Attention home grillers: what do you put in your hamburger meat?

danger boy

today is the first really nice 80 degree day here.. so i'm grillin' some burgers.. i got some nice fatty ground beef.. 27% fat baby!

but what other ingredients do you add to make your burger meat to be one of a kind delicious? Need suggestions.

LessisNevermore

A small ball of fresh Mozzarella cheese. I buy fine-grind burger from a local butcher who makes it from mostly top cuts of steak. Not sure of exact fat %, but they are roughly the same size when I take them off.

Strong Bad

I start with lean Black Angus beef and sprinkle in some Old Bay seasoning. As you're shaping the burger, wet your hands with some water. Work some water into the meat. When it's grilling, DO NOT press down on the burger. Leave all the juices inside. I usually flip the burger 2-3 times at most. Adding some water into the meat is the key!

danger boy

i've read and understand.. not to use a real lean cut of ground beef.. burgers need the fat to keep them dripping juicy!

txcoastal1

I like blue cheese

danger boy

txcoastal1 wrote: »

I like blue cheese

me too!

I make four burger patties.. on one I top with blu cheese.. then I top it with another burger patty and seal in the cheese and cook it all till it's blue cheese goodness

EndersShadow

cheese and BACON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nspindel

Before you start talking about what you put in the meat, I think you should be talking about the meat. Best burgers start by grinding your own...

danger boy

EndersShadow wrote: »

cheese and BACON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

as much as I love bacon, it doesn't really wow me on a burger :eek:

bacon with my eggs though.. and i'm in heaven..

danger boy

nspindel wrote: »

Before you start talking about what you put in the meat, I think you should be talking about the meat. Best burgers start by grinding your own...

^reported^

sounds dirty to me

JK!

On3s&Z3r0s

Instead of Old Bay, I use Lea & Perrins dry Worcestershire Seasoning. I haven't seen it in the stores lately, and can't find any reference to it on their website, so this probably doesn't help you much, but it makes a damn tasty burger. I'm gonna be bummed when I run out.

nspindel

danger boy wrote: »

^reported^

sounds dirty to me

JK!

Nice

gdpeck

I press out patties very loosely from 75%-80% lean ground beef, then rub them with montreal steak seasoning. I then douse them with lea and perrins worcestershire sauce (wet), right after setting them on the grill, and right after turning them. I also like to melt a little medium or sharp cheddar on them as they finish cooking. My wife likes blue cheese on her burgers, so I melt a little blue cheese on hers as it finishes.

danger boy

sounds like Worcestshire sauce is a must have mixed in the meat.. so i'll try that for sure. some people beat an egg and add that or bread crumbs.. bread would dry it out though I think.

maybe chop up some pickled jalapeno's too.. to give them and me some heat!!

bigaudiofanatic

Rub in bbq sauce before and during cooking. I hate dried out meet.

fishbones

Shape the patties. Add Lawry's Salt Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Everglades Seasoning, Black Pepper on each side of the patties. Add american cheese slice at the end of grilling. Toast the buns. And you've got one tasty burger!

codyc1ark

WTF is a 'hamburger'. The only beef that hits my grille is a steak, and a fat one at that. :biggrin:

gdb

I rub mine all over Lady Ga Ga's body parts.....gives it that special "Tangy" flavor!:biggrin: JK, salt & pepper only.

dee1949

....remember - a hamburger is only as good as the bun it sits on. A nice onion kaiser roll.

JGM411

danger boy wrote: »

me too!

I make four burger patties.. on one I top with blu cheese.. then I top it with another burger patty and seal in the cheese and cook it all till it's blue cheese goodness

ditto twice.....blue cheese...

gdb

Peasants! Use Roquefort instead of blue!:cool: JK.....but.....to keep the bleu crumbles from falling off/into the fire, I like to cover them with a slice of aged Swiss.

scottyboy76

for every 1.5 lbs. of hamburger, yake 2 slices of quality white bread, we use the original pepperidge farm whit, mixed with enough cream or half and half or whole milk to make mush.

crush one clove of garlic, two teaspoons of a-1 sauce, salt and pepper.

make roughly 3/4 in thick pattys, about half that thick in middle, so they dont just ball up when cooked.

you can then cook them well done and will be moist and perfect

I dare you to try it once, might end up playing with garlic, but the quality white bread and milk, you will always use.

jbooker82

Misty's Seasoning.

Hands down the best general sessioning around. It is made for a local steak house here in Lincoln, Nebraska. Buy the 24 oz. bottle for $13. It has a lot of different peepers and spices in it. It isn't a salt based seasoning. It is great on steaks, prim ribs, chicken, burgers, fish, and fries.

You want the blue all purpose one not the BBQ or all natural.

http://www.mistyslincoln.com/ordereze/Products/7/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=7

Lowell_M

Don't mess with the meat! get good 80-20 burger, 4 minutes on a side, only flip once.

RuSsMaN

Salt and pepper.

aviator

Hamburger meat with fat in it. Seasoned simple, salt, pepper, maybe some garlic and onion power on a grill heated as hot as possible, hot enough that thick patty practically explodes into flame with fat cooking out as it hits the grill (did I mention get the grill HOT). Burn both sides, not very long a minute or two, turning only once. Cheese if you want, just before taking up. Let rest for 5 or so minutes after taking off grill.

The only thing wrong with my 3 burner grill is it doesn't have 5. Did I mention get it hot, if the needle is only on redline the grill is too damn cold.

gudnoyez

I prefer my ground venison mixed with sausage 60/40 mixture add worcestshire and a small amont of oatmeal to the mixture a dash of garlic salt, celery salt, schlusberg horseradish cheese on top, that = some good tasting burgers. The onion Kaiser roll is a must, your typical hamburger buns just don't do your burger any justice. A good Samuel Adams during preperation is a must.

cambir

This was a recipe I saw a couple years back. I've lost the original and can't find it online now, but this is pretty close. You could use the process with whatever seasonings or filling you choose, though. It's a lot of work, but well worth it IMO.

Spread the ground beef out on wax paper or foil in a cookie sheet (get it pretty thin as you will be folding it over on itself to make the patties).

On half the meat, add chopped garlic, onion flakes (or real onion), Worcestershire sauce, salt (I use kosher), pepper (I use fresh ground peppercorn medley), and a little cumin.

Fold the non-seasoned half over onto the seasoned half.

Cut out your patties. The original recipe said to use a pizza cutter and make square patties, but I use something round and cut them out like a cookie and then build a couple patties from the remaining meat.

Close off the edges of the patties a bit so the goodies won't spill out.

Grill.

shawn474

I used to try all sorts of recipes, rubs, seasonings, etc. By far the best advice my mother in law gave me was to use liptons powdered onion soup mix when making the burger patties. Nothing else had come close to being as easy and tasty.

decal

If you have good meat all that's needed is a little salt and pepper.Just my opinion,nothing more.

danger boy

well despite the huge flare ups from the fat.. they burgers were juicy... although, the ground beef was to finely ground up for my tastes.... seemed more like the consistancy of cat food. :eek:

but what the hell... between two buns and it's all good

scottyboy76 that sounds like a great recipe to try. I have been reading up today on what people add to their ground beef.. and yours seems to be the most popular ingreidents. (sp)