Here's Why White Castle Sliders Have Holes In Them - Tasting Table

White Castle is a landmark fast food burger chain, credited as the first fast food burger chain and known for sliders that have sold in the tens of billions. The patties have five holes punched in them, introduced in 1947 according to an official timeline. Earl Howell proposed the holes to cook faster and improve flavor by allowing steam to penetrate the patties more effectively. The burgers are steamed on top of onions, so onion flavor infuses the meat. Other accounts attribute the holes to demand growth in the 1950s or to cost-cutting by making thinner burgers and reducing meat. The hole-punching device, the Meat Horn, creates holes through a log of beef before slicing into patties.

"The official White Castle timeline states that the five-hole burgers were introduced in 1947. Earl Howell, who ran a White Castle in Cincinnati, proposed adding the holes to allow the burgers to cook faster and improve the flavor. The burgers are steamed, which is rare but not unheard of. The idea was that holes would allow steam to penetrate the patties more effectively, resulting in faster cooking. Since the burgers are steamed on top of onions, the onion flavor would infuse the meat."

"Here's where the story gets a little muddy. There is another version of the story that says Earl was working the grill when, in 1954, he suggested adding holes to cook the burger fast enough to keep up with rising demand. But we're not done yet. A third version of the story says that in 1951, White Castle founder Billy Ingram looked for ways to save money amid rising costs. He decided to make the burgers thinner and added five holes, reducing the amount of meat in each burger."

"White Castle burgers are steamed on top of a bed of dehydrated onion, and regardless of who proposed the idea or why, it does work. The patented hole-punching device, called the Meat Horn, pushes holes through an entire log of beef that is then sliced into patties. When the patties are placed on onions on the grill, steam from the rehydrating onions rises through the holes and"

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