The Road to Perfect Burgers

Burgers are definitely one of the symbols of American culture. Everywhere we go we see somewhere selling hamburgers whether it's a fast food joint or a home-owned restaurant. Making perfect burgers involves only a few simple steps.

Basic Variables

The basic factors involved (heat and timing) are covered in the article Cooking Steak Your Way. Once you have mastered those basics, you can begin refining your burgers.

Season the Ground Beef

The first thing to do is to season the meat. For each pound of meat, add two teaspoons of seasoned salt and a teaspoon of pepper. Now add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Mix the ingredients throughout the meat, but avoid overworking the meat. If it is overworked, the burgers may fall apart on the grill. Return the meat to the refrigerator and allow to refrigerate for about an hour. This will allow the flavors to blend into the meat.

Divide the Meat into Portions

The next thing to do is to make even portions. This step is best accomplished with the aid of a kitchen scale. First, get the total weight of the meat in ounces, and divide that number by the number of burgers that you want. Weigh each burger to the desired weight and form into patties. Once you have your patties made, you are ready to grill!

Cook the Burgers

All that is left to do is to cook the burgers. Ground beef is not as safe as a steak, and should therefore be cooked to at least 160F (medium.) If you don't have a temperature probe, you should not allow any pink to remain in the burger. A well-done burger is 170F. To make your burgers look as great as they taste, see the section on Getting Nice Grill Marks. Also consider adding new flavors by Grilling with Woodchips.

The Cheese

If you like cheese on your burger, be sure to count it into the cooking time. The cheese will take around two minutes to melt. Remember, in the final two minutes add the cheese and recover the grill.

Toast the Bun

The perfect ending. There are two basic methods to toast the bun. The easiest method (and my favorite) is to use a regular toaster that is also designed for bagels. These type of toasters have a feature that allows you to only toast the one side of the bagel, or for our purposes, the inside of the bun. The other method is to put the buns face down on the grill. This method is more difficult because the buns will burn easily. The grill will also flavor the bread which may not be desired, especially if you are using woodchips. A light amount of butter on the warm toasted bun is also a nice finishing touch.

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