My Best Burger Recipe

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Late last fall, we purchased a quarter call. At the time, I was sad as the butcher shop made us quite a bit of ground beef. Now, I'm glad he did.

I took a 1/3 lb. chunk of ground beef and made it into what could easily be part of a summertime feast. It was a crazy-good piece of cooked meat, with all the flavor I could ever hope for from ground beef. The seasoning was simple. The cooking technique was simple. So good that condiments and bun were not required. It ate like tender, juicy steak. So the question is: how did I do it? The answer is: Keep is simple.

Ingredients:
1/3 lb. 75/45 blend of ground round
2 pinches Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp. coarse grind, freshly ground, black pepper

Preheat a heavy frying pan on the stove, or fire up the grill.
Form the ground beef into a loose ball. Begin flattening it into a four inch disk by pressing your palms together, while at the same time, using your thumbs to keep the disk edge intact. Turn the pattie a little in your hands and again squish it a little, still using your thumbs to make that perfect edge.

Repeat this squish/turn process until the pattie is about 3/8ths' inch thick. Make sure the pattie is slightly thinner in the middle than at the sides, so that as it shrinks while cooking, it will become an even thickness all the way across. Now, sprinkle a light pinch of the salt over one side of the uncooked burger. Sprinkle half of the pepper evenly over the same. Place the burger, seasoned side down, onto the hot pan surface. The heat should be set at medium-high.

While the first side is cooking, season the other side with salt and black pepper. Cook the first side for three minutes. then flip and cook the other side for three more minutes. Remove to a plate and let rest for one minute more. Enjoy with your favorite sides.

Oh, have napkins ready. That burger is juicy and full of flavor, just like a good steak.

If you're cooking the burgers on the grill, pre-form the burgers and season one side of them. Place them on the hot grill land season the other side. Again, cook for about three minutes per side. Remove and let rest.

Ok, you can use bread and condiments if you must. Myself, if you have really good ground beef, and season lightly, and cook until just barely done, the completed burger can stand on its own.

Just think, when you've mastered that burger, you can branch out and hit it with a compound butter, or top it with some sliced mushrooms, or even a great meat sauce. Me, I think I'm going to quit putting my burgers between buns. Sooooo good.


Seeeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[taxlady]

Funny, I just recently decided to quit putting my burgers between buns too. So far, I have had one burger that way. Hamburger steak, that's what it is.

 

[Andy M.]

75/45 blend. That must be a special order.

So, beef + salt + pepper + hot fire = Tasty Burger.

Got it.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

75/45 blend. That must be a special order.

So, beef + salt + pepper + hot fire = Tasty Burger.

Got it.

If you use 70/30, put a raw egg per pound of ground beef. It will keep it from shrinking and deforming in the middle as much.

80/20 is just too dry.

And Andy, I know you're already an expert at this, you too, Taxy.

I've just recently rediscovered that most food, when cooked right, has all the flavor and texture you need without fussing a lot over it. We won't go into my badly burned steaks on the 4th. That just wasn't cooked right.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[taxlady]

Well, I figured "75/45" was a typo or a braino, since the 2 and the 4 are not near each other.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Well, I figured "75/45" was a typo or a braino, since the 2 and the 4 are not near each other.

Me make a mistake! I don't make mlistakes, or tipoes either. My speling is inacurate, and my typink is prefect. You no that. Besides, I expect my hamburger to give me 120%, just like I give at work.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[puffin3]

I use ground beef from Highland cattle which is pretty much fat free. One pound of the ground beef>4 tbsp of melted clarified butter gently hand mixed into the beef>seasoned well>into hot heavy frying pan>in about fifteen seconds gently turn>continue to turn every 15 seconds until my experience tells me the burger is cooked to slightly above rare then rested. I use Heston Blumenthal's method of cooking the perfect steak (as shown on Youtube) when frying burgers.
IMO and millions of others HB's steak/burger method is the surest way to frying meat to perfection.
I dream of having a steak or burger at the Fat Duck some day.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

If you use 70/30, put a raw egg per pound of ground beef. It will keep it from shrinking and deforming in the middle as much.

