Cooking your best burger


 

Wayne Ficklin

TVWBB Fan
So, lately I've tried to improve the meats I cook at home. My wife & kids are fans of anything off my smoker, and I'm getting better with steaks. (I just don't cook them often enough.) Lately I've had opportunity to do more burgers and I've improved them greatly. (I've been grilling burgers since I was too young to be grilling burgers, but that doesn't mean I always knew what I was doing.)

I searched last night and picked up some good ideas, but I didn't see any mention of seasoning the meat other than salt or salt & pepper. I've been using Weber's burger seasoning & Worcestershire sauce, but wondered if anyone used anything else. What seasonings are you using and what's your best-burger-off-your-grill tips?
 
I agree, one has to keep up its grilling steaks if you really want excellence at every turn!
As for making them "special":
I like to do a "Maitre D' Hotel" butter or some other compound butter for a finishing touch.
Basically, butter, lemon zest, a splash of Worcestershire sauce, a little salt and some fresh herbs. Mix thoroughly, and reshape into a log and keep handy in the fridge, a nice slice just as you slide the steak on the plate so it melts and runs toward the baked potato! Go borrow "The Escoffier Cookbook", it's an amazing resource for "classic" recipes.
I've been using mine for forty some years and always find good basics. The venison marinade is marvelous BTW!

The huge number of sauces you can find there will make your head swim! Burgers sometimes really benefit from a fascinating sauce.
 
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Burgers for me are either fresh ground chuck or brisket only, though I have combined the two. Seasoned only with S&P. Done and Done. Anything else is moving into meatloaf territory
 
For me I use 80/20 seasoned with S&P and Worcestershire and I always cook them on a griddle on the grill.
 
My go-to is the same as yours: Weber's (or McCormick) burger seasoning and Worcestershire. For an added splash, I'll sometimes add finely chopped scallions or chives and/or a healthy dose of fresh chopped parsley. As an amateur winemaker, I often have spent, wine-soaked oak cubes around as well. A little smoke is a nice way to add another dimension. And you can even vary that up buy changing the wood: oak, pecan, hickory, cherry - all bring a different flavor to the table.
 
Barb is the burger queen in our house, she is always experimenting with new ideas and methods. Grilled or griddle, stuffed or not, smoked or no smoke, to just plain old 80/20 chuck roast grind cheese burgers. We have lots of fun trying new ideas.
I now wait for Chuck roast on sale and have it coarsely ground, makes super good burgers.
 
For burgers, other than trying to get quality meat we like to keep it pretty simple. Usually, it a grass-fed or piedmontese chuck with s&p and little lawry's on a toasted bun (both sides). Add a thick slice of cheddar with some grilled jalapeno and dinner is ready.
 
Thanks all for your input.

Current Methodology:
  • 80/20 meat
  • Mix (Weber burger) seasoning & worcestershire into meat, handling it as little and as lightly as possible
  • Use a burger press. (Presentation is important!)
  • Put the meat on preheated grill. (I've had good luck on my kettle and gasser. Kettle by a nose.)
  • Flip it once. I've been experimenting with timing. A preheated gas grill @450-ish° initially, turned down to 1 burner (from 3 for the preheat) for the cook seems to turn out a good burger at 2½ minutes a side (plus a little extra to melt the cheese).
  • Toast the bun for those who like it.
  • I rest them in the microwave until we're ready to eat, but I'm not sure how necessary it is.

Things I'd like to try:
  • Beef stock.
  • Incorporating crumbled bacon into the patty at the seasoning stage.
  • Stuffed burger of some sort. (4 kids and a wife, so I'll have to consider those.)
  • Using ¼" baking steel for crust.
  • Experiment with smash burgers I saw posted on here.
  • Determine if I want to sacrifice one of my CI skillets or pick up a new one ...or if the baking steel makes it unnecessary.
  • Improve my topping selection.

Do you see anything I'm forgetting?
 
I go direct, not necessarily thermonuclear hot but, direct.

I do both.
I preheat to ridiculousness, then back it down a bit when the burgers go on.

I definitely do 80/20 meat. Generally I push go fresh, not getting a lot of meat and freezing burgers. I hand form the patties, no press, make them pretty large with a dimple in the middle.

I liberally salt them and add pepper. I've done the weber seasoning but I go back and forth.

Buns vary. Unless we're cooking for other people, we generally don't have them in the house, and I use half a slice of toast on top and bottom.

