How do you make a good hamburger?

[Sean Smith]

Here is the situation: I'm actually a decent cook, but I can't seem to make a really good hamburger.  I mean, they're OK, but they just don't measure up to what I'm hoping to accomplish.  I've had really good burgers, and mine ain't it.

I've tried 85/15% ground round and 90/10% ground sirloin for the meat.  I'm using fairly high heat, but not overcooking them, and they aren't dried out at all, but they are kind of bland.  I'm not getting that really good beef flavor, even though I'm using the "better" varieties of really fresh ground beef.  In fact, they tend to be kind of watery on the inside... not that nice, flavorful juciness you get in a really good burger, which is different.

I'm sure somebody here is a burger expert.  Give me the scoop.  

[J.J.]

I just use a good grade of meat.. atleast 85 usually 90/10.  Sprinkle some Season all (season salt) on it.  a Little gralic, little onion powder and a dash of pepper (do this to both sides). Sometimes knead Worchestershire sauce into the meat...(before adding all of the said flavorings...)   Grill till its cooked to your taste.

[Standing Wolf]

Buy some chuck steak. Trim off most of the fat. Chop it or run it through a hand grinder. Grill it over charcoal with mesquite chips. Top with very sharp cheddar cheese, mushrooms, onions, et cetera.

I've used everything from tenderloin to brisket for hamburgers. Chuck steak actually has the best flavor.

The bun is actually trickier than the patty. Bread dough doesn't do the trick. When I lived not far south of San Francisco, I used to buy sourdough and/or cracked wheat kaiser rolls from Andronico's that were pretty good. I sometimes make a double batch of pizza dough and use it for buns. If you can find short French baguettes, you can shape patties to fit.

[Ben]

The bun is

Buns neither meat nor cheese....

[45r]

I use 12% fat hamburger meat. Add green onions, onions, fresh garlic and fresh ground pepper. Mix it all up and throw on the grill.

[cfabe]

Try mixing in some ground lamb in with the beef, thats one of my dad's tricks. I've had people put onion soup mix in with the meat if you want to give it some flavor. I prefer some good swiss cheese on my burgers, along with sauteed mushrooms and a little ketchup and mayo.

[kudu]

I like to mix the seasonings into the burger and add Worchestershire to the mix.  I get the pan real hot and add bacon grease to sear the sides of the burgers and then slow cook them.

[K Frame]

You need fat for a good hamburger.

Most people go with meat that's simply too lean.

Ground sirloin with regular hamburger mixed in, 2/3 to 1/3 ratio, works well.

You also want a coarse grind, and DON'T compress the meat together into a wad. Gently pat it together.

If I'm being purist, the only thing I put on my burgers before cooking its a little salt and pepper.

If I'm being a little adventurous, I sprinkle them with Old Bay.

If I'm out of my mind, I'll add chopped onion and garlic, bread crumbs, an egg, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, basil, parsley, Worcestshire or Squid brand fish sauce, etc.

Grill over charcoal with a chunk of hickory added.

[Werewolf]

85/15 stuff borders on being a bit lean but works if cooked right.

Here's how I do it. Mix chili powder, garlic, black pepper and sugar with some soy or terriyaki sauce and make a paste. Thoroughly rub the patties with the paste.

Use a tall cylinder shaped smoker and start a hickory or mesquite (I prefer mesquite myself though hickory is good too) fire in the bottom. When the flames die down to about 1 or 2 inches and you've got lotsa smoke throw the patties on the grill about 2 feet higher than the flames and close up the smoker.

Let 'em cook for about 30 to 40 minutes (if they cook faster than that then you've got too much flame) until the outside of the burgers are a deep, rich rhoane color.

Serve with sourdough buns or some other heavy bread - NOT a regular hamburger bun - with hot and spicy pickles and thinly sliced onion. No need for mustard, mayonaise or catsup (anyone who puts catsup on a hamburger is - well - I won't say it - it's just too bad for polite society).

[Sean Smith]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Keep 'em coming!

The thing is, where I used to live you could get pre-made ground sirloin patties that weren't too lean and gave you GREAT burgers.  But I'm about 2,000 miles from there, and my attempts to reproduce those burgers have failed.  

