[?] Subscribe To This Site

Hamburger Recipes & All Kinds of Burger Recipes

So what are the best hamburger recipes and burger recipes? I do not know the statistics, but I would venture to say that hamburgers are likely the most grilled food in the US of A. And not just beef is going on the bun either. Everything, from Buffalo burgers, salmon burgers, veggie burgers, chicken burgers; the selection and list is now as long as our imagination.. Restaurants specializing in gourmet burgers have sprung up all over. From the fairly traditional Red Robin chain, the benchmark In-and-Out Burger to the more ethereal gourmet places. Check these out for some pretty delicious gourmet hamburger recipes from some fun restaurants in Hawaii. Our days living of living there:

Burgers on the Edge
The Counter Burger

Maestro Bobby Flay did a great book recently, “Burgers, Fries and Shakes”, and Steven Raichlen has some great ideas in his book “How to Grill”. There are quite a few wonderful, unique hamburger recipes and any-kind-of burger recipes'

* A note about burger recipes, this is a particularly well-covered topic. Everyone has a burger recipe. On our signature burger recipes, we strive for originality. We will give credit to where it is due, however, somewhere someone has likely done it and published it too.

We will start with the basics. What makes the best traditional Hamburger? What are the best sides? Being from California originally, the fast food hamburger of choice is In-and-Out burger. The secret to their success? The age old trick that determines quality: they use fresh beef, buns, onions, tomato, iceberg lettuce and sauce. All fresh, that is the key to their success. Then let’s talk about their fries: cut fresh from the potato in each store~fresh. Killer!

Now that we are living in New Mexico, when we drive through a state that has In-and-Out, we stop at one during out travel. Obligatory, mandatory and always good. Now the only way these burgers can be beat for the price is from your home grill.

* Keep in mind, these are treats and not everyday experiences. One of the reasons our country is overweight is one sentence: " will you have fries with that?". We are health conscious and do not, would not have burgers or fries often.

Where's the beef?

Do you remember the Wendy’s ads in the 70’s (dating myself here); Wendy’s hot and juicy burgers. Well, great job of turning a liability into an asset. They were selling the fat. For a great juice burger you do want some fat! Later we will discuss some healthy and lighter ways to get that flavor in a healthier manner.

There are many options on the beef for your hamburger recipes these days. From the non-specific pedestrian supermarket ground beef that is from who-knows-what-cut of beef to gourmet cuts and varieties. At my restaurant in San Francisco we used Certified Angus ground chuck with a lean to fat ratio of 80/20. This seems to be a good middle ground of price, and lean to fat ratio. A good second choice on the cut would be ground sirloin. Now these days you can buy some really fancy burgers, Waygu, Kobe and what have you. They can be great to if you are willing to pay the price.

Hand formed patties are superior to those machine processed patties that you see. You can tell the difference by looking at the surface, if it has “tire tracks” it is machine formed. Unless you are feeling really lazy, go to the bulk ground beef.

Click on the image to check our La Cense Grassfed Beef Steakburgers!

Lets get started on sharing awesome hamburger recipes!

The classic of all basic hamburger recipes:

Basic hamburger recipes that melts in your mouth

4 6-ounce ground beef patties 80/20 hand formed

4 fresh buns with or without sesame seeds

4 tablespoons of Thousand Island dressing or as In-and-Out calls it “The Spread” recipe. *This has pickles in it.

4 onion slices ¼ thick

4 tomato slices ¼ thick, if you are using small tomatoes you may need to increase the number of slices.

8 Iceberg lettuce leaves, nice and crisp roughly the size of the bun.

4 slices of cheese your choice.

Salt & pepper to taste

2 tablespoons oil

Form your patties, I do not like to press them too hard, it changes the texture. Molds are ok as long as you don’t press too hard.

Have your Thousand Island or “the spread” ready to go. Everything should be ready to assembled

Salt, pepper and oil your patties, to avoid sticking. Grill your patties on a hot direct fire. Since these are hand formed be gentle on the turns. As usual I like to put nice grill marks on the burgers. After the third turn, place your cheese on top and cover the grill to melt.

If you like you buns toasted on grill’em while you are doing your burgers. For me if they are really nice and have good texture, it is less or not important. If the standard white buns, it give them some character. After toasting if applicable, put on “the spread” or Thousand Island dressing.

The amount of time on the turns really is dependent on the heat of the fire. However for a roughly ¾ inch burger to medium is roughly a total cooking time of 8 to 9 minutes. Well done is around 10 minutes. The USDA says that all ground meats should be cooked to an internal temp of 165 degrees, which to my taste is pretty much over cooked. But, if anyone has health issues or an immune system issue, “Cook’em Dano”. Sorry too much Hawaii 5-0.

Plate up the burgers with the onions, lettuce tomatoes and any other things you want to throw in there and enjoy!

This is the beginning of burger recipes. We would love to hear from you too ;)