For a special occasion we sometimes do bacon too.
 
Burgers for me are either fresh ground chuck or brisket only, though I have combined the two. Seasoned only with S&P. Done and Done. Anything else is moving into meatloaf territory

To add to this,
I cook direct, never pressed, only hand formed lightly and dimpled, and I never cover the grill. Everything else is a topping in my book. Though my wife and son like all sorts of stuff, I'm usually cheese only though I'll occasionally add a slice of pork roll.
 
When I cook on my kettle I usually don't use the baskets. The coals that close to the burgers is a recipe for a blazing inferno. I think that direct over medium heat is the way to go. You get plenty of time for the drippings to hit the coals and flavor the meat. This is why I'm not as big on cooking burgers on a griddle. You just don't get that flavor. (A griddle burger can be great though.) I only season the surface now. I used to mix in my seasoning but after reading Amazing ribs, I've learned that while salt in the meat helps retain water, it doesn't allow pockets for the fat to pool and season the meat. I've noticed a big difference after doing this. I usually just roll a loose ball and flatten the patty with my palm. I don't find this overworks the meat at all, or smears the fat. I generally cook them to medium, sometimes medium rare.
 
Thanks all for your input.

Current Methodology:
  • 80/20 meat
  • Mix (Weber burger) seasoning & worcestershire into meat, handling it as little and as lightly as possible
  • Use a burger press. (Presentation is important!)
  • Put the meat on preheated grill. (I've had good luck on my kettle and gasser. Kettle by a nose.)
  • Flip it once. I've been experimenting with timing. A preheated gas grill @450-ish° initially, turned down to 1 burner (from 3 for the preheat) for the cook seems to turn out a good burger at 2½ minutes a side (plus a little extra to melt the cheese).
  • Toast the bun for those who like it.
  • I rest them in the microwave until we're ready to eat, but I'm not sure how necessary it is.

Things I'd like to try:
  • Beef stock.
  • Incorporating crumbled bacon into the patty at the seasoning stage.
  • Stuffed burger of some sort. (4 kids and a wife, so I'll have to consider those.)
  • Using ¼" baking steel for crust.
  • Experiment with smash burgers I saw posted on here.
  • Determine if I want to sacrifice one of my CI skillets or pick up a new one ...or if the baking steel makes it unnecessary.
  • Improve my topping selection.

Do you see anything I'm forgetting?

Me & you, same page...

I use 80/20 chuck, sometimes with a bit of sirloin or brisket for flavor.

I will put chopped bacon into the meat before I form my patties, I usually use bacon that's cooked about halfway. This adds a nice flavor to my burgers. For seasoning, McCormick burger blend and a bit of Worcestershire. I like to cook over lump, direct, pretty hot. When I am feeling ambitious, I "smash" my burgers over a steel griddle.
 
I have been doing the flat iron burgers. bought a cast iron griddle for the Weber Gasser. I go 80/20 or 70/30, S/P, onion & garlic powder (now may try worcestershire). Heat the griddle to HOT, spread a little oil and CRUSH the burgers down flat to get a good sear, then flip and cover w/ either american or cheddar (cover w/ a metal lid to help melt the cheese. butter the buns and put toast on the grill. Also make a burger sauce with ketchup, mustard, and hotsauce.

Have been making that burger for a year or so and LOVE it. From time to time i will still make a thick grilled burger, but the Thin diner one is my GOTO as of late.

rb
 
I have been doing the flat iron burgers. bought a cast iron griddle for the Weber Gasser. I go 80/20 or 70/30, S/P, onion & garlic powder (now may try worcestershire). Heat the griddle to HOT, spread a little oil and CRUSH the burgers down flat to get a good sear, then flip and cover w/ either american or cheddar (cover w/ a metal lid to help melt the cheese. butter the buns and put toast on the grill. Also make a burger sauce with ketchup, mustard, and hotsauce.

Have been making that burger for a year or so and LOVE it. From time to time i will still make a thick grilled burger, but the Thin diner one is my GOTO as of late.

rb

We want pictures.
 
Direct. I also have found that the Weber seasonings are way to salty for my tastes. I like either a Chicago or Montreal Steak seasoning. There a a couple custom blends that my local spice purveyor makes that are really good, but unless you are in the Milwaukee or Chicago area you would have to order on-line.
 

 

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