80/20 is just too dry...

I dunno. I almost always use 90% lean ground beef for grilled burgers and they never turn out dry. Himself grills them, pretty much ignoring them until he remembers they need flipping. Never turn out dry. Must be the chef's doing.

Seriously, I DO use 90/10. All I add, per pound, is one egg and a small handful of dry bread crumbs. I form the patties, put them on a baking sheet and freeze, then store in the freezer (separated by sheets of waxed paper) in a zip bag until we want some. Maybe they stay moist because of the egg. Maybe because they went on frozen (we've never had a bloody center, nor have gotten sick, so I guess we're doing OK). Or maybe it's the meat - our little corner grocery store grinds all their beef blends in-house, several times each day.

 

[roadfix]

Often times I just use romaine lettuce as a carrier instead of buns.

 

[taxlady]

Often times I just use romaine lettuce as a carrier instead of buns.

Thank you for the reminder. I have used lettuce instead of a bun and liked it.

 

[RPCookin]

I'm too much of a traditionalist. I had my first remembered restaurant hamburger at the Malt Shoppe in White Bear Lake MN in the 1950's (on the menu it was a California Hamburger, I guess because California first put lettuce, tomato and onion on a burger?). When I was about 11-13 years old we had supper there most Friday evenings after grocery shopping, and I always had that burger with a chocolate malt - just thinking about it makes my mouth water. That sort of conditioned my taste for what I've always considered a proper hamburger sandwich.

For me a hamburger needs dressing up, no matter how good the meat might be, and a good bun is essential. At an absolute minimum, ketchup and a slice of raw yellow or white onion. Better is both of those plus lettuce, tomato, just a dab of yellow mustard on the bottom with the ketchup, and the top bun spread with Miracle Whip. I don't care for dill pickles, so I will leave them off, or sometimes remove them if the burger comes so equipped, however they do not ruin the experience for me.

I also like cheeseburgers - pepper jack is my fav, but American, Swiss or cheddar work well too, and deep fried onion straws or rings, bacon, B-B-Q sauce, a good black peppercorn sauce are all good - not necessarily all at the same time. Don't care for any sort of bleu cheese on a burger, although it can be good on other sandwiches.

That's my burger story.

 

[FrankZ]

I am a fan of keeping my burgers simple. Salt and pepper (though I sometimes use cayenne instead of black pepper).

I don't find lean beef dry, unless it is overcooked. I like my burgers done medium rare to, maybe, medium.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Just my opinion, but if you like burgers done more on the medium rare side, then leaner ground beef is the way to go. Biting into a burger with a lot of undercooked (and unrendered) fat in the middle isn't a pleasant thing.

However, if you're cooking them any more than medium, then the fattier ground beef is the way to go, because the fat will keep it moist. I like 70/30 myself.

It's all a matter of personal taste. I really love medium rare steak, but I tend to cook burgers more medium well, and without any pink (but certainly not well done).

I'm surprised no one talks much about the cuts of beef used for making burgers. I find it's pretty important for flavor. My favorite is a 50:50 blend of chuck and sirloin. My dad, who was a butcher by trade, swore that brisket made the best tasting ground beef for hamburgers. I have to admit his burgers were always top notch, but he ground all of the beef himself that he brought home for the family. I just don't usually have the time or inclination to buy a brisket and grind it, though, and I find the sirloin/chuck combo works good enough for me.

Also, does anyone else feel like most stores over-grind their burger meat? Some of the stuff I've bought over the years (especially that bulk stuff which is sold in a tube) is more like meat paste than ground beef. If you over-grind the meat, your burgers come out like hockey pucks.

