The Perfect Burger

For me, anyway. I dislike burgers so huge they have to be dissected to be eaten. Any burger that is too tall to fit comfortably into one’s mouth for a good bite is too big. That means that what’s perfect for one person will be a monster for another – or barely register. I have a smallish mouth. I like my burgers flat and flavorful, with thin layers of ingredients. Yes, that does mean a thin meat patty. Thin doesn’t equal leathery or crispy or dry.

In making a good burger, technique means a lot, but even the best technique falls when the ingredients are sub-par. I have a meat grinding attachment on my Kitchen-Aid, so I usually buy brisket and grind it for my burger meat. It has the right ratio of fat to lean, it has a tendency to tenderness that other cuts of meat don’t, it accepts seasoning and flavors with a remarkable readiness, and it holds its shape well. I pre-slice the brisket into grinder sized portions and freeze it slightly so it takes the grind better and doesn’t gum up the grinder with sticky fat. Then, to clean the grinder, I freeze it to peel off as much fat as possible, then rinse in cold water and degreaser to keep the grease from gumming up my expensive new plumbing.

I do add my fresh herbs to the grinder as I run the meat through it so I handle the meat as little as possible. When I shape the meat, I scoop out a half cup of meat, press it ½” to ¾” flat in a good tortilla press between sheets of waxed paper. Then I re-freeze it slightly – you don’t want it solidly frozen, just stiff. This goes on a really hot grill or griddle to sear both sides, and then – here’s my secret for extra juicy, nicely done, practically unshrunken burger patties – I finish the patties in the oven at 375ºF on quick release foil. A toaster oven or a regular oven – it doesn’t matter. Heat the meat through to your desired degree of doneness (I like mine well done and no pink showing anywhere). Four minutes makes the burgers about medium well. I cook mine about 6 minutes. While the meat is resting, toast the buns and build your burger from there.

I also bake my own burger buns when I have a chance because I prefer the size and flavor of my buns to any commercial bun I’ve ever had.

Since the buns take the longest to make, I’ll give that recipe first. I use a bread machine for the mixing and kneading, so this is the bread machine recipe. If you don’t have a bread machine, I’ll put the instructions for hand mixing below it.

Start the buns about 4 hours before you plan to grill your burgers.

3 tablespoons warm milk
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon extra gluten
2 teaspoons bread machine or quick rising yeast
1 egg plus 1 tablespoon water, beaten and reserved to brush risen dough
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (or poppy seeds or sunflower seeds)

Bread Machine: Pour the milk, water, eggs, sugar, salt, and softened butter into the liquids first bread machine (if yours isn’t a liquids first bread machine, follow your bread machine’s instructions for add the ingredients). Mix the flours and gluten together and pour on top of the liquid. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the flour. Turn the machine to the “Dough Only” setting and turn it on.

Hand Mixing: Mix the warm milk, water, yeast, and sugar together in a glass bowl and let it rest until foamy – about 5 minutes. Beat the eggs and set aside for now. In a large metal or wooden dough bowl, whisk the flours together with the gluten and salt. Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your hands until the flour is crumbly. Use a dough scraper to mix the foamy yeast into the crumbly flour with the beaten eggs. When a dough forms, slap the dough onto a clean unfloured surface, scrape it up and slap it back down again until it is smooth and elastic – about 10 minutes. A dough scraper is a very useful tool to have here. If you don’t have one, a large pancake turning spatula can work awkwardly and not as well, but acceptably. Put the dough into a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it rise until doubled – about 2 hours.

Both Machine Mixing and Hand Mixing are done the same from this point on:

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Gently roll each one into a ball and flatten it to about 1 or 1 ½ inches. Arrange the flatten pieces about 3 inches apart on a baking sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Set a large shallow pan of water on the oven floor. Brush the buns with the beaten egg water and sprinkle with seeds. Bake about 15 minutes or until the buns are nicely browned. Remove and cool completely before splitting and toasting for the burgers.

I also like to make bacon buns for burgers - add 6 - 8 slices of crisp cooked bacon to the bread machine between the liquids and the flours or spronle the bacon on when your slapping the dough around.

Occasionally, I will make Peter Maxx buns - three to five different vegetable doughs twisted together and shaped into buns. For burgers, I like a tomato dough, a spinach dough, and a carrot/parsnip dough. I think I posted the recipe up here ages ago. I may have to wander through the archives to find it.

The Patties:

2 pounds brisket, cut and frozen for grinding
½ cup fresh parsley (1/4 cup dried)
1 cup chopped onions
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried garlic flakes, crushed

Mix the seasonings together and pat onto the strips of brisket. Pass the brisket through the meat grinder (I prefer a fine grind, but coarse also makes a good burger). Shape into 8 balls, flatten, then press your thumb into the middle of each patty to form a dimple. This helps cook the patty all the way through without releasing any of the juices and it prevents the patty form bulging or curling as it cooks. Sear the patties on a very hot grill or griddle, then place on a quick release (no-stick) foil lined baking sheet. Bake in a 375ºF degree oven to desired doneness – 4 minutes for medium well, 6 for very well done.

If you want cheeseburgers, lay the cheese on the burgers while they are cooling. Cheeses that don’t melt easily or well can be shredded and then formed into a “slice” to lay atop the burger. The shredding allows the heat to penetrate the cheese better and gives it a smooth melt atop the patty. Gruyere, for example, benefits from being shredded before topping the patty. Extra sharp cheddar only needs to be thinly sliced to melt well.

Assemble your burger.

I like mine with mustard, cold, crisp buttercrunch lettuce, a ripe sliced Cherokee Purple tomato, slices of dill pickle, and a dollop of sauerkraut. No cheese. How do you like yours?