A few months ago, I got an email from a reader who’d made my Best Pork Chops and was wondering what my version of a “Best Burger” would be. My response was that there really isn’t a such thing as a best burger since there are so many styles of hamburgers. Change the meat, seasonings, toppings, and condiments and you can come up with all sorts of awesome combos. I’ve written before about some of my favorite burger variations like my Hoisin Burger and this Lamb Burger, but after getting Tim’s email, it occurred to me that I’ve never written about my perfect cheeseburger.
I suppose making a cheeseburger seemed like a such a no-brainer it didn’t really seem worthy of getting a dedicated post. But this blog is all about technique, and making a good burger is almost 100% in your technique. That’s why I decided to outline my framework for creating the best cheeseburger along with a recipe for my hamburger sauce.
Ingredients for the Best Hamburger
The Beef
This is one area where everyone’s an expert and no one agrees. Some people will tell you that the secret to a good burger is all about the cheapest chuck you can find, while others will argue for wagyu short ribs. Like most points of contention, I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. First, I should start off by saying that I judge the meat in a burger by its flavor, moistness and texture.
Flavor is affected by everything from how the cow was raised and what it was fed, to the cut of meat, and the amount of fat it contains. While wagyu may win on marbling and tenderness, grass-fed beef beats out corn-fed wagyu any day in the flavor department. Since tenderness and marbling aren’t really factors when you’re grinding the meat, if you’re buying expensive beef for your burgers, go with grass-fed. That said, even commodity beef sold in supermarkets across America can have decent flavor if you chose the right cuts.
As a general rule, muscles that get more work are tougher but have more flavor. Chuck taken from the shoulder is a well worked muscle that’s full of flavor, but can be tough and fibrous. At the other end of the spectrum you have tenderloin, which is very tender, but because the muscle(which lies under the ribs) sees little exertion, it’s a little weak in the flavor department. For making hamburgers, a blend of the tough cuts is not only cheaper it tastes better as well.
The problem is that really well worked muscles can be lean. You’ve probably heard the saying that “fat=flavor”. While this might be overgeneralizing, when it comes to meat, it’s generally true. The fat is also what gives a hamburger its moistness, especially if you are going to be cooking it well done. That’s why I like to make my hamburger with a blend of a few cuts of beef to get a good balance of flavor and fat.
The blend I chose depends on what looks good when I head to the butcher, but I generally use a mix of chuck, short ribs and hanger steak. Chuck and short ribs provide a good deal of fat. Hanger steak on the other hand tends to be lean, but it’s the most flavorful cut of meat from the cow. I don’t fuss over the ratio too much, but you want the ground beef to contain about 25% fat. This sometimes involves having the butcher add some extra fat when he’s grinding your chosen meats.
That leaves us with the final criteria: texture. For me, the perfect burger is crumbly and tender with a bit of crispness around the edges. To achieve this texture, it’s important not to handle the meat too much after it’s been ground. If you mix it together with seasonings, you start losing the small air pockets, which is what makes the burger crumbly. That’s why it’s best to avoid the temptation of mixing things into the burger patty itself. If you must mix something in, do it gently and don’t overmix it. Chopsticks work pretty well for this as the long thin rods prevents the pieces of meat from getting mashed together.
The Cheese
Another component of burger making that’s hotly contested is the cheese. A food snob might argue for an aged clothbound cheddar, while a hamburger purist might argue for processed cheese.
Personally, I think there’s a time and a place to use fancy cheeses, but if you want a real American cheeseburger, you have to use American Cheese. You know, the stuff that glows orange, and comes shrink-wrapped in individual slices. I know I’m always harping on about reducing your intake of processed foods, but this is one guilty pleasure I permit myself from time to time. Natural cheeses just don’t melt into a gooey creamy sauce the same way, and there’s something about the flavor profile of the pseudo-cheese that’s uniquely suited to mating with the caramelized surface of your hamburger patty.
The Bun
I’m mostly a traditionalist when it comes to all the other aspects of a hamburger, but I have to concede on the bun. Those unnaturally airy buns with their collapsing domes, haphazardly speckled with albino sesame seeds used for most burgers just don’t cut it.
Call me a traitor, but I have to defer to the French on the bread making. Specifically, I can’t think of anything better than brioche for sticking a hamburger on. These tender pillows of buttery bread, with just a hint of sweetness, holds each patty in its embrace, absorbing the glorious burger juices without getting soggy. Besides, with loads of butter and sugar, it seems that we have more in common with the French than we’d like to admit!
You can find my recipe for a quick whole wheat brioche bun over at PBS Food.
Everything Else
The rest of the hamburger is up to you. For me, it all depends on my mood. Sometimes I’m feeling traditional and go with crisp pungent onions, sweet juicy tomatoes, fresh verdant lettuce and a smattering of condiments such as ketchup mayonnaise and mustard. Other times, when I’m feeling carnivorous, I’ll omit all the veggies in favor of my hamburger sauce mixed with some caramelized onions.
