whole thing in the microwave, plastic wrapper included. Came out soggy and ugly. Not sure if that's how it's meant to be done...

 

[rrdude]

We were TAUGHT to do it that way at LSA training school oh so many eons ago. Nuking bread almost NEVER works out well, soggy as heck for a short period, then gets hard as a rock. All you need to do with bun is 10-20 seconds to take the chill off. Takes more work, slower, but bigger tips for sure. And, I assume, happy customer..........

 

[cuppb001]

I had an amazing Café attendant on the Palmetto who took the time to actually only nuke the meat and cheese and toast all buns including the hot dog buns. I made sure that he received a generous tip for this and made a wonderful comment to Customer Relations. It definitely improved the quality of the burger. Keep in mind I like this burger regardless of how its done. Its the best microwave cheeseburger I have ever had.

 

[Current LSA]

Not to play the part of a devil's advocate here, but think of it this way...On some of the busier Regionals where you can get lines of 10-15 people for hours, while working as quick as one possibly can, do you think it's good idea to take the time to separate everything out and use the oven to toast the bread, and just extend that line further, possibly through the vestibule and in to the next car? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Also, they don't really prepare us with what we need to properly use the ovens either. One day a conductor made a comment about wanting a bagel, but that she hates them untoasted, so I offered to put it in the oven. Tore that car apart looking for tin foil to lay down in the oven (the bottom of the oven looked nasty), but couldn't find anything. So I just put down a napkin, thinking it would be the next best solution. Yeah, no. The napkin became singed, and I'm sure if I had it on a higher temp, it would have caused a fire.

Anyway, to add to what rrdude said, at the training site we were taught how to do it both ways, so we could taste the difference. Same with the hot dogs. Yes Trains2014, plastic and all. The packaging is meant to assist us in speedy preparation. Even in First Class, some people toss the meals in the oven with just the tin foil on, some toss it in with the tin foil and plastic. It's designed to be safe to do.

 

[rrdude]

There is NO DOUBT on SRO trains, I had to make the decision to "Break The Line" or nuke the burger/bun separately.

I chose to "Break The Line", (or at least attempt to) on some trains Fri/Sun outa Chicago to "college towns" that was virtually impossible for the duration. Even re-stocking from the supplies kept in the overhead luggage rack, was a time killer.......

 

[AlexandriaVATraveler]

This is literally what goes on at my local 7-11 when you buy a breakfast sandwich. Except you microwave it yourself, and don't tip anyone.

https://www.bahn.de/p/view/service/zug/bordgastronomie/monatsaktion.shtml

This, by the way, is what German rail does for their non-restaurant food car (BordBistro). I've included some text which came through a machine translation:

***

In the former 2nd class half are five tables with semi-circular benches at various levels, a high table and a small kitchen with serving counter, warmed up in the simple meals and drinks can be served draft. In the dining room there were originally distinct objects of art. The cars were equipped with air conditioning. Originally, the dining room was smoking area, since 2006, smoking is prohibited in the whole train.

***

Note the phrase "warmed up in the simple meals", aka there's no actual cooking facilites on their cafe car. https://farbfleck.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/bordbistro2.jpg

So it can be done....a decent meal car without full cooking facilities.

 

[rrdude]

I like the "idea" of allowing the public to use microwaves, I just don't know how to "police it", that is keep them clean, operational, etc.

A few places that do this, that come to mind, are breakfast bars at hotels, campus cafeterias, etc...

I understand the RISK in letting the public use them, but there have to be a way to get around with, or comply with, FDA rules "prohibiting" patrons from using for their own food...........

That would certainly take the "heat" off the LSA, and they could literally just "sling food" X the counter, and let the PAX heat up to their delight...... Of course with AmCans, it would require taking out a 4 top, or something, to make room for it.

 

[AlexandriaVaTraveler]

Not to mention, every office building in the United States. At 7-11, they print instructions on the wrapper itself, so all it requires to eat is literacy and fingers. I'm sure if you were illiterate or fingerless, someone on board would be willing to help.

The cold offerings on the cafe car are fair enough, and they make economic sense because they can be prepared and stored in depot, and can be refrigrated and don't go bad. But comparing the cafe car menus between what I posted on Germany's website versus our own, the hot food offerings on Amtrak are extremely weak.

 

[PerRock]

We were TAUGHT to do it that way at LSA training school oh so many eons ago. Nuking bread almost NEVER works out well, soggy as heck for a short period, then gets hard as a rock. All you need to do with bun is 10-20 seconds to take the chill off. Takes more work, slower, but bigger tips for sure. And, I assume, happy customer..........

I read an interesting Lifehack a while back which I've been experimenting with ever since & it seems to work great. When you are microwaving bread, put a small bowl (or cup) of water in the microwave with the bread. Bread comes out nice and warm and doesn't go hard. I haven't fully 'tested' this Lifehack yet (so far I've eaten the bread pretty quickly after nuking and so haven't really given it enough time to get hard) so your results may vary.

peter

 

[Phil S]

Not to play the part of a devil's advocate here, but think of it this way...On some of the busier Regionals where you can get lines of 10-15 people for hours, while working as quick as one possibly can, do you think it's good idea to take the time to separate everything out and use the oven to toast the bread, and just extend that line further, possibly through the vestibule and in to the next car?

Agree. I'm thinking of the LDs where I rarely see more than a few people in line except maybe when the attendant has just announced she's going on break.

 

[Thirdrail7]

I like the "idea" of allowing the public to use microwaves, I just don't know how to "police it", that is keep them clean, operational, etc.

A few places that do this, that come to mind, are breakfast bars at hotels, campus cafeterias, etc...

I understand the RISK in letting the public use them, but there have to be a way to get around with, or comply with, FDA rules "prohibiting" patrons from using for their own food...........

That would certainly take the "heat" off the LSA, and they could literally just "sling food" X the counter, and let the PAX heat up to their delight...... Of course with AmCans, it would require taking out a 4 top, or something, to make room for it.

It sounds like the concept of Amtrak's defunct Cafeteria car. Every time I bring them up, people look at me as if I have three arms. They were on the Adirondack, the Cardinal and the Crescent years ago. I've always believed they should make a comeback.

Not to play the part of a devil's advocate here, but think of it this way...On some of the busier Regionals where you can get lines of 10-15 people for hours, while working as quick as one possibly can, do you think it's good idea to take the time to separate everything out and use the oven to toast the bread, and just extend that line further, possibly through the vestibule and in to the next car?

Agree. I'm thinking of the LDs where I rarely see more than a few people in line except maybe when the attendant has just announced she's going on break.

You used have a lot of attendants that would use the convection oven for the buns. They would ask the passengers if they would mind coming back in 7-10 minutes. It looked like a worthwhile burger by the time it was done.

Speaking of worthwhile, who remembers the Pepperidge Farm croissant pizza from years ago? My goodness. Some attendants would put that in the convection and it melted in your mouth.

 

[StriderGDM]

Best thing I ever had out of the convection oven was a slightly heated chocolate chip cookie. Delicious.

Also had a perfectly warmed meatball sub. Meatballs were microwaved, bun toasted. Perfect.

I don't mind waiting for quality food.