How to make the perfect burger?

PlacidCasual said:
I have found a burger press improves the texture and cook because you get a nice air pocket free even shaped burger.

Personally I add finely diced onion and roasted sweet pepper. I like to add sal, pepper, cumin and smoked paprika to the mix.

I agree with the comments on beef and cooking methods above. 20% fat an cook nice and hot don't flip too early or too often.
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A burger press definitely helps get a consistent texture, thickness, cooking surface and size/shape.
 
The perfect burger should only have meat in it, I've never added eggs or anything to mine, just shaped minced beef into patties and fried with a little oil.
 
Oh dear... I finely chop red onions and herbs and chuck that in the mince, season and then mash together, form the burgers and refrigerate for an hour or two. I must be a heathen but they are lovely :)

If you press your thumb deep into the middle of the burger and create an indent before cooking they do not shrink as much.
 
I've got a tip for getting a good meat mix for your burger patties if you don't have access to a good butcher or your own meat grinder.

Grab a brisket joint from the supermarket, cut it into smallish cubes and the stick it in the freezer for a bit to get it nice and firm. Then chuck the cubes into your food processor and whazz them up a bit until you get a mince consistency. If the brisket joint didn't look sufficiently fatty you can add some bone marrow to the mix (if you can get hold of it), or failing that - beef suet.

PS - I think it's more useful to buy a proper food ring and press rather than a single function device like a burger press.

PPS - I think eggs are one of the few worthy additions to a burger meat mix. It lets you get away with a looser (ie, more tender) patty without having to worry as much about it falling apart when you flip it.
 
Lt_Red said:
Oh dear... I finely chop red onions and herbs and chuck that in the mince, season and then mash together, form the burgers and refrigerate for an hour or two. I must be a heathen but they are lovely :)

If you press your thumb deep into the middle of the burger and create an indent before cooking they do not shrink as much.
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I'm with you. If I want just really good quality meat I have a steak. To me the advantage of the burger is that you can add in other flavours. Mustard and Parsley go into mine, plus normally some filler to retain the fat.
 
I see it as a good burger should already be good without any additives like egg, spices, onion, but if you add them you can get an even better burger. The basics need to be good, otherwise the rest is just masking poor foundations. Like Pizza, you really need that base to be that proper Napoli wood-fired oven crispy yet chewy base that can stand up by itself without any toppings.

I frequently add fine chopped onion, all spice and some herbs to my burgers, or I go more spicy with some diced Jalapeno or habenero.
 
i played with making burgers a fair bit last year, these were for bbqing.

We were going for a tasty burger with a good kick of heat.

Steak mince, salt pepper and a few dried herbs, finely diced onion, finley diced garlic, binded with nandos medium chilli sauce, and some chillis added for taste. They were dam good but found you need a good bit of salt and peper of they come out a bit bland
 
So I finally gave the smashed burger approach a whirl. They were pretty damn good, although they did fill my house with smoke (and made me think I need to check my smoke detectors are working...).

I'll definitely be making them again and will give the BBQ ones a try at the weekend.
 
Beef mince, salt. Don't mess. Smash into patty. Annihilate outside on a griddle leaving the middle slightly pink. Place inside a warmed bun with cheap burger cheese, pickles and ketchup. S'all you need :D
 
Jonny69 said:
Beef mince, salt. Don't mess. Smash into patty. Annihilate outside on a griddle leaving the middle slightly pink. Place inside a warmed bun with cheap burger cheese, pickles and ketchup. S'all you need :D
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That is pretty much exactly what I did :D Worked a treat.
 
The above video was really meant to showcase the new baking steel/griddle product that Kenji is spamming at the moment. If I had a decent hob I'd be all over it.
 
Yup, same here at the moment.

I'm going to see if I can find some kind of really heavy bottomed copper pan though I think (possibly tri-ply). My hob is utterly rubbish and I'm fed up with the hotspots I get with my cast iron pan.
 
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