There are few American foods more popular than the humble hamburger. With summer grilling season upon us we thought we'd share some easy-to-follow tips for making better burgers.
By MYGOURMETCONNECTION.COMburger311(photo credit: mygourmetconnection.com)Start with the right ingredients:• When choosing your meat, consider the fat to meat ratio. Leaner is not always better.•Ground beef with at least 15% fat content works best and ground round and ground chuck are both good choices.• If you decide to go with lean ground beef, ground chicken or turkey, add 1 tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil per pound of meat.Easy tips for great tasting burgers:• Make sure your meat is well chilled and don't overwork the meat with your hands. The warmth of your hands can start melting the fat resulting in a less juicy burger.• If you're adding other flavoring ingredients to the meat, make sure they're chilled as well.• Gently form the meat into round balls (4 to 6 ounces each), then press them into patties between two sheets of wax paper using the back of a flat spatula.• Make a depression in the center of each patty with the back of a tablespoon. This will help the burger retain a flat shape during cooking.• Oil the grates and preheat your grill completely. Medium-high heat is best.• Don't try to turn burgers over too quickly. Allow the meat to properly sear to prevent sticking.• Never press or flatten your burgers during cooking. This squeezes out all of the juices, increases the possibility of flare-ups and results in a dry burger.• Toast your buns lightly and have your toppings ready to serve.• Cooking times will vary depending on the size and thickness of your burgers and the heat intensity of your grill. As a rule of thumb, a 5-ounce, 1-inch thick burger, cooked over medium-high heat will take 4 minutes per side to cook to medium doneness.For more great burger recipes goto mygourmetconnection.com
