How do you make good hamburgers?

[JohnCU]

I grilled some yesterday for a tailgate (charcoal) but they turned out kind of... gritty or something?

 

[b0mbrman]

DID YOU CLEAN THE GRILL?

 

[MX2]

Clean dat grill son!

 

[Slew Foot]

According to Cooks Illustrated:

Mix in milk and bread crumbs into your meat mixture. Then form the patty around a small dollop of garlic butter, and then slighylt flatten the middle so it doesnt bulge when cooking.

 

[JohnCU]

yeah the grill was clean, it was like the meat didn't mix together or something...? just seemed kinda dry or something.

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Knead A-1 sauce into the meat.

 

[Kalvin00]

lots of meat, lots of cheese

cant burn it though.

 

[isekii]

Do only one flip. for cooking the other side.
You can add some sauces to make it more interesting.
Or even cheeses in between

 

[Kelemvor]

We just use ground Chuck or Ground Round or whatever. But we add in the steak seasoning that you can buy at the Texas Roadhouse Restaurants. It gives them a great flavor and we always have people asking what we put in them because they taste so good.

 

[RapidSnail]

Garlic salt.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: JohnCU
yeah the grill was clean, it was like the meat didn't mix together or something...? just seemed kinda dry or something.

AH. SOUNDS LIKE A TEMPERATURE PROBLEM...

WELL, FOR THE DRYNESS. I'M NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN BY "THE MEAT DIDN'T MIX TOGETHER"

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: JohnCU
yeah the grill was clean, it was like the meat didn't mix together or something...? just seemed kinda dry or something.

AH. SOUNDS LIKE A TEMPERATURE PROBLEM...

WELL, FOR THE DRYNESS. I'M NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN BY "THE MEAT DIDN'T MIX TOGETHER"

too hot or too cool? it just seemed like when you bite into it, it seems.. not all together...?

 

[GagHalfrunt]

1) Start with decent meat. About 80/20 is perfect. Don't go leaner, the juice is important to the taste. Make 4-5 ounce patties
2) DO NOT mix bread crumbs, worchestshire sauce, A1, onion soup mix or anything else into the meat. You're making a burger, not a damn meatloaf.
3) Get the grill hot
4) Put meat on grill, season lightly with salt and pepper and then LEAVE IT ALONE. Do not move it, press it down or play with it. Let it cook for about 4 minutes
5) Flip in ONCE with tongs or a spatula. NOT A FORK.
6) Season the other side lightly with salt and pepper and again, LEAVE IT ALONE for about 4 minutes.
7) Remove from the grill and let it rest a minute or two before serving.

That's all you need to do to get a perfect burger. The less you do to it the better, you're trying to get a nice crust on the outside with a quick sear to keep the juices inside. Anything you do to it during the cooking process makes that harder, so other than the single flip halfway through don't touch it.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
1) Start with decent meat. About 80/20 is perfect. Don't go leaner, the juice is important to the taste. Make 4-5 ounce patties
2) DO NOT mix bread crumbs, worchestshire sauce, A1, onion soup mix or anything else into the meat. You're making a burger, not a damn meatloaf.
3) Get the grill hot
4) Put meat on grill, season lightly with salt and pepper and then LEAVE IT ALONE. Do not move it, press it down or play with it. Let it cook for about 4 minutes
5) Flip in ONCE with tongs or a spatula. NOT A FORK.
6) Season the other side lightly with salt and pepper and again, LEAVE IT ALONE for about 4 minutes.
7) Remove from the grill and let it rest a minute or two before serving.

That's all you need to do to get a perfect burger. The less you do to it the better, you're trying to get a nice crust on the outside with a quick sear to keep the juices inside. Anything you do to it during the cooking process makes that harder, so other than the single flip halfway through don't touch it.

Listen to this man.

 

[Stuxnet]

Don't worry about cleaning the grill: it doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, it will test better if it's not perfect. Of course, you don't want it "nasty" dirty, either. I clean mine every two or three cookouts.

1. McCormick's hamburger spice is GOOD
2. Cook on high for a few minutes (2 - 4 minutes)
3. Turn grill off, let sit for another 4 - 6 minutes.
4. Brag

The spices you choose are your call, but the secret to getting the crispy outside with the medium inside is to let the burger cook itself. That's why you cook it at extreme heat at first and then turn the grill off.

