Now that summer has seemed to have finally reared its head in this Great Britain of ours and across the Northern Hemisphere, the smell of lit BBQs is filling the air down almost every street. Men across the country who would never usually dream of cooking will push everyone out of the way to get a chance to play chef. This can show in the food, and never more so than in that BBQ staple the humble burger.
I make no secret of the fact that I love a burger, but when I get invited to a BBQ and the host says they are making homemade burgers I do shudder a little. It seems lots of people make burgers more like meatballs with a mighty list of ingredients including breadcrumbs, eggs even raw onion. They invariably end up with a lumpy, horrible looking thing that burns and disintegrates on contact with their BBQ grill, and it ends up shoved in your face with the promise “they taste fine”.
Why people feel the need to do this I really do not know. The burger is an easy thing to master, just remember the whole beauty of them is that you can put any other ingredients on a burger and not in it!
I’m going to show you how to make a fantastic no fuss burger that your friends and family will sing your praises over.
Ingredients
- 500g/1lb – Minced beef (20% fat content minimum)
- 1 heaped TSP – Fine ground salt
- ½ Level TSP – Fine ground black or white pepper
Is that all? It will fall apart! I hear you shout. Trust me like most good cooking it’s all in the technique. We need that fat content in the meat too, remember fat = flavour.
First place the beef into a bowl and dust the seasoning over as much of the meat as you can.
Now take a fork…and mash. Smash those strings of mince down, as it’s those lines of air running through the mince that would cause a simply “pushed” together patty to fall to pieces the second you start to cook it.
Keep mashing and “cutting through” the mince with the edge of the fork until it starts to turn into a ball in the bowl. You want it just at the stage you need to pull the meat apart rather than it falling apart willingly.
For this quantity of meat we will make 4 x quarter pounders, so half the meat and then half again and roll into 4 nice smooth balls. You can of course size your burgers anyway you want!
To make an individual patty, lay enough cling film (Saran wrap) on a chopping board so that you can fold it over the ball of meat leaving about 3 inches (approx 7 cms) all round it. Now here is the fun bit!
Take a plate with a good “burger” size rim underneath it and place on top of your cling film/meat sandwich and press down. I mean press down
hard and roll your hand pressing the meat out to the edge of the rim. Lift your plate and you should have a good size burger, wrapped and ready for your BBQ!
Repeat this method for the other balls of meat. You can use immediately, but a bit of time in the refrigerator will benefit them.
There you have it, perfect, juicy burgers that won’t fall apart.
They take about 2-3 minutes per side on a nice hot BBQ grill.
Did I mention that the same seasoning and method will work with:
- Pork
- Lamb
- Turkey (ONLY use thigh!)
Now use your imagination for toppings, different cheeses, salad or any of your favourite combinations. By the way this is now the time to add onion and maybe a fried egg if you so desire! 😉
If you like this recipe you’ll love my bestselling Kindle BBQ book! http://myBook.to/ManVsFire
Remember to share how this recipe wowed your BBQ guests in the comments below.
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How about some recipes for really good veggie burgers that are not too dry, beany or tasteless?
I hate going to BBQs and all there is for vegetarians is limp salad 🙁
Watch this space…your wish will come true! In the meantime try halloumi grilled with a nice portobello mushroom 🙂
I’d love to see a good veggie burger recipe too – limp salad and a dry bread roll is what I usually end up with at barbecues 🙂
Angela, see above your request will soon be answered 🙂
Never thought to mash the beef before making the patties -I’ll give it a try – I use an old fashioned patty maker probably from the 1950s I’d guess – very similar to what you’re doing with the saran wrap and plate – you put the ball of meet in between two pieces of waxed paper -push the top of the patty maker into the burger sized space at the bottom and voila – you’ve got a perfectly sized burger patty.
Marty, please do give the mashing technique, it works every time! You’re making me jealous of your old school patty maker…I want one 🙂
Gotta love the good ol burger!! I have added ‘stuff’ into the burger before, but have been graduating away from that!! So your idea sounds wonderful. I have a contraption to make the burgers, and it does a fine job!! So much better than trying to eat ‘balls’ of burger on a bun!! Loving the bar b q season!! Happy cooking!
Holly try my mashing technique and recipe, I will bet they come out of your press with a firmer texture…would love to know how you got on!
I enjoy BBQ season but wonder how I will fare now that I eat differently. I never enjoyed burgers until I switched to grass-fed beef only. Now I love to eat a good gourmet burger once or twice each year and have been told that mine are the best 🙂
Thanks for the suggestion.
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Rachel, quality beef is of course preferred, the fat content is important for burgers but a lot of the better quality minced meat has a very low fat content. How do you make yours? 🙂
Mmmmm, burgers… My hubby also makes his own burgers and I’ve grown quite fond of them. I think letting them firm up in the fridge makes a big difference 🙂
Sarah, yes they will firm up in the fridge and that is the preferred route, but using the mashing technique lets you go straight to the BBQ without fear of them falling apart 🙂
Hi Michael,
thank you so much for sharing that very useful tip.
It is good to know that you can make mince patties that way without the bread crumbs or other fillers.
Would it work to add finely chopped onion to the mix or would that cause it to crumble?
Have you ever tried the ‘tatare’ version where mince is just mixed with an egg and onion and then eaten raw?
To happy taste buds!
Yorinda
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Yorinda, if you must put onions in your burger I recommend finely chopping them and softening them up in a with a touch of oil in a frying pan, then pat them dry and let go cold before adding them to the mix. A lot of people make the mistake of rough chopped raw onion and yes doing that tends to make your burger fall apart. Steak tartare? I love it! Although use the finest quality and freshest fillet steak you can possible get for the best result…bit more expensive than burger mince though 😉
I love burgers and as Yorinda says the tartare version when the quality of the meat is superfresh just like we prepare it in France.
What is still challenging for me is finding the freshest quality of meat easily.
Thanks for this post you gave me an idea for my “next prosperity party”!
Patricia, glad to have been an inspiration! Keep looking out for more BBQ recipes right here 🙂
Can I just say – This page is going to be a flipping lifesaver. I tried the whole “breadcrumb, egg” deal my first 5 times trying to make burgers and they ended up in a pathetic little fire at the bottom of my pathetic little Barbecue. It’s time for me to man up, cut the crap and get this recipe on the grill!
Thanks a billion Michael!
Go for it Justin! In summer if you don’t BBQ you should hang your head in shame 😉