How do you make the BEST burgers?

[baking fool]

What makes the best hamburgers? I don't think I've ever had one with fresh ingredients before & I'm sure that would make a huge difference with there. I've read about squealer burgers in Texas, where ground bacon is mixed in with the ground beef before making the patties. Bobby Flay makes pressed ham & cheese burgers which he says are Cuban-style, they look reall good also. The recipe is here:
Recipes : Cuban-style Burgers on the Grill : Food Network
list all your hamburger secrets here

 

[YT2095]

one that`s really inportant is to make sure mince has enough Fat in it, at least 10%, otherwise they end up far to dry.

 

[Barb L.]

I agree with YT, I use nothing but ground chuck, and do not over handle - go gentle when making patties.

 

[bethzaring]

yesterday I made what DH called, the best hamburger possibly that he has ever had. It was 2/3 rds ground beef (about 90% lean), 1/3 rd ground chevon, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, some garlic powder, and a liberal amount of olive oil. Cooked on the gas weber. I added the olive oil to the mix and also on each side of the burger as they were grilling.

Served it on home made whole wheat hamburger buns, slice of onion, mustard for DH and ketchup for me, and fresh spinach leaves

 

[Uncle Bob]

I believe as Miss Barb and YT do. Ground Chuck, handled gently. Anything else added to the meat ie. ground bacon, pork veggies herbs and spices is optional. Do not over cook.

Enjoy and have Fun!!

 

[love2"Q"]

the cuban style burgers are the family favorite right now ...

 

[GB]

I am known for my burgers. My wife still jokes about the time one of my friends was over and after ever single bite he kept saying, this is the best darn burger I have ever had.

I use 75% ground chuck if I can find it. I mix in garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt, smoked spanish paprika, salt, pepper, and if you want a kick, ground red chipotle powder. Then I add a few squirts of worcester sauce.

Each patty is about a half pound. Gently form into a patty and put an indent in the center on both sides.

I get the grill nice and hot and put the burgers on. After about a minute I turn off the burners that are directly under the burgers and finish cooking them with indirect heat. There is plenty of heat left in the grates to get perfect grill marks on both sides of the burger.

 

[mudbug]

Currently I like the way they do them at Five Guys instead of my own. And you get that lunchbag full of handcut fries cooked in peanut oil.

 

[Toots]

I take the easy route and buy the already made bacon and blue cheese burgers from Whole Foods - these are wonderful, juicy and big burgers. So easy.

 

[college_cook]

I'm a big fan of the burgers we do at work; we grind all of the scrap we get when we cut our steaks. So we use NY strip scrap, tendrloin scrap, and ribeye scrap. We get all that great ribeye fat in there along with that tenderloin meat, and it makes a pretty tasty burger. We don't have to add additional ingredients to it at all.

When I'm at home I add all sorts of goodies into my burgers. Salt and pepper get mixed in along with garlic powder (sometimes fresh garlic as well), some onion powder, bread crumbs, and an egg as a binder. I like to use the bread crumbs because they soak up alot of the juices that you lose otherwise, so it allows me to use leaner beef. I add whatever I want into my burgers really. Sometimes sauteed onions, mushrooms and bacon, sometimes scallions get in there, sometimes I'll make a quick soy-based sauce to go in there, or use a BBQ sauce. One of my favorites is the burger that I was inspired to make after a visit to TGI Fridays. Topped with fried mozz. or fried provolone, colby, american, cheddar, swiss, whatever your preference for your 2nd cheese, as well as bacon. It's a very fatty burger but man is it tasty.

 

[tsi88kid]

The best burger I ever had, I got at a modern bistro over in france. It was perfectly medium rare and it was served on a very soft, fluffy, almost pancake like roll. It had traditional pesto, onion, and tomato confit! It was definatly the best I've ever had.

 

[baking fool]

one that`s really inportant is to make sure mince has enough Fat in it, at least 10%, otherwise they end up far to dry.

that's another thing bobby flay said on his burger throwdown show.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

I use good quality 85% Lean ground chuck - lots of flavor.
Kosher Salt.
I make the patties big n' fairly thin (6" diameter/1/4" thick or so).
I grill briefly over very hot charcoal.

Lots of surface area enables it to cook through quickly and pick up lots of charcoal/smoke flavor. It also prevents them from turning into golf balls at the same time. The patty usually ends up about 1/2" larger in radius than the buns I use which is just perfect to my aesthetics.

 

[Chipotle Tom]

My best burger so far uses 85% lean beef. I only add pinch of kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, a dash of garlic powder, and a couple dashes of soy sauce. The most important thing for me is knowing when to take them off the heat. I wait until there are still some juices flowing out of the burger, but they are completely clear (no pink). When it reaches that point, I pull them off the grill and let them cool a little while I fix up the buns (which I will have already toasted).

 

[GotGarlic]

There are some foods I'm a traditionalist about - my pizza must have pepperoni, my mashed potatoes must *NOT* have garlic in them, and my burgers must be 100% ground chuck, cooked medium on the grill, with a toasted bun and nothing added except mustard, ketchup and pickles.

 

[Caine]

I thaw out a couple of Omaha Steaks burgers, let them get to room temperature, sprinkle them on both sides with a bit of salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder (remember, onions give me big time agita!), toss them on the barbeque grill until medium, then place a slice of cheddar cheese on each burger. When they're done, I stack them two each and allow to rest while I toast a whole grain Roman Meal bun, apply a small amount of ketchup and mustard to the bottom half, add a small amount of thousand island dressing to the top half (enough so you can taste it, but not enough so that it squirts all over the place) put the stacked burgers, which are now fused together by the melted cheddar cheese, onto the bottom half of the bun, add a generous amount of hand leafed iceburg lettuce and a couple of slices of Roma tomato on top of the burgers, then put the top half in place and gently press down until I can fit it into my mouth!

 

[GrillingFool]

Same as steak... let your burger get to room temperature
before grilling it.
If you are mixing in flavorings, mix them in and let it marinate
for an hour at least. I do this in the fridge. Have to let those
flavors get to know each other!!
Don't mess with bread crumbs. A decent burger mix needs no
binder or filler. I like 15% minimum fat content.
Mine get Worchestershire, garlic, onion, seasoning salt and sometimes
some other goodies, depending on how I feel.
I also like thin patties, around 1/4 inch. Slap them on a hot grill and let
them cook until juices run out the top. Don't worry about flame up unless
it is excessive.
Flip them once and give them about 1 minute less than they had on the
first side.
Move to indirect heat and put the cheese on. Close the grill and let
the cheese melt a bit...... eat!

 

[legend_018]

My MIL recently bought me one of those patty makers, it forms the patty for you. It's pretty cool. MY DH likes his burgers made with

one egg
some breadcrumbs
worcester sauce or steak sauce
salt
pepper
garlic

 

[ironchef]

College cook is on the right track. The best burgers start with the best quality of meat. For example, after we trim all of the wagyu that we use at work, guess where all the scraps go? Yup, kobe sliders baby.

 

[ironchef]

For my last meal, I will take the special that one of my co-workers did a few weeks ago. It was called "Loco Moco, Liver and Onions" and it was a Kobe beef hamburger steak with a quail egg and Marchand di Vin, and piece of seared foie gras with a confit of cipollini onions and chocolate-port sauce. That was an unbelievable dish, which was basically a play on two traditional comfort foods, one that's classic American and one that's unique to Hawaii. I offered to make him a foam for it but he declined.