Good morning everyone. Happy Thursday.  Wow what great weather we are having for February.  With that said I am feeling like I need to get the grill out and put some burgers on it. :-)  Today let’s talk about how to make a really good burger.

First make sure you are using a good quality beef with some fat in it and to keep the beef cold. The reason that you want to keep the meat as cold as possible is because when you are making the patties, if the meat is warm, the fat will then stick to your hands instead of being on the burger (where you want it). Also, handle the burgers as little as possible (again, to help keep the fat in the burger and not on your hands).

Second, make all the patties the same size so they all cook evenly.

Third, and this is the most important tip of all, DO NOT salt the burger before putting it on the grill.  Make a salt and pepper mixture and place it on the patties right before you place them on the grill.  Why you ask? Because salt will dissolve muscle proteins, which will take your burgers from moist and tender to sausage-like and springy, so the moment that you add salt, it will begin dissolving proteins and drawing out moisture.

Ok I am almost done, when the burger is on the grill flip it as much as you want. This will actually help it to cook faster. And, don’t take the spatula and squish the juice out of it!  Remember we want to seal the juices in not let them out.

Now for the final stage of creating our perfect burger, pick a nice bun and garnish it with whatever you like.  There’s no right or wrong on how to finish a burger. I personally love a grilled potato bun, sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, bacon of course and bbq sauce (no mayo for me). Oh and let’s not forget the sautéed vidalia onions with my kosher dill pickle on the side.

Well now I have officially made myself crave a burger.  I know the Rusty Hammer received an award for best burger I think last year.  I am partial to the burger at The Green Monkey (it really is awesome and we use grass feed beef).  I would love to know your thoughts on where the best burger is in town.

Enjoy the day.

Deb

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2012 at 9:22 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.