 

[Addie]

That ground meat in a tube looks just plain nasty to me. I grind my meat on the large holes first. If I feel that it is too big, I will regrind it and put the smaller hole plate on the grinder. But I am really happy with just the first grind. I do prefer to grind my own meat. And I do it mostly with a London Broil. If I come across a piece of beef on sale that I know to be on the tough side, I will buy it and give it a second grind. I just love Manager's Specials. It took a while to convince Spike the best time to look for MS is the day after the week's flyer ended and the new one starts. They cover the "best sold by" date up with the Manager's Special label. The best date was yesterday or at best today's. Take it home, grind it up, toss it in the freezer and you have some very tasty hamburger meat. Just don't let it sit around in the fridge for very long.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

That ground meat in a tube looks just plain nasty to me. I grind my meat on the large holes first. If I feel that it is too big, I will regrind it and put the smaller hole plate on the grinder. But I am really happy with just the first grind. I do prefer to grind my own meat. And I do it mostly with a London Broil. If I come across a piece of beef on sale that I know to be on the tough side, I will buy it and give it a second grind. I just love Manager's Specials. It took a while to convince Spike the best time to look for MS is the day after the week's flyer ended and the new one starts. They cover the "best sold by" date up with the Manager's Special label. The best date was yesterday or at best today's. Take it home, grind it up, toss it in the freezer and you have some very tasty hamburger meat. Just don't let it sit around in the fridge for very long.

I had a cheap grinder that I broke, and haven't yet replaced. I miss it. I look for the darker meat, that's just a little dry, knowing that most of the people won't buy it. It's cheaper, and is dry aged, increasing its flavor, and giving it a better texture. DW used to turn her nose up at it when she first saw me doing that. She no looks for it as well. It's better meat, and cheaper too. As for burgers, I'd like to try grinding up a brisket. I'm looking for that good, iron flavor that comes with great beef. Most beef is pretty bland anymore, at lest from the supermarkets. I like bold flavors. Even my beloved rib-eyes don't have as much flavor. I've heard it rumored that the beef industry has purposely been breed the beef for milder flavor. I guess that's why I like beef heart. It still has a rich, beef flavor. I wonder what kind of burgers it would make.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[taxlady]

I had a cheap grinder that I broke, and haven't yet replaced. I miss it. I look for the darker meat, that's just a little dry, knowing that most of the people won't buy it. It's cheaper, and is dry aged, increasing its flavor, and giving it a better texture. DW used to turn her nose up at it when she first saw me doing that. She no looks for it as well. It's better meat, and cheaper too. As for burgers, I'd like to try grinding up a brisket. I'm looking for that good, iron flavor that comes with great beef. Most beef is pretty bland anymore, at lest from the supermarkets. I like bold flavors. Even my beloved rib-eyes don't have as much flavor. I've heard it rumored that the beef industry has purposely been breed the beef for milder flavor. I guess that's why I like beef heart. It still has a rich, beef flavor. I wonder what kind of burgers it would make.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Chewy. That's a guess based on burgers I made with moose meat. I was using tougher bits of the moose for burger. They were delicious, but very chewy.

 

[Janet H]

I'm surprised no one talks much about the cuts of beef used for making burgers. I find it's pretty important for flavor. My favorite is a 50:50 blend of chuck and sirloin.

Opinion here from the vegetarian peanut gallery - I don't eat the stuff but I do cook it and use exactly the same blend. I ask the local grocery store butcher to grind this for me with a little ice..

The ground beef gets seasoned with a little worcestershire and lemon pepper, then GENTLY form the patties avoiding overworking the grind (which can make the end result too dense). Then they rest for a couple of hours in the fridge before grilling them up. Toasted buns, a slab of garden tomato and fixins and it's a guaranteed party.

These burgers get rave reviews and I think it's because of the meat.

 

[liliedu13]

my favourite is chicken buger

 

[Markf]

For me, home ground chuck is my favorite. I like to grind it coarser than store bought. I also make my own homemade buns. I do both on the same day with the burgers grilled to medium using whole wood lump charcoal.

The other thing I like about grinding my own meat is I know what's in it and am not afraid to cook to medium rare/medium. It is recommended that store bought burger be cook to 165F. Way to much for me.....

I prefer traditional toppings, lettuce, tomato, pickles etc.

 

[Addie]

I like to add a small amount of milk to my ground meat. Let the ground meat sit in order for the milk to do its magic. The enzymes in the milk help to tenderize the beef. A side benefit is that the meat is juicier than it would normally be.