I'm going to make burgers for the first time. Any advice on how to make them really good? I want them juicy and full of flavor, not burnt to a crisp and flavorless.
Also, thinking about trying to make my own burger buns. Is that advisable? I don't want to make a huge mess.
Going to bringing some other possible condiments, such as grilled onions and mushrooms. Any suggestions as to what I should add besides the standard stuff?
If you're going to make your own buns do it the day prior to cooking the burger unless you have a sweat shop full of asians cooking you bread.
>Don't pack the meat too hard
>Worcestershire
>Salt
>Pepper
Also remember a burger is not a meatloaf...any flavor, jalapenos, onions, pickles etc should be ON the burger and not IN the burger...newfags make that mistake all the time. Cheese is up to you. Enjoy your burger OP.
>putting onions or peppers in the burgers makes you a newfag
Guess how I can tell you're a dumbfuck millennial?
Alright, I won't make my own buds tonight then. Anyway to make them better? Cause I'm tired of them being so dry and bland. Can I coat them with something and then lightly toast them on the grill or something?
Also, I prefer My patty to be more flat instead of round. How do I make that way without packing the meat too hard?
Also, what's Worcestershire?
For burgers, I use pretty fatty meat and mix in salt, pepper, and garlic. That's it. If you overwork/overmix the meat, it won't stay together.
Making your own buns is overkill, just find some fresh bread rolls if specialty hamburger buns are not a thing where you live. A ciabatta roll or any fresh sandwich-sized bread should work great.
Ooh! I forgot to ask! Any special sauce recipes? I'd love to have something that mixes well with mushrooms and grilled onions!
Not OP but in the past when I've made burgers depending on how fatty the meat is sometimes the meat doesn't hold together once ive added the seasoning and mixed the mince together. Normally I just pan fry the burgers 2 at a time. If they break apart or are dry is that because I overcooked or meat was too lean or what?
I've also seen recipes on the Web with people adding flour or breadcrumbs or egg to the beef mince to help with consistency. Is there ever a real need for that?
Don't squish the burgers with your spatula. Use a thermometer if you're clueless when they're done but you can check the sides of the burger to tell. Use fresh ground meat. I think 85/15 is supposed to be ideal. 6-8 ozs is a good size. Don't be a fag and throw a bunch of veggies in the meat. You're trying to cook it evenly, and not have the patty fall apart.
What the heck is wrong with using olive oil?! I don't understand why it matters so much! I'm going to go out and buy some other container of oil when my olive oil works just fine.
Different oils have different suitabilities for different temperatures (as well as imparting different flavors)
Olive oil is terrible for high heat and a lot of people don't pay attention to that and fuck up their dishes.
So, let's say I use olive oil. What temperature should I put my stop top on to keep it properly heated? Medium? High? Somewhere in between?
*stove
>So, let's say I use olive oil
Let's say you don't.
If you use olive oil you'd have to keep it at medium, maybe medium-high to prevent it from smoking heavily and tasting like shit.
But then you're going to get either undercooked or unevenly cooked dry burgers.
Olive oil shouldnt be used to pan fry any meats, it doesn't have the heat tolerance.
If you insist on not spending $3 on a bottle of canola oil then consider broiling instead
Okay, fine. I'll get Canola oil. Do I keep it on medium to medium-high then?
When the oil smokes ever so slightly. Depending on your stove and what kind of pan, medium high to high.
I have a burner stove, and I'll be using a cast iron pan. I love cast iron.
In terms of seasoning anything more than salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder is overkill imo. I like to use a fattier ratio (75:25 chuck with a bit of short rib and extra fat, nothing fancy) since I cook my burgers to medium-well. Gives me a really nice crust while still staying moist. As for buns fuck brioche. It falls apart a few bites in and becomes a mess. If you have access to them martin's potato buns are god tier. On the topic of toppings and condiments, less is more. Don't overload your burger with a ton of shit. Go for 2-4 toppings that compliment eachother without drowning the actual beef out. For example a few weeks ago I used cream cheese, cherry tomatos, fried vidalia onions, and spinach. Seems like much but the flavors were mild and blended nicely. It wasn't some bacon-sriracha-kimchi-bbq abomination. Ultimately, you'll develop your own techniques and tastes with time./blog
Can recommend bruno albouze brioche buns, work them a bit more than the recipe says.
Dont worry about the patties, even with shitty supermarket ground beef they are better than at fast food chains, evth else is a step up.
I disagree, adding different spices like cayenne or paprika to the beef really bring some heat to your burger.
This video helped me a lot, check it out:
guess how i can tell your burgers are shit
>Olive oil is terrible for high heat
In what world do you live in where this is true? What do you define as high heat?
>such as grilled onions and mushrooms
What sort of 'tard grills the onions and mushrooms? They're supposed to be fried on the griddle along with the burger.
Yeh it's all preference. When I want heat I opt for jalapenos or a simple hot sauce like el yucateco or something.
I don't meant like those slices of onions you put on the burger, all big and round. I'm talking about shredded bits of caramelized onions.
> buns
Yeah, it's not hard. Brioche-type enriched buns are the way to go imo. Takes a couple of hours so they should be started in the morning if you want them for dinner.
e.g. seriouseats.com
> Patty
Beef, salt, pepper. Beef should be at least 20% fat.
no egg, no breadcrumbs, preferably no onions, jalapenos or such.
olive oil is good if it's refined. The difference between refined olive and canola is only a dozen or so degrees. Don't use extra virgin, it goes bitter.
don't over handle the meat
Make sure to mix eggs, breadcrumbs, mayo, and ketchup into the meat; that is the secret to a really great burger :)
For the burger mix, i suggest a couple of eggs and breadcrumbs to hold it together as well as the usual salt, pepper, garlic and onions.
You'll want to make a ball in your hand out of meat that is smooth and then flatten it.
If cracks form on the edges then juust re-roll and flatten. Its important to take out the air pockets.
t. Cook at my small cities busiest restaurant, who made a few hundred every week
Alright guys, I already made my burger now. Now, they weren't perfect. I thought I flattened the meat out pretty well before putting them on the pan, but they still ended up turning into roundish balls.
That said, they were still really, really good. Like, better than restaurant burgers good. I rubbed in a good blend into the meat before cooking it, and I made sure to keep the juise inside as much as I could. I didn't know how to tell how well done they were though and cooked them pretty well done. There wasn't much if any pink inside of them, but they were still pretty juicy and full of flavor. My only complain is that I wish I made more of them.
guess how i can tell your chopped onions are fucking huge
It's a county in the West of England, towards Wales.
it needs to be concave, not just flat
also burgers need to be well-done, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise
Well done, sir. Get to know your stove top. Every stove is different and is a long term relationship. Once you get to know it you'll have an easier time cooking to specific temps...kinda trial and error learning.
If you're using really fatty and low quality beef (like the stuff that comes wrapped up in plastic logs) you're going to want to make the patties huge and a little thin. Like the size of a hand with fingers spread out.
Them cheap beef like to shrink and ball up when cooked, so unless if you got humongous hands don't be afraid to make the burgers bigger than usual.
Otherwise, just keep experimenting and find what works.
Worcestershire sauce, friendo.
>Not OP but in the past when I've made burgers depending on how fatty the meat is sometimes the meat doesn't hold together once ive added the seasoning and mixed the mince together. Normally I just pan fry the burgers 2 at a time. If they break apart or are dry is that because I overcooked or meat was too lean or what?
Fattier meat does hold together more better.