Ten Tips for Great Burgers
Burgers make quick, easy meals. Most of the time, most of the year, we’re cooking them inside on the stovetop, not taking the time to crank up the grill. So these tips have been edited for kitchen cooking
Burgers should never get boring. Try different spices. Season them with Colorado Cattle Company Spices or choose a spice from our Teeny Tiny Spice Company collection. The Colorado Cattle Company Spices are meant for burgers and barbecues; we shake spices onto the burgers. The Teeny Tiny Spices, we mix a tablespoon of spice right into a pound of ground meat. Make stuffed burgers.
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1. Start with the right meat. Buy your meat from a butcher you trust and as fresh as you can get it. Avoid the lean and extra lean burger which is great for casseroles but too lean for burgers—you need the fat for flavor and juice. Ask the butcher when it was ground and avoid meat that was not ground in the last few hours.
2. Don’t handle the meat unnecessarily. Too much handling makes for tough burgers. Break a section of meat off and form the burgers with as little handling as possible. If you are mixing seasonings into the meat, toss the meat gently with your fingers to disperse the seasonings.
3. Make the burgers the right size. Remember, they shrink while cooking. Three-quarters of an inch thick is just about right for most of us. A hamburger press like our Burger Buddy is a nice way to form burgers without handling them too much. Make the burger thicker than necessary and then gently press the center to form a patty.
4. Cook at the right temperature. You want your grill or pan to be at medium high, hot enough to sear the meat and seal in the juices.
5. Avoid the urge to press. Yes, you see others pressing their burgers with the spatula but doing so forces the juices from the meat. Again, it’s the juices that make your burgers moist and flavorful.
6. Turn ‘em once. Years ago, I worked a grill inAlaska. The chef taught me to never turn the steaks more than once—doing so lets the juices run out and dries out the steak. The same goes for a burger.
7. Avoid the urge to overcook. A well-done burger is going to be tough and dry. That same chef taught me to tell how done a steak was by poking it with my finger. (The meat becomes firmer as it cooks.) You can do the same with burgers (and chicken). After the first cookout, you’ll be pro. No more over-cooked burgers or burgers torn apart to see how red they are in the middle.
8. Season your meat before cooking. You’ll find that your burger will taste much better if every morsel is seasoned, not just the outside. Add 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to every pound of burger and knead it in gently.
9. Cook your burgers on medium high heat. You want to sear the burgers, make a bit of a crust, and seal in the juices. Too high and you’ll burn the outside before the burger is done; too low and too much of the juice will drip out.
10. Try mixing grated cheese into the meat for cheeseburgers. You’ll get a burst of cheese in every bite, the cheese won’t drip down, and it takes less cheese to make a cheesy burger.
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