So How Do You Make Your Burgers?

[sydfan]

I love to find new ways to make a good burger and I LOVE burgers! I use some minced garlic (the dried kind), chopped onion (also the dry kind) black pepper, a little celery seed and a couple of dashes of worstershire sauce. I fry them up in a pan with a grill press on top of them. They are pretty tasty, but I'm sure there are ways to make them better. I'd love your suggestions!

 

[Ishbel]

There have been a lot of recipes re burgers in the time I've been a member here - I'll use the search facility at the top of this page to find you a couple of threads which may be of interest.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f36/better-burger-23355.html?highlight=burgers

Another thread
http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f48/tnt-best-burger-recipe-736.html?highlight=burgers

 

[mish]

This was posted quite awhile ago, but still some great 'winning' recipes here:

http://buildabetterburger.sutterhome.com/halloffame.html

Recently, I came across these tempting burgers:

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe/archive/405/?sort=date

(The Spanikopita and No-Joke Artichoke & Spinach, I think, would be just as tasty with beef.)

 

[BreezyCooking]

My husband doesn't eat red meat, so unless we're dining somewhere else, I always make turkey burgers, which, I honestly enjoy just as much as the beef ones.

Normally I just add a goodly amount of Worcestershire sauce, & some granulated garlic, & freshly ground peppper; other times in addition to the above, I stuff the centers with cheese. If cooking inside, I broil them; outside, on the good old charcoal grill - 5 minutes per side.

A couple of months ago, Eating Well magazine had an interesting recipe for burgers with an Asian twist that I plan on trying. I don't have the magazine right in front of me, but the Eating Well website might still have it.

 

[southerncooker]

We make our own burgers when the hunters in the family kill a deer, we freeze meat to later grind up with some beef fat. We then mix it up with catsup, oatmeal, eggs, worcestershire, onion powder, salt and pepper and make the patties. We've also done it with ground beef we buy or ground turkey. It makes really good jucy burgers but it also stretches the meat.

Ground pork also makes great burgers. Mix about a pound with 1/4 cup of your favorite bbq sauce and some minced onion, salt and pepper. Grill them and serve with more bbq sauce and sliced onions. Yummy!

 

[groundhog]

I like to grind a round steak up that I trimmed my self.
Then you add some water to the meat until it starts to feel soft usually about a cup or so. then season with s&p and fry it up in a oiled cast iron skillet.
I also toss in a thick slice of onion too.
This allows me to have a med well burger that I can trust eating.

I seen this on one of them cooking shows.

 

[auntdot]

We buy the beef at the store and grind it ourselves.

To us it makes the best burgers.

 

[amber]

I buy 90% beef, make them into patties and grill them or pan fry them with onions, peppers, mushrooms. I like lean beef. I know it's best to have some fat, but I dont really like the fat.

 

[jasonj79]

My favorite way is to grind my own roasts or cuts myself. Then I like to heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. I let it heat up for 8 minutes. Then I patty the burgers and sprinkle kosher salt on both sides of the patties. I then cook them for 4-5 minutes per side. They usually come out with a beautiful crust and just medium in the center.

Then I like to transfer my patties from the pan to the bottom bun of a the bread I'll be using. On that bun will be plenty of mayonaise and black pepper. The juices from the burger mix well with the mayo giving it awesome flavor. Then before I put the other piece of bread on, I put whatever I want on that.

Now once I lay that patty on the bread I don't touch it for 3-5 minutes. If you cut the burgers or bite into them right away, your going to loose a lot of juice from the meat.

I add my cheese on the patty as soon as I flip the patty in the pan the first time. That way while the other side is cooking it gives the cheese enough time to melt. I like to mix my cheese up or double up with the same kind. Like if I am using cheddar I add two slices instead of one. If I am mixing up the cheese I might use cheddar and mozarella for an example.

I just keep it real simple. The reason I like doing it this way is because I like to actually taste the meat. When you cook the patty just this way and use bread and only mayo, salt and pepper, it is out of this world. Lots of people like throwing everything under the sun onto their burger, but they are truly missing the real taste of a burger. I love adding mayo, mustard, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and slew of other stuff to my burgers. But to be honest, sometimes they taste the best with just bread, meat, salt and pepper and mayo. Seriously, I know its simple, but it lets you truly taste the flavor of the meat. Please try it this way one day. You'll like it.

 

[gemgirlco.com]

I add ketchup, soy sauce, and lemon juice to the meet.

 

[kimbaby]

I use ground chuck
2 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup a-1 steak sauce
salt
pepper

 

[Queequeg]

Here is my current burger recipe I have been working on for a while. This is from memory so could be slighty off, but not by a lot

1/2 lb Rump steak
1/2 lb Chuck steak
3 tsp maldon sea salt
11/2 tsp black pepper corns
11/2 tsp white pepper corns
3 tsp Hot paprika
1/2 small red onion (finely diced)
4 cloves of garlic (diced)
1 bay leaf
2 tsp dried oregarno
small handfull of fresh basil (finely chopped)
2 tsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of full grain english mustard

1: Trim the excess hard fat off the steak and remove any membranes from the chuck. Mince on the largest setting keeping both meats seperate. (chuck is used here because it carries more blood than rump and is hence more sticky negating the need for egg and such)
2:Fry the onions with the bay leaf in the oil until soft. Remove the bay leaf and allow to cool ( This sofens the over powering taste of raw onion, and red onions are used espically because of their sweet flavour)
3:Crush the pepper corns, salt, paprika and oregarno togther in a pesal and morta.
4: In a mixing bowl add a large pinch of each steak, seasoning mix, onion and garlic and combine gentley.(over mixing the burger mix will cause it to compress and push the moisture out on cooking resulting in a dry and heavy burger) Repeat until all the mixture is combied. Fold in the basil, mustard and the oil from the pan.
5: Lightly compress into thick patties. Wrap each pattie tightely incling film and place in the fridge for 1/2 hour to set.
6: Barbecue the patties each side for a minute or so to brown the outside of the burger. Be sure not to turn before the burger has had a chance to cook one side.
7: Place in a hot oven for 5-6 mins. Providing that the beef is of high quality then you can serve slighty pink in the middle.Otherwise cook for 8-12 mins

Well thats how I cook burgers. I have seen recipes that include just mincing the steak to form a pattie and seasoning like a steak. But to me thats not a burger more of a steak pattie and I would rather eat a steak thanks