What Makes a Great Hamburger?
Episode 022- What makes a great hamburger? It's such a personal choice but, regardless of your preferences, there are specific things that you take your burger from "meh" to fabulous. On today's show, you'll learn about those things. We'll also explore some ideas from fellow burger lovers. Their suggestions might make you stop and say, "Hey, I want to try that!" One of my favorite burgers ever is from a restaurant called The Good Steer on Long Island. It's called "The Cheese Dream" --now referred to as the "Classic Cheese Dream Supreme" on their menu. This hamburger is bathed in a velvety cheese sauce, tomato, bacon, and crowned with perfectly fried onion rings. I've tried to replicate it at home, to no avail. My only recourse is to get a Cheese Dream whenever I am back on Long Island. Usually, I will stop at the Good Steer before I see my family or friends. If you've ever had The Cheese Dream, you'd know why. There are many ways to enjoy a burger. How one has it depends on many variables including mood, location, company, who's doing the cooking, and what's available. I don't eat a burger exactly the same way every single time. Nor should you; explore the many ways to achieve hamburger enlightenment! Peanut Butter? We saw this at a restaurant not too long ago. While intrigued, I went with something else. Have you had or would you put peanut butter on your hamburger? Today, we'll cover primarily beef hamburgers. I know, I know. There are some very good veggie burgers, turkey burgers, lamb burgers, etc. For the purposes of simplicity of this particular episode, let's stipulate that we're talking about beef with the understanding that some of these hints, tricks, and ideas could transfer over to other burgers made of something other than beef. The Way That You Cook It Some people prefer small burgers, I do not. I like a big burger that has a crust on the outside and moist and juicy on the inside. In my opinion, the best way to do that is on a very hot cast iron pan or griddle. Alternatively, you can do this outside on the grill and I like the flavor that charcoal imparts on a burger. However, when at home and since we are a small family, I'm not going to do all that work firing up the Weber for three burgers. All the more reason I should get a small hibachi grill, I know. The temperature of the burger is important for the taste and consistency. Some people go by looks, others use a thermometer to get an accurate reading. Remember, your burger will continue to cook when you take it off the heat. But here are the temps: Rare 120 °F Medium Rare 130 °F Medium 140 °F Medium Well 150 °F Well Done 160 °F For food safety, the USDA has guidelines for safe minimum temperature of ground meat which they say is 160 °F. For me, Well-Done burgers are unpalatable. I am usually a Rare or Medium Rare guy, depending on my mood. Disclaimer: The temperature of how you eat your burger is your own business and only you take responsibility for what you put in your body. Don't eat anything you don't want to eat. You Invited me Over for Burgers? Why are you Serving Meatballs? Has this happened to you? You start with patties and then through the process of cooking the meat transforms into a meatball? If you have this problem, try this: After you make the patty, make a divot in the center of it with your thumb. Don't squish the burger into submission, just make a gradual indentation. What You Put In It The quality of the beef is important; the taste and juiciness of your burger depends on it. If you buy supermarket ground beef it's very likely that you're going to get lower quality ground beef than if you bought a slab of chuck and ground it yourself. That's just a fact with industrialized meat. Chances are they are not as discerning about what parts of the cow they are throwing into the mix as you are. That said, not everyone has the time or patience to start grinding meat at home. So go to a butcher you trust (whether they be at a supermarket or not) and buy the ground beef from them. Another option is to buy the cut of meat that you want and have them grind it for you. It's worth the extra money! The amount of fat is important too. The more fat, the tastier and more moist the hamburger will be. Most things that I've read suggest 80/20 or 85/15 beef- to-fat ratio. How you get a great tasting burger with anything leaner is beyond me. Recommendations for the type of meat center around chuck, that's what I use. However, I've used ground pork, chopped up pancetta, or regular bacon if I have it in the fridge. I had recommendations of adding tasso, brisket, or short rib meat into the mix too. Some people suggest adding things such as salt, pepper, Dash seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, or other types of sauces into the meat before forming patties. I do not. When you