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Preparation is imperative for the perfect burger.
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Thats why you cant get one at a restaurant.
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First you must go to the butcher and ask for Twice ground chuck roast.
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If they send it through once it wont be perfect.
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Plus when you do that youre getting fresh meat from the back.
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Not whats been packaged and sitting up front for who knows how long.
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DO NOT use ground mystery meat.
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Thats the difference between a hot dog and a pork loin or a rib eye and a sirloin.
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It doesnt cost that much extra so why not.
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Secondly if you want to cook it right you must use a cast iron skillet.
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Burgers need to be seared immediately to lock in juices.
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If you use a thin god forbid non stick skillet it will reduce dramatically in temp once the cold meat hits the pan thus not giving you that beautiful blackish brown outside.
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Go ahead and put your skillet on medium while prepping so its hot enought when your ready.
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Thirdly spices must be consistent.
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You cant just shake out perfection.
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It is measured.
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With that in mind you must put 1/8th tsp of salt and 1/8th tsp of pepper on each side of each patty preferably before you sear.
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It sticks better that way.
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Don't have 1/8th.
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Use a 1/4 equally on the two patties this makes.
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Flip and do the same thing.
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DO NOT mix them in the meat.
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That is just lazy and you need the salt and pepper concentrated on first part of the meat that touches your tongue.
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Fourthly.
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You must form your patties very loosely to keep the burger juicy.
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This is more of an art to keep them held together whilst keeping it loose but what I do is use the standard patty maker you get at Wal-Mart.
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I pitch pieces of ground chuck off the bulk and drop into the circular mold.
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Pile a little over and press lightly.
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Now its still too loose to pry out so you turn upside down and tap on the hot skillet until one side starts to fall out.
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Then tilt back a little to encourage the rest to come out.
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Also since you probably have alot of ground chuck to use do this on aluminum foil in two's and wrap.
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Freeze and it will be alot easier to cook later.
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Fresh is always better but frozen is still better than what you get at Five Guys or Outback.
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Fifthly.
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Sear on one side for a few minutes then flip carefully on cast iron.
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I use two spatulas sometimes if its two loose.
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Cook to medium well.
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DO NOT burn them.
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if it feels hard in the middle while cooking you have already past well done so take them off and save whats left of there dignity.
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I like pan seared but the grill works great too.