Building the all-American burger
photo by Torll
When I was a kid, I never paid attention to how my family made burgers. Some were burned on the outside and pink on the inside. Some ended up as charred UFOs, and all the toppings invariably oozed out when I tried to eat. I remember cutting open and inspecting the hard-as-rock beef hockey pucks just to decide whether I wanted a hamburger or a hot dog.
As an adult, I now realize there’s a bit more to creating a great burger than flattening some ground beef and tossing it on the grill. My children have never had to suffer the deformed burgers I ate in my youth. I felt it was my duty to end the cycle of horrid hamburgers.
For the tastiest burgers, I like to use ground chuck. In the past, I used a patty-maker so I could make and freeze several at once. The problem is, the meat gets compressed so the burgers don’t turn out juicy enough. I discovered that if I use a measuring cup to scoop the meat, it gives me enough to work with, and my burgers come out thick yet symmetrical. The trick is not to overhandle, press too hard or add too many ingredients to the ground beef when creating the patties. Press them just enough to form a nice shape.
There’s nothing wrong with a simple ground-beef burger. You can always pile on the toppings after your burgers are cooked to give them more flavor. If you do add ingredients to the beef, such as onions or celery, mince them so the meat holds together on the grill.
Another hint: If you indent the center a bit with the underside of a spoon, the top won’t round out. Once your burgers are on the grill, resist flattening them with a spatula. Doing so presses out the juices and creates something fit only for a shuffleboard court.
Are you tired of burgers topped with the usual suspects — tomatoes, lettuce, onions, relish, ketchup and mustard? Try the following ideas to take your burgers beyond fast food.
NOT JUST FOR SALAD: Try using ranch, Caesar, blue-cheese or thousand-island dressing to liven up your burgers.
CHANGE THE BUN: Instead of the typical hamburger roll, try using rye bread, bagels, English muffins, croissants or tortillas.
PIZZA BURGER: Use pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese.
CREATIVE CRUNCH: Instead of lettuce, try cole slaw or cucumbers.
STROGANOFF BURGER: Add onions, sour cream and mushrooms.
TACO BURGER: Add taco sauce or salsa, lettuce, cheese, black olives, tomatoes and sour cream.
CHILI BURGER: Add chili and cheese.
RANCH BLT: Add bacon, lettuce, tomato and ranch salad dressing.
STUFFED-PEPPER BURGER: Add green peppers, cooked rice, tomato sauce and cheddar cheese.
BBQ BURGER: Top the patty with barbecue sauce, onions and bacon.
Posted by Sara Noel
on October 25 2007. Filed under Frugal Cooking.Sara Noel owns Frugal Village, LLC and is a nationally syndicated columnist with Universal Uclick. Bio, Follow me on Twitter, Join us on Facebook
Good afternoon Sara. My sister-in-law who lives in Arizona was reading a newspaper and saw your article re hamburgers. She called us, as well as mailed us a copy of the article.
My husband and his family ate lots and lots of burgers growing up (early sixties). My mother-in-law made them like hockey pucks. Whenever you went to their house there was always a bowl on the kitchen table with many hockey pucks and raw onions.
What memories your article brought back to my husband and his sister, as well as myself (I am friends with my husband and his family for 46 years)
Thanks for sharing your memories with us.
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