start doing this, it is a slippery slope and then you fall so very close to the territory of meatballs and meatloaf. Part of what makes a burger a burger, is its simplicity. I usually just put salt and pepper on the outside after I make the patties. I add sauces and other accouterments when I'm building the burger. To combat dried out burgers, there are suggestions to put a small ice cube in the patty to keep it moist. Another way to do that is to put a frozen chunk of cold butter in the center. This simultaneously imparts fat for moisture and flavor into the meat. (Side Note: On my bucket list is to eat the "21" burger at 21 Club in New York City which famously features herb butter in its center. Here is the recipe for that.) What You Put On Top of It But first, this note on construction: I'm of the mind that when the effort of eating something offsets its taste, I will pass. I see this at restaurants. In a effort for them to be unique, hip, buzz-worthy, or any other motivation not predicated on taste, they will create monstrous concoctions. If you have so many burger patties, toppings, sauces, and other stuff on your sandwich that you need an assistant to help you cram the thing into your mouth, I would respectfully suggest that you're doing it incorrectly. You shouldn't need a foot long skewer impaling your burger to get it to your table. Further, it's impossible for the human tongue to taste 34 ingredients all at one time. Less is more! Salt, Spices, and Herbs As I mentioned, it's Kosher salt and black pepper on the outside for me. Many folks add other things including garlic salt, spice rubs, dried herbs to the outside a burger before cooking it. If that's your preference, okay. I would offer the caveat that when some of these herbs and spices hit an intense heat or open flame, they can quickly go from tasty to bitter and off-tasting. Sauce, Vegetables, Cheese, and "Other" Toppings Sauce- When I was growing up on Long Island, the joke was that you'd never want to live upstate because they put mustard on their burgers. Despite this dire warning, I have lived almost half of my life in upstate New York though I do avoid mustard on my burger. My preference for sauce is ketchup (preferably Heinz), A1 Sauce, and/ or Tabasco Sauce. Some like mayonnaise, and I see the appeal, but I think the danger of adding yet another sauce onto the burger outweighs the taste. I use the word "danger" because the sauce with the (hopefully) juicy burger will diminish the integrity of the bread holding the thing together. More on that later. Also, too many sauces also adds to the likelihood that the burger might come slipping out the other side when you try to bite into it. For this reason, if I add a sauce, I will remove a sauce from my predetermined preferences. I see the benefit of using sriracha as it adds both heat and tomatoey/garlicky goodness. It's an added dimension of flavors that I enjoy and, if its around, I will use it instead of ketchup. The same goes with barbecue sauce and HP Sauce. Friends recommend Thousand Island dressing which reminds me too much of McDonald's "special sauce" so I will stay away from that. However, recommendations to try pesto aioli and even cocktail sauce intrigue me. The best additions to a burger add texture, moisture, and taste simultaneously. For these reasons, I like the suggestions of chili and guacamole. With a smear of either on your burger, you can get a lot accomplished! So too, I never thought to put cole slaw on a burger! Cheese- Yes, I know when you put cheese on a hamburger, it transforms into a cheeseburger. My more litigious friends can choose to argue the nuance of that, while I sit down and eat while their meal gets cold. American or Cheddar seems to be the standard. Burger-loving friends have suggested pepper-jack, blue cheese (and Gorgonzola). I prefer Swiss cheese or provolone. Vegetables- I am not convinced that tomato and lettuce brings anything to the hamburger table either in taste or texture. However, it was very popular with the folks who opined. I sometimes like raw onion because of the crunch and sharp taste. I also like pickles for the same reason. Here we had some great suggestions: Piccalilli fits the bill. It's a spicy pickled vegetable relish with its origins in India. Similar to that would be chopped giardiniera or pickled jalapenos. Onion confit adds a sweet and sour aspect that I had not thought about, but will be trying. Speaking of onions, like many, I love grilled onions on a burger. It adds a bit of sweetness and goes very well with earthy goodness of mushrooms, which I also like. Other Toppings Bacon- Mmmmmmmm. Bacon. Enough said. Fried Egg- The first time that I had an egg on a burger was in the 1970s at a restaurant called Brill's. I ordered it for the novelty and thought nothing more of it until a few years ago when it seeme