Another good way to contain the juices is to coat the burger in BBQ sauce when you flip it. Like GagHalfrunt said, flip ONCE, and do not fark around with the burgers (forking them, mashing them, etc).

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: JohnCU
yeah the grill was clean, it was like the meat didn't mix together or something...? just seemed kinda dry or something.

Use fresh meat that's cold. If you defrost the meat, do it by placing it in the refridgerator. Don't use the microwave or the meat will not hold, just like the way you are describing. I've found that heating the meat drives out the fat that helps hold the meat together. So if the meat starts coming apart as you are forming the patties, trying cooling it down some to gel the fat back up. Otherwise, do as GagHalfrunt states, especially about waiting to flip them. If they aren't cooked well on one side when you flip then the patties will tend to fall apart as well.

 

[Baked]

You buy the heat and serve variety from the supermarket.

 

[thesurge]

ALL OF YOUR ANSWERS!!!!

 

[intogamer]

mcdonalds

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: JohnCU
yeah the grill was clean, it was like the meat didn't mix together or something...? just seemed kinda dry or something.

AH. SOUNDS LIKE A TEMPERATURE PROBLEM...

WELL, FOR THE DRYNESS. I'M NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN BY "THE MEAT DIDN'T MIX TOGETHER"

too hot or too cool? it just seemed like when you bite into it, it seems.. not all together...?

Too cool.

Could also be the quality of meat...you didn't go too lean did you? When you're grilling, you want fat.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

how i cook them.

light PROPANE grill and set to maximum
look at temp gage to confirm its pegged hard over (only tops out at 600 degrees)
apply meat patty
wait 7 min
flip
wait 7 min
apply chese
wait 15 sec
retrieve meat patty

 

[Vich]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
1) Start with decent meat. About 80/20 is perfect. Don't go leaner, the juice is important to the taste. Make 4-5 ounce patties
2) DO NOT mix bread crumbs, worchestshire sauce, A1, onion soup mix or anything else into the meat. You're making a burger, not a damn meatloaf.
3) Get the grill hot
4) Put meat on grill, season lightly with salt and pepper and then LEAVE IT ALONE. Do not move it, press it down or play with it. Let it cook for about 4 minutes
5) Flip in ONCE with tongs or a spatula. NOT A FORK.
6) Season the other side lightly with salt and pepper and again, LEAVE IT ALONE for about 4 minutes.
7) Remove from the grill and let it rest a minute or two before serving.

That's all you need to do to get a perfect burger. The less you do to it the better, you're trying to get a nice crust on the outside with a quick sear to keep the juices inside. Anything you do to it during the cooking process makes that harder, so other than the single flip halfway through don't touch it.

Use 80/20 and you will need a bypass soon.

Be a real man use 93/7 and enjoy your burger and your body!

 

[minendo]

Mix ground beef with worchestershire(sp?) sauce, chopped onions, parsley, and ground mustard. Let sit for 20 minutes and grill.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: Vich

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
1) Start with decent meat. About 80/20 is perfect. Don't go leaner, the juice is important to the taste. Make 4-5 ounce patties
2) DO NOT mix bread crumbs, worchestshire sauce, A1, onion soup mix or anything else into the meat. You're making a burger, not a damn meatloaf.
3) Get the grill hot
4) Put meat on grill, season lightly with salt and pepper and then LEAVE IT ALONE. Do not move it, press it down or play with it. Let it cook for about 4 minutes
5) Flip in ONCE with tongs or a spatula. NOT A FORK.
6) Season the other side lightly with salt and pepper and again, LEAVE IT ALONE for about 4 minutes.
7) Remove from the grill and let it rest a minute or two before serving.

That's all you need to do to get a perfect burger. The less you do to it the better, you're trying to get a nice crust on the outside with a quick sear to keep the juices inside. Anything you do to it during the cooking process makes that harder, so other than the single flip halfway through don't touch it.

Use 80/20 and you will need a bypass soon.

Be a real man use 93/7 and enjoy your burger and your body!

You burn the fat off either way while grilling. Actually, the 80/20 will burn more fat and taste better.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
PROPANE

That's your problem right there.