Meet the man behind the burgers at Dirty Clean Food

Officially, Billie is Dirty Clean Food’s Livestock Processing Specialist but on the side he’s our resident burger expert and the star of our latest cooking series launching on Monday.

Billie worked for Grill’d and was Restaurant Manager for Short Order Burger Co before joining Dirty Clean Food, so he sure knows his burgers.  

“Short Order taught me the importance of good quality produce and pride in your product, things I have carried over to my position with Dirty Clean Food,” said Billie.

Billie came to Dirty Clean Food during the initial months of COVID. As with most food service businesses, Short Order was forced to temporarily close, and Dirty Clean Food approached Billie and several others in the industry to offer them a job delivering orders to our customers. Fortunately for us, Billie stayed. 

We sat down with Billie to learn more about the man behind the burger.

So Billie, when, you’re not starring in our latest Eco-Regen Burger videos, what does your job involve?

Haha!  I manage three separate facilities that process our Beef, Lamb, Pork and Chicken and works closely with the Sales team to allocate our livestock to Food Service, Retail and Online. On top of this I am also responsible for ensuring the entire body of the animal is utilised and nothing goes to waste. 

What do you love about working for Dirty Clean Food?

I have a lot of respect for what Dirty Clean Food is doing in the Livestock and Agricultural industry. Having worked for most of my career to date in kitchens, I’ve found it fascinating to learn and be a part of something that not only generates some of the highest quality produce around but doing so in a regenerative sense.

What makes the best burger?

100% Grass Fed and Finished Beef! Don’t go mixing breadcrumbs and egg and all that jazz into the patty. You want beef only. When making them at home I will run a 50/50 Chuck and Brisket and keep the fat around 85% Lean to 15% Fat. Adding ketchup, mustard, pickles and onion are great. Nothing too flash! Definitely no beetroot and egg :)

How do you recommend preparing and cooking Dirty Clean Food’s burgers?

Cast iron all the way. Get it ripping hot and treat the burger like a steak. No oil in the pan, salt and pepper on the patty. If it’s a thick patty, ensure it rests once taken from the pan. Editor’s Note: You’ll learn more about how to cook our burgers in Billie’s cooking series - the first will be released on Monday - so follow us on Instagram Facebook or keep an eye on our Monday newsletter.

What challenges have you faced this year in your role?

This year has surely proven Dirty Clean’s flexibility and ability to adapt to change. We made the decision to bring the processing in house and parted ways with our original meat processor.

We have moved all our Beef and Lamb production to a local butcher shop, taking on their team as Dirty Clean staff. The benefit of this transition was the keen eye for quality that comes with in-house production, and the ability to launch new products that we would never have been able to do previously.

In the next few months, we will be taking this entire operation to our home base in Kewdale. With a full production team and great facilities, we will have full control over all packaging and processing.  So, expect to see lots of new products and expansion in our retail lines.

And finally, what does downtime look like for you? 

My son Cooper is 9 months now so he fills most of my spare time! I also enjoy spending time working on my Bonsai and taking Ollie, my Husky to the park.