Kevin's Watch

Over here it's almost impossible to get a decent burger. You could go to Maccas or BK of course, but I hardly ever do. The burgers they have taste too "artificial" for my liking. So with the barbie season 2009 started tell me how you Americans (and of course everyone else) do your burgers - tell me all your secrets and tweaks. How do you season the meat? What sauces? Vegetables?

I have found out that the best way for me is to use ground beef and just season it with salt, freshly ground black pepper, ground coriander seeds and a bit of sweet paprika. Onions, lettuce, tomato and gherkins are must - so is a bit of mustard and hamburger sauce. SOmetimes a slice of cheese or a layer of crispy bacon.

The heat is on. I am waiting.

Vader wrote:Over here it's almost impossible to get a decent burger

here........where? your profile says location: despair. From my experience you can never get a decent burger at Despair The burgers are hopelessly bland.............

I put a teaspoon of worchestshire ( I can cook it but not spell it) and some garlic powder in the meat. I also put salt to retain moisture. I sear the meat on high and then turn it down to very low to cook until done, not over done.

after the burger is done I use that pan with the drippings and saute some onions and mushrooms. Add a few slices of muenster cheese (top and bottom) and on to a warm roll. I dont like it too bready so i pull some of the inside of the bread out.

yum

Over here is good ol' Germany. That's as close to despair as it gets.
Thx for the answer.

I do similar to lorin in seasoning the meat, although I have gotten away from adding salt. I like to use some nice ground round. Occasionally, I'll do 1/4 ground pork to the ground round. And when I have the time, I insist on grinding my own beef with the grinder attachment on my kitchen aid mixer, so I save beef fat from roasts and will add that in to the round.

I make two half sized patties, and place a cube of cheddar and a nugget of bleu cheese in the center of one patty, then put the second on top and press/seal the two patties together before grilling. An old style of burger Hyperception had once at The 21 Club as a teen in NYC. Although they used dill butter. But it works with the cheeses as well.

Since I grind my beef fresh (I don't do this when I add pork, which is pretty much only done with store-bought ground round), I cook my burgers extremely rare. The juices are just starting to show on the top patty when I flip it, and I allow the then bottom patty to brown. If the cheese start to break the seal on the side, the burger is done; otherwise it cooks maybe another three minutes.

And never, ever press the patty on the grill.

Once finished, on to a lightly grilled bun which is spread with Hellman's and Gulden's, a sprinkle of salt and fresh cracked pepper, ketchup, kosher dill slices, raw onion, raw tomato, and romaine.

Serve with a hearty, inexpensive table red (I'm not that much of a beer drinker).

May I ask a personal question? Why do the dill slices have to be kosher when you sometimes add pork to the burgers? I assume they just taste better? And another question - you mentioned "kosher salt" before. What makes salt kosher? Does it have to be from the Dead Dea?

I put cheese in the patties when I do Greek bifteki. I use feta cheese for those.

I season much like Lorin as well (though I usually press garlic from actual cloves, not use powder) Sometimes I use crushed red pepper for a bit of zing [I'm a hot freak]
I use either blue or extra sharp white cheddar for cheese...the kind you have to actually slice...no pre-processed/sliced/wrapped.
If you like your burgers done (not pink inside), mixing in about a teaspoon of canola oil per burger helps prevent dryness.

"kosher dill" slices are the style of dill pickle. To be called kosher, they do need to be processed and packaged under rabbinical supervision, but you could get kosher-style dill pickles which would taste similar, but which are packaged without the supervision. I would probably still refer to them as "kosher dills," as I mean the style of pickle and not their kashrut status.

Kosher salt is salt that is used to kasher meat. It is a less fine grind of salt, similar to pickling salt I think. Again, it is a name for a type of salt, rather than it's source.

But yeah, as I don't adhere to the strictures of kashrut, when I use such items it is due to cultural upbringing and flavor, more than ritual status.

When it comes to beef, I've learned that keeping it simple is the best strategy. Whether it's steaks or burgers, I never marinate or add anything to the beef besides salt, black pepper, and maybe a touch of garlic powder for steaks.

The quality of the meat is the single most important factor. Fat = flavor, whether it's marbling on a steak, or fat content in the burger. That's why prime grade is better than choice, and choice is better than select, and kobe is the best of all. It's all about the fat. Don't ever make a burger with lean meat. I only use Angus ground chuck.

When patting out your patties, don't squeeze them down too hard. You don't want to make them too hard/tough/dense. Just use enough pressure to form burger-shaped meat. I use a healthy dose of salt, and some black pepper. That's it.

