My Perfect Burger

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The Perfect Burger.

It is different for everyone. Char-coaled, flame-broiled, onion-fried, thick, thin.

My hubs likes his thick, slathered in mushrooms & swiss.

My sister likes hers plain-jane. Nothing fancy… just lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, & mustard. At restaurants we can’t “share” a burger, because I’m a fancied-up burger lover.

My grandma likes the burgers from Braum’s. My in-laws could live on a Johnnie’s #3.

Everyone likes theirs different.

But just for today… It is all about me. And my perfect burger.

Here’s what we need:

• Ground Chuck
• Extra Sharp White Cheddar Cheese (would you expect anything else?)
• Fresh Baby Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Horseradish
• Sour Cream
• Fresh Bakery Style Buns
• Salt & Pepper

Fresh Ground Chuck. Why? Because Ground Chuck has the right fat to lean meat combo for the best burger flavor.

*CAUTION* Stay AWAY from pre-formed/ pre-packaged patties! You will not get the best texture or flavor you can get.

This is about a 6 ounce ball of beef.

Using your *clean* hands, form into a patty about 3/4 inch thick. You don’t want to overwork the beef, squishing & molding the tar out of it, or you will wind up with a tough burger. Just mold it enough to make a patty that is not falling apart.

This next step is crucial:

Using your thumb, make a deep depression in the middle of the patty. (I learned this trick from Bobby Flay… Thanks, Bobby!)

According to Bobby, this does 2 things:

1. Prevents Flying Saucer shaped burgers… puffed up & bulging in the middle
2. Prevents the burger cooker from “smashing” down the burger as it cooks, therefore smashing out all of the juices in the meat.

No one wants to eat a flying saucer shaped burger OR a dry hockey puck burger.

Season both sides of the patty liberally with kosher salt & black pepper. That is all the seasoning it needs.

It was darn cold outside when I was making burgers, so I preheated my dash of oil in a cast-iron skillet over HIGH heat.

This burger method also works great on grilling, but cast-iron is just as good!

We preheat the pan so the burger won’t stick.

When the oil shimmers… the pan is ready.

Drop the patty in the pan and cook UNDISTURBED for 3 minutes.

NO spatula smashing. NO moving. NO lifting to sneak-a-peak. UNDISTURBED! It is forming a crust. A perfect crust.

When the 3 minutes is up, flip over and again cook UNDISTURBED according the doneness chart below:

• Rare: 3 minutes first side/ 3 minutes second side
• Medium-Rare: 3 minutes first side/ 4 minutes second side
• Medium: 3 minutes first side/ 5 minutes second side
• Medium-Well: 3 minutes first side/ 6 minutes second side
• Well: 3 minutes first side/ 7 minutes second side
• Hockey Puck: 3 minutes first side/ 8 minutes second side

This doneness chart works for both cooking on cast-iron & cooking on a high heat outdoor grill.

If you are adding cheese… you want to melt it directly on the burger patty during the last minute of cooking time.

I like my burgers Medium-Well, so I added the cheese 8 minutes in… one minute left on my 2nd side of cooking.

Cover the burger with a lid, so the cheese gets perfectly melted.

Horseradish + Sour Cream = Creamy Horseradish Sauce

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Creamy Horseradish Sauce. I like mine a bit more potent than the average human… so add a little, then taste & adjust to your liking.

All mixed!

(psst… with the remaining horseradish you could make my sister’s Potato Cakes)

Slice the tomatoes.

There’s my favorite knife, again. Not only is it good for slicing bread & sour cherry-berry cinnamon roll cobbler, but it is perfect for slicing tomatoes!

I had some potatoes cooking in the oven, so I threw my sliced buns in there to get toasty.

Time to assemble! Slather on some creamy horseradish sauce.

Top with the cheesy burger patty.

Add some thick sliced tomato slices.

I sprinkled on some kosher salt to the tomatoes… because you can’t get much better than ripe tomatoes sprinkled with salt.

Are you getting hungry, yet?

Pile on the baby spinach. Because iceberg lettuce was invented by terrorists.

Add your top bun and stand back and gaze upon your masterpiece.

Perfection.

To me. My perfect burger.

What is your idea of the perfect burger?