I like using good crusty Kaiser rolls, cut 'em in half and brown the insides in a little butter on a gridde (a la a grilled cheese sandwich).  Otherwise, the better the burger, the less condiments & such you need to add.

[JAlexander]

I like to use an 80/20 mix ground chuck, myself.  Salt, ground pepper, worcesterchire, and if I'm feeling crazy, some garlic and/or mustard powder.  Sear in a cast iron skillet, and there you go.

James

[Brad Johnson]

I tried everything, including ground sirloin, and couldn't get a burger to my satisfaction. That is until one night when the only thing the store had was some 75/25 generic stuff. I figured "What the heck". Throw in some salt, pepper, worchestershire, and...

WOW!!

Never again will I be a ground beef snob. It's the cheap stuff for me! It cooks up great, doesn't fall apart, and has plenty of flavor. I experimented a bit and found that it's better to make the patties a little thin, as they thicken slightly as they cook and contract. Make them a little oversize. Medium heat until cooked through and then a quick sear for some added flavor.

Also, liberally butter your HB buns before toasting to keep them from drying. Also adds flavor.

Brad

[mhdishere]

Agreed, high fat content, you're gonna lose a lot of the fat when you grill it anyway.  Heat the grill first, get the puppy GOOD and HOT.  Put the burger on, then leave it for a while.  Don't turn it, don't poke it, don't prod it for a couple minutes at least.  When you can push it with the spatula and it slides on the grill, then and only then do you turn it.  Do the same thing on the other side.  Once done on both sides, add cheese.

My old girlfriends mother never turned the valve on the grill more than 1/4 turn and cooked everything on low.  Everything that came off that grill was dry and tasteless.  I on the other hand cook everything on high, heat the grill good beforehand, and sear everything.  Even my pork chops are nice and juicy.  Old GF's mother swore you couldn't cook pork chops on the grill without drying them out.

[Brrlgrrl]

Our trick- 1/2 beef, 1/2 buffalo -we keep it pure(no onion,soup mix, etc.) only salt & pepper.
Sounds nasty-works great!

[K Frame]

"Heat the grill first, get the puppy GOOD and HOT.  Put the burger on, then leave it for a while.  Don't turn it, don't poke it, don't prod it for a couple minutes at least. "

That's the way I like to do my burgers and my steaks. A good, hard, crusty sear is wonderful. After all, what's a hamburger but a steak that's had an industrial accident?

I like to sear them on both sides over a rocket hot fire, if I can manage it no more than 2 or 3 inches between meat and flame, then move them off to the other side of the grill for a few minutes at indirect heat to finish cooking to the doneness level I want.



"Also, liberally butter your HB buns before toasting to keep them from drying. Also adds flavor."

No no no! I like the crunch of a flash toasted bun. That's the secret, you flash toast the buns over the hottest spot of the fire. If the fire is right, you can toast a bun in 30 seconds, which isn't enough time for the bun to dry out.

[roo_ster]

There are lots of ways to make good burgers.  I learned a couple more ust reading this thread.

MEAT:
How lean your meat should be depends on WHY you are cooking in the first place.

If it is just for yourself & significant other at home & you want to keep the calories down, sirloin or the specialty lean ground beef is the way to go.  Tastes pretty good, without the greasy baggage.

If it is for a party, go for ground chuck.  Much juicier & tastier burgers.

ADDITIVES:
Here, there are all sorts of creative ways to produce a tasty burger.  

My old standby:
1# ground meat
1 med onion, chopped
1 egg
Enough bread crumbs to make the mix less goopy ("goopy" is a technical term)

Another:
1# ground meat
1 packet generic onion soup mix
1 egg

COOKING METHOD:
Some say gas, some say charcoal, some say wood.

I say, "Why are you cooking?"  For yourself & SO, gas is quick, but not as tasty as charcoal or wood.

I have come around the the "wood" side of the argument for parties or if I want to impress the diners.  1/2 oak, 1/2 pecan is the mix I like best.

TOPPINGS:
Knock yourself out.

