If you add more then salt and pepper to it then you're not making hamburgers. You've made meatloaf sandwiches.

We butcher our own cow every year. For the first year in a long while we're going to run out of ground beef before we run out of steaks.

I'm eventually going to grind something up, but I am holding back a couple of chuck roasts to ground into it to ensure some solid fat content.

But ultimately if you have good beef with good marbling, a lot of it can grind through a coarse plate to make some good hamburger. Just don't overgrind it with the smaller plates because your consistency won't be right.

But yeah, that's absolutely the key to a good burger - good beef. The rest is just some attempt at hiding mediocrity through seasoning. And at that point you're just working with varying levels of mediocre.

Burgers are like steaks - if you're truly making a great one, it has little to do with anything you did. You started with quality beef and didn't get in the way.

Somewhat carefully.

The old lipton’s onion soup powder recipe makes a good unique burger.


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Timing of the salt is more critical than people realize.

If you put it on there like 10 minutes before you grill, it just barely starts to break down fibers and then leaves moisture on the surface that interferes with a good hard crust that comes from that flame/surface contact (depending on your method).

And because the proteins are neither strong nor fully broken down, you end up with something weirdly crumbly.

So if you salt, salt with enough time to put it back in the fridge pull the moisture and then the moisture reabsorbs into the patties. That will fully break down your proteins, give you the best flavor into the middle of the paddy and give you perfect consistency without having to overwork them when you form them.

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Damn skippy it does, and no one here is gonna tell me any different

Exactly. I saw a recipe that called for cracking an egg in the ground beef and putting in bread crumbs. What the ****?

Just be careful about pulling the meat out of the fridge too quick or handling it too much as the fat warms and it gets sticky

I like to put a dimple (make the middle thinner) in the middle to avoid the burger ending up super thick in the center.

I always use a thermometer because it is so easy to burn burgers. As above, shit goes fast when the fat drips on the coals.

With salt, I have always heard immediately before grilling, or at least 30 minutes before. In between makes an inferior product.

Man, I spent years trying to 'perfect' my burger game before I realized that there's just not a lot of ****ing around that needs be done.

I'll slap some barbecue sauce on them if I grill them on occasion just for something different. Or if I use grocery store beef I'll add some Cavendars greek season (that shit is great, FYI).

But in the end the only meaningful difference I found in making a perfect simple burger is when I add the salt.

One thing I really like on my burger is a nice slice of Red Onion, other than that Bacon, Garlic blend seasoning and six pepper blend

I wish Andy Reid could post here so we'd get the real deal.

I will say there's nothing like a crispy cast iron burger made from the shavings of a brisket. Delish.

I had a cow about 3 years ago where the butcher just made the hamburger way too lean. With that entire cow I would add an egg yolk and a 'squirt' of vegetable oil to the mix just trying to get some fat in there. Otherwise the outside scorches more than it 'fries' and it's just not that good. Made a lot of tacos that year because it just didn't make good hamburgers.

And yeah, if you're grilling instead of smashing, the dimple is a must. Really helps prevent the meatball problem.

Yeah, that's a fine rule of thumb. Like I said, I try to get an hour in there. And adding the salt right before you grill will have the same general impact as just adding it after. I typically add it after I pull them figuring the juice will dillute the salt and it will run into the patty and the condiments.


Oh, and the bun is a HUGELY underrated element. Get good buns - it's the first thing you truly notice on a burger. And put some mayo or cream cheese on your bottom bun. Some people hate mayo so I suggest cream cheese instead. Whatever you use, you need a fat layer on your bottom bun to keep the juices from running into that bottom slab and turning it into mush. It creates a barrier that keeps the juice in the meat better.

Damn. I forgot a component that I really love. Roast up some pablanos, and saute them, it's magic. They're good for a ton of shit so do a bunch at a time, slice them and keep them in the fridge. They're REALLY ****ing good on a burger.

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