Hamburgers

[jeff]

This recipe is for 2, 6 oz patties.

6oz Chuck or other cheap fatty meat. cut into 1" cubes
6oz leaner nicer cuts of meat, ny strip, sirloin... cut into 1" cubes
Kosher Salt
Pepper
a good quality roll
toppings of choice

Tools needed, meat grinder or food processor

When making any burgers, you really do not want to have any meat leaner then 70%, while it maybe have more fat, the fat is what makes for a juicy burger. It's one of those things, if you're going to eat one, eat it the right way.

With that being said, you really can use any meats you want, For the pictures in this recipe I used porter house and sirloin. Since I didn't want it to be too lean, I cut up the fat from the porter house and added that into my mix. Why would someone use a steak like porter house in a burger and not eat it straight? because Safeway had them on sale for $4.99 a lb and I already ate 2 this week. :p

It's not uncommon if your local store grinds their own meat, it's a mix of everything they trimmed that day, from tenderloin to chuck. so it's not uncommon to get some great meats in a preground package, as long as the package doesn't say "ground chuck" but even with good meats, if they were ground 2-3-4-5 days before.... no thanks. Fresh ground is with out a doubt, the best way to go.

Start off by cutting your meat into 1" cubes. If using a meat grinder, run the meat through it and you're done. However, if you're like most Americans, and do not have a meat grinder, pull out your food processor.
Start out by placing 6 oz of meat into the food processor and use the pulse button, hitting it 8-12 times for just under a second each time. remove meat and finish the other half of the meat.
If you do not have a food processor, ask the butcher at the store to grind your meat.

Once the meat is done, pick through it and pull out any pieces that did not get chopped down well. If there's any bits of fat squeeze them and if they're soft, they should easily cooked down to yummy juice so you can leave them, however if they're very hard, just pull them out. You can see all the pieces that did not make it during my inspection.

once that's done, give your meat a good covering with kosher salt (see picture) I'm guessing its about 1 tsp worth maybe more. then carefully mix the meat using your fingertips! Again be as careful as you can. once the meat is mixed up, setup two piles of meat, both should be 6oz each. Being as gently as you can, move the meat from your left hand to your right slightly forming it, then place it on a plate and lightly push down and then place your hands around the sides to being any split edges back together.

Notice in the picture that the burger isn't mushed together, it's just to the point of holding up with out falling apart. at this point I want to pepper both sides of the burger, and place it on a med to med/high pan.
Depending on your stove you should set your timer to 3 or 4 minutes each side. Once your burger is on the stove (or grill) do not touch it!!!!! as soon as the timer goes off, carefully flip the burger, if you want cheese, now is the time to add it, again let the burger cook with out moving it, pushing down on it, poking it, or doing ANYTHING to it, just let it sit, it's not that hard to do!

Once the timer goes off, pull the burgers off and place them on a plate to rest.

While the burgers are resting, place your roll on the grill/pan and heat them up. who doesn't like a nice soft bun? If it's a big bun, you could place them an your oven while the burgers were cooking, or if you're eating them ASAP place the bun in the microwave to soften them up then place them on the grill/pan to get some nice grill marks and toast the inside. Just note, if you do put the buns in the microwave, if they're not eating right away they'll turn chewy.

Then top as you please.

A tip from Alton Brown, when building your burger, line the bottom of the bun with a light coat of mayo, this acts as a barrier and helps keep the juices from making your bottom bun soggy.

So with that being said, start off with a thin
layer of mayo, then... in this order if you can.
lettuce,
burger
pickle
tomato
onion
must/ketchup (if you like a lot, add it to both top bun and bottom bun)
bun top.

I work with building subs at my job, and for some reason having foods in this order is really good, I don't know if its the way each item reaches your mouth, but it just works.

So to recap.

Do use a mix of fatty and good meats
Do grind your own meat if you can or chop it in a food processor.
Do let your burgers rest 2-3 minutes before serving.
Do use a timer to get a nice even cook on both sides.

Don't over work your meat.
Don't touch, poke, squeeze, over handle your beef while it's cooking.
Don't use any pre ground beef that's over 70% lean

Has anyone made burgers before where the centers pop when they're cooked? My moms burgers use to turn into meat balls.
This happens when you over work the meat! Again do not over work the meat, and as you can see in the pictures the burgers wont rise a bit!

If you have a food processor, it really doesn't take a lot of time to make good burgers, Figure about 10-15 minutes from dicing the meat to placing them on the grill. while the burgers are cooking you can easily cut off your toppings.

NOTE The rolls I like to use are better suited for a larger burger, closer to the 8-10 oz range. however, for this recipe I wanted to make a more usable sized burger for the avg joe. That's why the burgers look tiny on those rolls =)

[jeff]

,.,.,

[Dustin_m]

it looked so good I had to make a couple...

[Jared]

That does look really good. What kind of meats did you use?

[Dustin_m]

They were made with fresh ground 20% fat. I just buy the stuff they grind from the scraps of meat. I worked in the meat dept at Vons, where I buy all my meat, and from what I've seen, the scrap bins are mostly made up of top sirloin. It usually doesn't last on the shelf more than a couple hours before being sold, so it's always fresh.

[jeff]

Originally Posted by Dustin_m

They were made with fresh ground 20% fat. I just buy the stuff they grind from the scraps of meat. I worked in the meat dept at Vons, where I buy all my meat, and from what I've seen, the scrap bins are mostly made up of top sirloin. It usually doesn't last on the shelf more than a couple hours before being sold, so it's always fresh.

To our users, make sure you ask if they grind the meat fresh, I for one will NEVER use ground beef again unless I know for sure it was ground only hours before being package.

IMO it makes a big difference. One taste like "ground beef" where the other taste like a ground up steak.