How to Make the Best Burger
Aside from the ingredients, the rest is all about technique. My trick to getting the perfect burger with crisp caramelized meat juices on the outside with a tender juicy interior is to use what I call the “Skillet Smash”. By forming the patties into thick pucks and then smashing them into the griddle with a heavy cast-iron skillet, you can get your burger to your desired thickness while ensuring the hamburger has excellent contact with the hot pan. This creates an unbeatable crust of browned beef on both sides of the burger while cooking the meat quickly and effortlessly. Then it’s just a matter of putting the thing together with your favorite toppings.
Ingredients
- 680 grams ground beef
- 4 slices American cheese
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 teaspoons yellow mustard
- 1/2 dill pickle
- hot sauce (to taste)
- ground black pepper
- 1 small red onion (sliced into rings)
- 2 ripe tomatoes
- 4 leaves lettuce
- 4 hamburger buns
Steps
- Divide the meat into four 6 ounce (170 gram) pucks about 1.25 inches thick by 3 inches wide. Try to handle the meat as little as possible and do not smash it together with your hands. Place the pucks on a wire rack and and refrigerate uncovered until you're ready to fry your burgers. This dries out the surface of the meat making it easier to get the crispy layer of browned meat on each side.
- Lightly oil a cast iron skillet or griddle by adding a little vegetable oil and spreading it around with a paper towel, soaking up any excess oil. Heat over medium high heat.
- While your pan is heating, salt and pepper both sides of your burgers.
- When your pan is hot, add a puck of meat and immediately top the meat with another smaller cast iron skillet or heavy pot and press down until the burger is your desired thickness. Leave the pot there while the burger cooks. The weight on top encourages meat to pan contact, which is how you get the crisp crust on your burger. If you're using a griddle and have room, repeat with the other patties.
- Let this fry until the burger is cooked 1/3 of the way up the sides and you can see a dark brown crust forming where the meat meets the pan.
Remove the weight and flip the burger over. Top with a slice of cheese and continue to fry until the meat reaches your desired doneness (130 F for rare, 135 F for medium rare, 140 F for medium, and 150 F+ for well done). Keep in mind that hamburger is more prone to contamination than whole cuts of beef, so unless you really trust your butcher, you'll probably want to cook your burger to at least medium.
- To make the sauce, add the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, pickle, hot sauce and black pepper to a small food processor and puree until smooth.
- To construct your burger, toast your bun, and slather a generous amount of sauce onto the bottom bun. Top with onions and then the burger patty, then the tomatoes, and finally the lettuce and top bun. I use this order because the weight of the burger keeps the onion rings in place while the heat slightly cooks them. The cheese adheres to the tomatoes holding them in place, and the tomatoes act as an insulator, keeping the hot patty away from your lettuce so it does not wilt.
You made a copy of shake shack. Had you made mention to that, perhaps that would be excusable. Like most of your recipes, they are copies or uninspired and boring.
As usual, some good points. Not all to my taste, but interesting. I firmly agree with American cheese being right for a true cheese burger. You are so correct that everyone has a mix preference. I have tried many and I still love the 80/20 Chuck. Not very inspirational but I cook what I like and people seem to dig it 🙂 Salt and pepper is all good beef needs. I have never added weight to a burger but will have to give that a crack. I also love the idea of resting on a rack, prior to cooking. Never thought of that. When cooking in a pan or flat top, I also prefer to cover for direct/steam combination cooking. Thanks!
Hi Patrick, its been a while since I’ve had a burger from Shake Shack, but the last time I checked, they weren’t using short rib and hangar steak in their patties? I also don’t recall them serving their burgers on brioche, but perhaps I’m mistaken. I suppose if you consider lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese as trademark Shake Shack additions, then I stand guilty as charged. As for the content of this blog, I’m sorry to hear it’s not up to your standards, but thankfully the Internet is a big place and there are plenty of other blogs which I’m sure will be more to your liking.
I’ve made excellent burgers & yet still, here I learn something new in technique(s) from you: resting them *uncovered*, weighing the burger down & above all, don’t over mix! I now understand why some of my concoctions turned out way better than others. Being fond of my Japanese/haoli/Hawaiian roots, I tend to make more of a hambāgu style burger, which has it’s merits. But, I’m going to restrain myself next time around & go for this classic technique. After all, it’s your fault that I went from grilling a steak outdoors to cooking it in an iron skillet indoors. While I was aware of this technique, I ignored it until I read your post & well written explanation/instructions that convinced me to try it out. Haven’t grilled a steak outside since!
As for dear Mr. Dennis: my daddy always said, if we were all alike, it’d be one heck of a long line at the movies. Please feel free to go check out another movie while I continue to enjoy this one! 😉
Patrick, this is a fun and inspiring blog for people interested in making delicious food. Shake Shack did not invent combining different cuts of beef to put in a burger. They also don’t use whole wheat brioche, and they cook their very thin burgers to well done. About 1% of all chefs/cooks actually invent something brand new. The point is to adapt and adjust what has been done before and inspire others to give it a try. Marc has completely succeeded at this. He synthesized various methods in preparing a burger and discussed his way with his audience.