Whether in the pan or on the grill, don't ever press them, you'll lose that delicious fat. I cook over charcoal, so that the drippings fall down and create flame and smoke. This produces a good sear and a natural smoke flavor. Don't overcook! Med-well is as far as you ever want to go with a burger. If you're grinding it yourself (like Menolly), then perhaps you can go rare. I don't because ground beef has a higher chance of bacteria than steak. If you get high-quality meat with plenty of fat content, don't pack it too tight, and don't press while cooking, you can go longer with burgers than steak. Trust me, Angus chuck will be plenty juicy and tender if you go medium or the low side of medium well.

After that, it's hard to f*ck it up. I don't like cheese on a burger. I feel it detracts from the flavor of the meat, but lettuce, onion, pickle, mustard, ketchup, mayo . . . for some reason doesn't.

I like whole wheat buns. The smaller the better. Got to have a good beef-to-bun ratio (which is why I usually buy doubles at fast food joints).

Wendy's and Hardy's makes my favorite fast food burgers.

I agree about Wendy's.
Hardee's around here closed a decade or so ago, so I had only tried their roast beef, and at the time preferred Arby's over Hardee's for that style of roast beef sandwich. I've never had the chance to try a Hardee's burger.

Although, back when Chili's prepared a rare burger, theirs was my favorite, followed by Fuddruckers.

Thank you for the info, Mellony.

We don't have Wendy over here. Only McD, BK, KFC and Subway as far as I know. And we recently got Starbucks. Walmart also tried but failed.

Malik, I agree with everything you say about the chuck, but find I lose too much weight for my buck due to the fat melting away. A half pounder winds up being a third of a pound or so once cooked. And I like the heartier beef flavor, at least to me, of the round to the chuck. Adding some saved raw fat from roasts to the grind pads the weight of the round I buy, so if I want a half pound cooked burger I start with two-thirds of a pound combined ground meat and fat, then the fat moistens as it melts off, making quite a succulent patty.

First off, get a good few pounds of ground beef from a local butcher; preferably fresh. It really can make all the difference. For seasoning I've been creative many times with my burgers, but if I've got some good beef, I normally just season it with some kosher salt and cracked black pepper.

I like my burgers grilled over some smoldering charcoal. Maybe even throw a few pieces of soaked hickory on the fire. You want the flames to die down enough that when the fat drips they'll kick up again, caramelizing the outside and leaving the inside tender and juicy.

For fixin's I like to go with the tried and true: toasted crusty roll, thick slice of red onion, thin slice of vine-ripened tomato topped with a splash of lemon juice and a pinch of kosher salt and cracked pepper, a hearty tear of romaine lettuce, a thick layer of Hellman's mayo, French's mustard, Heinz ketchup and some dashes of Tabasco sauce for me.

Serve it all with a kosher dill spear (definitively not the lime green ones!) and an ice cold pint of ale, such as a cherry or blackberry wheat.

Mmm....I just made myself drool.

So here I am, enjoying this thread, almost tasting the burgers, imagining the smell of charcoal. I notice the sun shining, put on my shoes, head out the door. The sun isn't a lie, it is an unusually warm day. I think perhaps I'll pull the grill from the garage when I return from my stroll. As I round the corner, I look out across the lake...and see ice, and more ice, all the way to the horizon...probably all the way to Canada...
Thanks for the tease, people.

High Lord Tolkien wrote:

I bet if you're hungry that's about as mouth-watering a picture as one can imagine...but if you're not, that's kind of terrifying, "no, human...I'm going to eat YOU!"

I'm just hungry.

This joint is da bomb. Great shakes too.

I've heard of them (the Ackroyd/Belushi skits notwithstanding), but have never seen one to try...

BTW, What is the proper size of the perfect burger?

FudRuckers, for example, sells 1 lb burgers. I don't see the attraction.

wayfriend wrote:BTW, What is the proper size of the perfect burger?

FudRuckers, for example, sells 1 lb burgers. I don't see the attraction.

damn straight...

Hyperception insists on getting the Main Street Monster Burger at Conestogas in "beee-yoooo-ti-ful downtown Alachua." Described as "three one lb. stogie patties for a total of 48 ounces on a bun!" on page six of their menu. He feels nothing smaller appeals.

I tried to find a photo of the MSMB, but the only one I found is in a slide show on their site here. You'll see a gentleman in a Florida shirt sitting at the table with one in front of him. I couldn't figure out how to capture the photo to upload it. I ordered one once. While delicious, I wound up bringing most of it home...

Personally, I like half pounders. And that's half pounders cooked, so I generally start off with 2/3 of a pound raw patties which I place on the grill...