My favorite is mushroms & onions sauteed in real butter with a slice of swiss on top.

Generally, the more extravagant the toppings, the simpler the additives.

[Wingshooter]

Alton Brown is the only TV personality that has never let me down.  Good Eats is a fantastic show that should be required watching for all young men before they go out on their own.  Unfortunately his show didn't come about until I was much older, but I still enjoy seeing alternative cooking methods that he recommends.

This is a fantastic hamburger:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_13959_PRINT-RECIPE-FULL-PAGE,00.html

I still enjoy cooking on the grill, especially my Guinness burgers, but I like his a bit more.

[K Frame]

I'm a big fan of Alton Brown, too. I met him a couple of months ago at a book signing here in Northern Virginia. Funny guy.

MTNBKR and his wife first told me about him, and I have to admit I sort of poo'd poo'd the concept of just another cooking show.

Boy was I wrong. I started watching his show, and over the past year or so have been changing the way I approach cooking. I've made major revisions to things that I learned from my mother and grandmother, and in turn have been showing them to Mom, and she's changing the way she cooks, too.

[Jamisjockey]

I like greasy burgers myself.  If I make it myself, I buy a tube of the ground beef, and my favorite way to build a burger is as follows:
2lbs ground beef
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms, sauted
1 cup finely chopped onions, sauted
1 cup red and green peppers, finely chopped, sauted
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1/2 cup catsup
Mix ingredients, seperate and press into approx 1/4lb patties (makes 8ish).  
Optional:  Wrap each patty with bacon around the outside.

[TarpleyG]

Add some of that Lipton Onion Soup mix to the hamburger meat and mix it in before making the patties.  That's what we do.  Turns out pretty good.

Greg

[theCZ]

I learned my method from two guys from the grilling heartland of America (northern midwest).  It's pretty easy to do, and makes an amazing product:

-charcoal grill, the charcoal has burned down so no flames are spouting up, and the coals are a dull grey and hot.
-handformed beef patties (I do not remember the fat content or type of meat though)
-Grill patty until juice/blood starts coming off the top, turn and do the same thing.

For extra goodness, throw some onions on a small cast-iron frying pan on the grill and grill the onions.

This has worked for me everytime, I haven't ordered a burger from a resturant once since the year I started grilling with charcoal.

[P5 Guy]

To ground chuck I add an egg, finely chopped onion, a little ketchup and mustard, a little Picca Peppa (tm) sauce, some oatmeal. If the mix seems too wet I use some more oatmeal or bread crumbs. The mix should be just moist enuogh to stick together. Throw 'em on a hot grill and turn them over once. Fix with what you like on a 'buger.

[HForrest]

Rare, rare, rare. Rare is the only way to cook a burger for best taste. Just because one fast food chain had a problem with E Coli, everyone is scared of undercooked meat. I use high quality beef- generally lean sirloin- and I'm not worried about it. Hell, the French eat ground beef raw.

I generally salt and pepper both sides, and pan cook it on medium-high heat until it comes to a lightly cooked but pink throughout most of the burger state.

[Smoke]

Cheapest meat is usuall the best meat due to the high fat content.  Those big plastic tubes where you can't even see the product will usually give you the best burger.

I prefer my hamburger patty to be a little on the thin side.  Just tastes better.  Just make sure the patty is a good 1/2 wider than the bun before cookiing.

Salt, pepper, maybe a little garlic. Anything else is just a cover up for bad beef.  Cook over charcoal or real wood.

And one little secret that my Maternal Grandpa taught me.  When cooking outside, you absolutely must have a beer in your hand.

Good luck.

Smoke

[enfield]

For me, I use 10-15% fat ground beef, and flame-broil it over medium heat without letting it dry out.  That's  90% of the process -- the rest is seasoning.  I'm fond of Worcestershire, salt, pepper and garlic powder, and occasionally a little Mrs. Dash.

Does anyone remember the Lum's restaurant chain and the Ollie burger they used to serve?  Best restaurant burger I ever ate.  Miller's Bar in Dearborn has great burgers, but they don't hold a candle to an Ollie.