I’ve made excellent burgers & yet still, here I learn something new in technique(s) from you: resting them *uncovered*, weighing the burger down & above all, don’t over mix! I now understand why some of my concoctions turned out way better than others. Being fond of my Japanese/haoli/Hawaiian roots, I tend to make more of a hambāgu style burger, which has it’s merits. But, I’m going to restrain myself next time around & go for this classic technique. After all, it’s your fault that I went from grilling a steak outdoors to cooking it in an iron skillet indoors. While I was aware of this technique, I ignored it until I read your post & well written explanation/instructions that convinced me to try it out. Haven’t grilled a steak outside since!
As for dear Mr. Dennis: my daddy always said, if we were all alike, it’d be one heck of a long line at the movies. Please feel free to go check out another movie while I continue to enjoy this one! 😉
Okay, this sounds delicious. And your description of the brioche is practically poetry. Thanks for sharing! I think I may have to make burgers tonight!
Your sure put a lot of thoughts into whatever you make, I really appreciate that as it makes me think and to look at cooking methods and ingredients from another point of view. Great looking cheeseburger.
Norma Chang http://gardentowok.com
Dear Marc,
I just made hamburger, it was very tasteful, but could You please comment why my sauce was so watery? I used mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and few drops of hot pepper sauce.
Thanks a lot!!!
Hi Donatas, the sauce should be about the consistency of thousand island dressing, so it’s not going to be a thick spread. That said, it shouldn’t be watery. It could be an issue with the water content of the pickles you’re using. You can try and squeeze some water out of the pickles, or just reduce the amount of pickle you add.
The best hamburger I ever had was at a Hawaiian-style restaurant in Yokohama…I don’t suppose you would have a recipe for something like that? I just remember it had an egg on top and was served over rice. Yum. You’re blog looks amazing! I am so glad I found it!
Hi Emily I think you’re talking about Loco Moco, which I happened to just post today: http://norecipes.com/blog/loco-moco-recipe/
So much yes! Thank you, Marc. This was yesterday’s dinner and I wouldn’t have believed that the sequence of layers could matter so much. It does! Your’s is perfect!
Thanks Marc, the fridge part with the uncovered patties was a great tip. One of my biggest flaws of cooking burgers is over-working the patties to blend the meats that I’m using. Your tip on not pre-smashing the patties made a big difference. Many thanks from Sao Paulo!
this web site has made me a chief in new york.
hay man i had that same burger and i thought it was devine
My best burger is ground beef short ribs (I grind my own meat in food processor). Add a dub of Vietnamese fish sauce when grinding. Sous vide at 145 degrees then assault it in a hot cast iron skillet.
Sometimes when I’m making fries I deep fry the sous vide burger for 45 seconds. Hey oil is already hot right, why not?
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Made this the other day, and put the skillet on the grill. This rightly deserves the title “best”. The outside turned out crispy and the inside juicy and it was cooked perfectly!
I like the weighing down idea Marc to get that beautiful crust in your photo. I think that was what I was missing in terms of trying to make these Oklahoma style onion burgers. Basically they are thinner patties but they are pressed on top of thin sliced onions that caramlize into the patty as it cooks.
Hi Holderlin, the weight definitely helps get a nice crust. Love the idea of including sliced onions as I like grilled onions on my burger. Totally gonna try that out the next time I make burgers. Thanks for sharing!
Spectacular recipe, Marc! Leaving the pucks relatively loose, not over-handling the meat, some fridge time exposed and addition of salt only shortly before cooking (the last two really help keep hydration issues in check) are things I’d never thought of–and never saw in countless recipes. Have to say, I’m partial to a good melty blue cheese, aioli and some “tight leafed” salad mix (with arugula and other slightly bitter greens as counterbalance to the terrific natural Maillard effect that this recipe produces), but to each their own of course! I may even try a nice soft sourdough ciabatta next time. My super fussy three toddlers all wolfed them down. They are my toughest critics, so thanks for making my job easier!
P.S. AntiTroll nailed all the salient points regarding Shake Shack comparisons (or lack thereof) and as a former New Yorker there’s just no comparison. Your minimalist ingredients and intelligent, unique execution are just perfect. Bravo!
It’s been almost a decade since I posted this, but I’m glad to hear it’s still relevant. To update things a little, I still use the same process for the most part, but there are a few things about the meat I’ve changed. 1) I now grind my own meat (it’s safer, and it allows you to go with a coarser grind). 2) I hand chop some of the hanger steak for an extra coarse grind. This gives the burgers a more meaty texture. 3) I still prefer using grass-fed beef for flavor (I live in Japan now, so I usually get Australian beef), but the fat from wagyu is pretty delicious and the extra muscular fat is trimmed off and discarded here in Japan, is I’ll ask the butcher for trimmings and incorporate that into my patty grass-fed patty.
We started to hand-grind when living in Africa years ago and never looked back. I’ll try your hand-chopped method, too–sounds like great texture. Now we are living in Central Europe and the better butchers have incredible grass-fed local beef…and incredible local beers of course for pairing! Much obliged for the extra burger advice. Good news/bad news: Ultimate Bento sold out in Europe, too. Will keep an eye out for the second edition.
You’re welcome! About Ultimate Bento, I believe the book is already in the second printing so hopefully it will be available soon!