Here's Why White Castle Sliders Have Holes In Them

White Castle holds a unique place in fast food history. It was the first fast food burger chain, and its sliders were once called the most influential burgers of all time by Time Magazine. The restaurant has sold over 30 billion of them. Unlike most fast food burgers, White Castle sliders have five holes punched in the patties, and there's a good reason for it. It mostly has to do with the cooking process. Mostly.

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. There is some evidence that beef costs rose considerably during this time, while regulations and other issues caused White Castle to cut corners.

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 penetrates the meat, giving it a noticeable onion-infused flavor. Those holes increase surface area on the patty for steam exposure, so each burger cooks slightly faster than a typical fast food burger without holes would.

The onions get some caramelization as they steam, and add a bit of sweetness to the finished burger. Because the onions are dehydrated, the flavor is more concentrated, but this isn't unique to White Castle. The reason McDonald's onions are so tasty is that they are rehydrated, too. Using dehydrated onions doesn't just enhance flavor; it's also more economical because it reduces prep time and lowers shipping and storage costs.

Furthermore, the bun is placed on top of a White Castle slider as it steams to keep it soft. This is another advantage of the five holes, as the steam passes through them into the bun, adding some of the onion flavor. The slider patty also stays moist and doesn't need to be flipped. The texture is not nearly as firm as other burgers, making each slider almost airy. The end result is a soft, beefy, oniony bite.