Lancashire's Fence Gate Inn wins category in EBLEX's Best Burger Challenge

The Burnley pub’s Bowland steak burger impressed judges, while the title of England’s Best Burger 2012 went to national catering butcher Aubrey Allen for its coarse cut burger. The butcher in Coventry, Warwickshire, also won the Manufacturer category, winning the Champion award.

“I originally developed the Bowland Steak Burger recipe over 20 years ago for another of my establishments,” said Kevin Berkins, managing director of the Fence Gate Inn.

“The burger uses beef sourced from the surrounding Trough of Bowland region and proved to be so popular that I decided to put it on the menu at the Fence Gate Inn as well, where it continues to be a favourite with customers.”

Sales manager for Aubrey Allen, Simon Smith, said: “We’ve only been producing the coarse cut burger for a year. We wanted to perfect the recipe, which has no added preservatives and only requires a little seasoning prior to cooking, before taking it to market. We did a lot of research and made little tweaks along the way, only using the best quality beef cuts to ensure the consistency and flavour of each burger.”

EBLEX foodservice project manager, Hugh Judd, said: “The quality and volume of burgers entered into this year’s competition was of the highest level, which made the judging very difficult indeed.

“With 30 burgers in the final, we were really looking for something that stood out and, obviously, the quality of the meat was of paramount importance. We congratulate both our category winners ­— Aubrey Allen and the Fence Gate Inn — who entered a superb selection of burgers into the competition.

There were over 100 entries and judging was done over two “rigorous” rounds. The inaugural British Burger Week will run from 18 to 24 June.