Steers dbl or nothing burger

[GreyBush]

The volcanic rock used in our grills was removed a number of years ago. The product is still flame grilled but that without the smoking element the volcanic rock added to the cooking process the net result is a synthetic tasting product lacking in character and flavour.

So it's gas braaied now.

Steers: Gas Braaied, it just tastes kakker.

 

[Batista]

The volcanic rock used in our grills was removed a number of years ago. The product is still flame grilled but that without the smoking element the volcanic rock added to the cooking process the net result is a synthetic tasting product lacking in character and flavour.

So an owner admits that his burgers were not as tasty as they once were.Did you loose alot of sales of has business been normal?My guess is that not that many people would have noticed.. so sales stay constant.
Yeah without smoke, there is no taste.Thanks for being honest.

 

[sand_man]

So it's gas braaied now.

Steers: Gas Braaied, it just tastes kakker.

So an owner admits that his burgers were not as tasty as they once were.Did you loose alot of sales of has business been normal?My guess is that not that many people would have noticed.. so sales stay constant.
Yeah without smoke, there is no taste.Thanks for being honest.

The taste profile has definitely changed yes. People definitely noticed yes but did we lose sales as a result of the change? I would say so yes!

The new method is actually a lot 'cleaner' if I can use that term.

With the volcanic rocks you could cook a mediocre piece of meat and still get some extra flavour coming though which would in effect mask the true nature of the meat you were cooking. Now the end product is a truer reflection of the raw product used.

The new grills are a lot easier to keep clean, use far less gas, reach maximum temperature a lot quicker and are cheaper to maintain. HACCP approved and probably more hygienic than the old system.

The only argument against is the effect on taste profile, which is significant, considering that's the fundamental function of the grill!!

 

[Batista]

The taste profile has definitely changed yes. People definitely noticed yes but did we lose sales as a result of the change? I would say so yes!

The new method is actually a lot 'cleaner' if I can use that term.

With the volcanic rocks you could cook a mediocre piece of meat and still get some extra flavour coming though which would in effect mask the true nature of the meat you were cooking. Now the end product is a truer reflection of the raw product used.

The new grills are a lot easier to keep clean, use far less gas, reach maximum temperature a lot quicker and are cheaper to maintain. HACCP approved and probably more hygienic than the old system.

The only argument against is the effect on taste profile, which is significant, considering that's the fundamental function of the grill!!

And there is nothing that you can do about it right, because Steers is a franchise and you get told what to do?
This is sad, sad indeed.Corporate greed...the burgers will get more tasteless as the years go by , attributable to these cost saving,flavour destroying efforts.

 

[akescpt]

and dont let that boiled pattie get cold. its even karker than usual. like chewing gum infact.

 

[Necuno]

Steers has been siff for me lately, it's like they're forgetting to flame grill the burger patties and are now instead boiling them and adding flame grilled flavoring.

rather eatz at eds diner

 

[sand_man]

And there is nothing that you can do about it right, because Steers is a franchise and you get told what to do?
This is sad, sad indeed.Corporate greed...the burgers will get more tasteless as the years go by , attributable to these cost saving,flavour destroying efforts.

Yeah, we compelled in our franchise agreement to use the head office specified and approved equipment.

I don't think it's necessarily motivated by corporate greed.

In fact head office stood to lose the most from the decision.

The franchisee benefits financially as he is using less gas, not replacing volcanic rock every 3 months, purchasing less cleaning material etc etc etc

Unfortunately if sales are down, head office gets less royalties, the franchisee lower profits and worse case scenario, a failed business which benefits no one.

With the new grill you get out what you put in. What head office needs to do is tweak their pattie recipe slightly! Extra seasoning perhaps or a different spice! We use a lovely basting in the kitchen on our ribs. Basting the patties just before they go off the grill would go alone way towards adding something "authentic" to the flavour!

 

[Bar0n]

Steers has been siff for me lately, it's like they're forgetting to flame grill the burger patties and are now instead boiling them and adding flame grilled flavoring.

They cook them beforehand and throw them on the flames for a few seconds, is what you're implying?

I've heard from people who worked at Spur that the abovementioned method is how they cook their ribs (boil them, freeze them, thaw them on the flames)...

 

[sand_man]

They cook them beforehand and throw them on the flames for a few seconds, is what you're implying?

I've heard from people who worked at Spur that the abovementioned method is how they cook their ribs (boil them, freeze them, thaw them on the flames)...

Patties, steaks, chicken patties are all cooked from raw. Chips are freshly prepared on the premises, onion, tomato slices, lettuce prepared from fresh every hour or so.

