Grilled Burgers

July 8, 2015

I’m still getting caught up; these photos are a month old! We don’t eat a lot of hamburger but thought some grilled cheeseburgers on a warm summer night would hit the spot. My absolute favorite cooking blog is Mike Vrobel’s Dad Cooks Dinner; he had a post on burgers earlier this summer and I used his tips. Go to his web page for a full recipe and more details on his method.

I know that one key is to not over handle the ground beef. A solution to that is a burger press which quickly makes a perfect patty with minimum handling.

I weighed out 5 oz servings and pressed them. Weighing isn’t necessary but I figured, I’ve got the scale and this is so easy I’ve got to throw in a step or two to make is seem like I have a real project. Finally, sprinkle a little kosher salt and black pepper on them.

3 burger patties made in a press, ready to be grilled
3 burger patties made in a press, ready to be grilled

Patties can often turn into meat balls rather than staying flat. As a result, you get a little meat ball in the middle of a bun. The solution to that (thanks America’s Test Kitchen and Mike Vrobel) is to put a little dimple in the patty. I used the bottom of a shot glass. My patties stayed relatively flat, but I think I could have “dimpled” them a little more.

Then on to the grill to cook over medium direct heat.

Grilled and flipped
Grilled and flipped

As they are almost done, I added some Tillamook Sharp Cheddar cheese on top and put the buns on to toast.

Add the cheese and toast the buns
Add the cheese and toast the buns

Tillamook is a great melting cheese for your burgers.

Then they come off the grill and are ready for the fixings of your choice.

Dinner is ready
Dinner is ready

I’m a strict adherent to the NK17 rule for burgers and hot dogs. No Ketchup for anyone over 17. But if you must, you must; though I’ll probably give you a hard time about it if you toss ketchup on it when you are eating with me.

The third key to great grilled burgers is to use a small bun. These did not ball up too much but they still don’t cover the full bun. Plus with the huge buns you end up eating a ton of bread with condiments. These buns are just a little too large.

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