How to Build a Better Burger

Probably preachin' to the choir here...but here are a couple of tips for building a better burger...

Want juicer burgers ? Want a well done burger without it being dry ? Try this:

# 1 large slice high-quality white sandwich bread , crust removed and discarded, bread chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)
# 2 tablespoons whole milk (1 or 2% works almost as well)
# 3/4 teaspoon table salt
# 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
# 2 teaspoons steak sauce , such as A-1

Mix into a slurry or paste (whatever you choose to call it). Add the mixture to 1 1/2 pounds of your favorite ground beef, gently mix the paste with the ground beef.

We've been using this technique for 5 or 6 years, since we saw it in a cooking magazine. It works great...even when well done burgers come out more juicy and tender.

Tired of your burgers looking like baseballs ?...A pretty common tip but one that bears repeating:

When you build your patties, put a medium sized "dent" in the middle...I use the bottom of a small glass and simply press it about 1/2 an inch into the center of each patty. Works like a charm, no more "baseball" burgers.

Boring burgers a problem ? A tip as old as the hills but one that might have gotten by a few people:

Mix one entire envelope of (dry) Lipton Onion soup into 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef...Definitely kicks the flavor up a notch without overpowering the flavor of the beef.

Anyone else have any burger tips ?

[Robin Garr]

Lose the steak sauce and add some chopped garlic, and ideally use an Italian loaf in place of yer Wonder Bread, and you've got a pretty good rendition of polpetti, or, um, Italian meatballs. Make 'em with veal, and you've replicated Bim Deitrich's fantabulous Allo Burger. In other words, it's a good technique.

# 1 large slice high-quality white sandwich bread , crust removed and discarded, bread chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)
# 2 tablespoons whole milk (1 or 2% works almost as well)
# 3/4 teaspoon table salt
# 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
# 2 teaspoons steak sauce , such as A-1

Mix into a slurry or paste (whatever you choose to call it). Add the mixture to 1 1/2 pounds of your favorite ground beef, gently mix the paste with the ground beef.

use an Italian loaf in place of yer Wonder Bread,

We've never tried Italian bread, so I can't comment on that vs "Wonder Bread"...We have tried a couple of wheat and/or whole grain breads with poor results.

Using 80/20 beef is one of the easiest ways to get a moist burger.

We have used ranch dressing in place of the milk and it turned out quite well! Sure it was more than the 2Tbs, but no more than 1/4 cup. The best was a homemade yogurt based ranch that I threw together and will likely never be able to make again! But the Hidden Valley packes have done a fine job too!

use an Italian loaf in place of yer Wonder Bread,

We've never tried Italian bread, so I can't comment on that vs "Wonder Bread"...We have tried a couple of wheat and/or whole grain breads with poor results.

The best crab cakes I've ever had used de-crusted, crumbled Wonderbread. The bread seems to disintegrate in the mix and act as a good binding agent without adding any flavor of its own.

I am 50 and some of my earliest kitchen memories are of my Grandma making hamburgers by adding white bread and milk to the burger. She would fry them up in a cast iron skillet and I still remember how good they were.

50/50 ground chuck/sirlion, kosher salt, cast iron skillet

I'm kind of anal about burgers. I never, ever, mix anything in. Use two or three different cuts of beef (experimenting with oxtail currently). I never, ever touch them with my hands. Everything has to be handled cold. I have some steel rings that I put on waxpaper.. Meat goes straight from grinder into the rings and gently pushed down with a cold, steel implement. Sea salt top side, then flip onto grill or skillet and salt the other side.

Basically it's selective cuts, self grind, keep everything cold, no handling with hands, salt at last possible moment to avoid chemical reactions. Also, cold beer always within reach and women and children stay outside the 25 ft perimeter.

I use Green Carbon Dioxide lasers to cook the meat which is suspended hovering in the air on jets of argon gas, I learned this method from a dream I had of playing poker with Alton Brown, a giant beaver and Abe Lincoln.

I use Green Carbon Dioxide lasers to cook the meat which is suspended hovering in the air on jets of argon gas, I learned this method from a dream I had of playing poker with Alton Brown, a giant beaver and Abe Lincoln.

This method incorporates much of what has been discussed in regards to the perfect burger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdMlrtR11ew

From Saffrons:

KOOFTEH
Persian Herbed Meat & Rice Ball (Koofteh-Tabrizi)

Meatball of ground beef & rice, seasoned with fresh herbs of tarragon, leek, parsley, and onion stuffed with date and feta cheese and served in a tomato turmeric sauce.

______________
Very good! I'd lose the date, feta cheese and tomato turmeric sauce to make it a burger.

This method incorporates much of what has been discussed in regards to the perfect burger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdMlrtR11ew

Now THAT is some funny sh**. "Welfare Burgers"...

From Saffrons:

KOOFTEH
Persian Herbed Meat & Rice Ball (Koofteh-Tabrizi)

Meatball of ground beef & rice, seasoned with fresh herbs of tarragon, leek, parsley, and onion stuffed with date and feta cheese and served in a tomato turmeric sauce.

______________
Very good! I'd lose the date, feta cheese and tomato turmeric sauce to make it a burger.

Yep, I'd lose all of that...plus the rice, leek tarragon and parsley.