Ribs come to us frozen, vacuum packed, smoked and marinaded, 8 minutes on the grill and they ready. They spend 48 hours in the coldroom defrosting...

 

[DJ...]

Pls elaborate, they cant advertise flamed grilled burgers then.

They do appear to pop them on a grill to heat them but that's about it. They needed consistency, as with every large franchise, and they don't get this from raw, cooked patties, by inexperienced cooks behind the grill. So they have scientists replicate their flavour profile and simply add it to meat, and add char marks to the patties. I am pretty certain the patties are pre-cooked, frozen, and then heated on a grill, or if not, as sand_man indicates, then the flavour is not coming form the grill...

 

[Bar0n]

Ribs come to us frozen, vacuum packed, smoked and marinaded, 8 minutes on the grill and they ready. They spend 48 hours in the coldroom defrosting...

Like I said, this was Spur. Apparently the smell was disgusting. They would take a pot of boiling water and just chuck rib after rib in there.

Also, apparently when they clean their sauce bottles, all of the sauce is poured into one bowl (some are past the expiry date and/or have a funny smell). Afterwards, they'd just pour all of the sauce back into the bottles. The waiters had a bit of a chuckle whenever a customer mentioned that the sauce in the restaurant tastes better than the store-bought bottles.

I don't eat at Spur anymore.

 

[Lupus]

I worked as a waiter at Spur back in the 90's the ribs thing is true, the sauce thing isn't not that the branch I worked at. Yes there was a big bucket of sauce and everyday at the start of shift we'd go through and fill every bottle of sauce if needed. At the end of shift the sauce that wasn't used was generally tipped out and I mean generally as some of the staff used to score.

 

[Batista]

Yeah, we compelled in our franchise agreement to use the head office specified and approved equipment.

I don't think it's necessarily motivated by corporate greed.

In fact head office stood to lose the most from the decision.

The franchisee benefits financially as he is using less gas, not replacing volcanic rock every 3 months, purchasing less cleaning material etc etc etc

Unfortunately if sales are down, head office gets less royalties, the franchisee lower profits and worse case scenario, a failed business which benefits no one.

With the new grill you get out what you put in. What head office needs to do is tweak their pattie recipe slightly! Extra seasoning perhaps or a different spice! We use a lovely basting in the kitchen on our ribs. Basting the patties just before they go off the grill would go alone way towards adding something "authentic" to the flavour!

The franchisee benefits financially as he is using less gas, not replacing volcanic rock every 3 months, purchasing less cleaning material etc etc etc

Yes, he benefits, but at the cost of tastes and lower sales.So is it really benefitting then?

 

[Batista]

Like I said, this was Spur. Apparently the smell was disgusting. They would take a pot of boiling water and just chuck rib after rib in there.

Also, apparently when they clean their sauce bottles, all of the sauce is poured into one bowl (some are past the expiry date and/or have a funny smell). Afterwards, they'd just pour all of the sauce back into the bottles. The waiters had a bit of a chuckle whenever a customer mentioned that the sauce in the restaurant tastes better than the store-bought bottles.

I don't eat at Spur anymore.

Yuk, how am i supposed to enjoy my monthly spur dinners now

 

[ShaunSA]

Yuk, how am i supposed to enjoy my monthly spur dinners now

By not believing everything you read on the internet

 

[Bar0n]

By not believing everything you read on the internet

This is what I've heard from people who've actually waitered at Spur before. In fact, almost every Spur waiter has some or other horror story.

 

[Batista]

This is what I've heard from people who've actually waitered at Spur before. In fact, almost every Spur waiter has some or other horror story.

Yeah my fiance used to work at Spur ages ago, so i've heard these before...ag what doesnt kill you only gives you food poisoning for a few days

 

[Bar0n]

Yeah my fiance used to work at Spur ages ago, so i've heard these before...ag what doesnt kill you only gives you food poisoning for a few days

I've heard these mostly from Spur employees. I think I've heard 1 or 2 from Dros employees too, but the vast majority are Spur-related.

 

[Ockie]

Steers has been siff for me lately, it's like they're forgetting to flame grill the burger patties and are now instead boiling them and adding flame grilled flavoring.

It is because they dont use volcanic rock in their grills anymore. They also dont marinade the patties in a certain sauce anymore. This was discussed a while ago. Think it was Sand_Man that informed us about this. That is why their burgers dont taste nice anymore.

 

[Ho3n3r]

I've had about say 1 Steers burger per 3 months the last 4 years on average, but with decreasing frequency. I hate the taste, and it barely tastes better than the non-beef beef burgers from McDonald's. It just tastes weird, and not like real meat, unfortunately.

I just really eat it in situations where I don't have a choice.