Help! Can Someone Please Tell Me How to Make a Professional Hamburger?

Toad... big surprise. :~)

Some good advice here though.

My sweety pan fries a great burger. She mixes eggs with tha meat and seasons w/ salt and pepper. Nothing like I have ever had anywhere else though.
Joe

Bubba Burgers. They're expensive, but if you find them on sale, give them a try.

Joe

  True, but we all got to see a kindler,gentler  M. Hoffman.... pretty good trade-off..... 

Last year we got a 3lb box of frozen 8oz patties.  it was called Viadallia Bros.  The gimmick was sweet onion mixed in the meat.  Id buy them again

Tried a piece of top round KOBE beef, ground it myself with some onion added to the grinder, salt and pepper.  Delicious!!!!!!!

jman
To me the key is at least 20% fat content.  Salt, pepper, cook it hot and cook it fast.

I was hoping someone would mention that; I've heard it from numerous sources, most recently Bobby Flay (who now has a chain of burger places). Frankly, given a choice, I stay away from the fast food burgers; ideally, I charcoal broil, broil, or fry on a cast iron pan (my grandma's trick was putting a couple of shakes of coarse kosher salt on the pan before cooking).

One thing to try for the fast food look & feel, not to mention consistency: using one of those patty makers you see in the supermarket or dollar store. That gives the "fast food" shape to them.

One trick I've tried in the broiler was to take a 1/3 to 1/2 pound, thick burger, and poke several holes with the thick end of a chopstick (trying to duplicate the ones I tried at Jackson Hole). Makes a little more of the "crispy parts", while still allowing me to cook it rare to medium.

Yeah, I can see why poor Len never came back. What snide nasty comments!

So Carls, Jr. is Len's comfort food. Who are you to criticize?

My mother always complained that her burgers were never the same as the nice juicy ones she got when she went out. I said, "Mom, when you go to the grocery store, you always buy the leanest beef you can find, don't you?" "Of course." "There's your problem."

She wants a slim waistline and nice juicy burgers. Good luck with that.

I make mine with Indonesian sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), salt, and garlic powder, and fry them in olive oil. The kids love them.

Have a contractor build a drive thru window at your house. Just kidding!!!

Seriously, if you can find good quality 75/25 chuck, you'll have a really good authentic, "burger stand" experience.
One thing I always do to keep the burger from puffing up in the middle while on the grill is to, poke a small hole in the center of the patty before putting it on the grill or flat top. And no larger than 1/3 pound. 1/4 pound is even better. I always season, after the patty is on the grill.

Michael Hoffman


I really messed up last night. I tried my best to make a burger like the kind you can get at Carl's Jr., and other such places, and I failed miserably. The hamburger patty was so juicy that I needed a shower after dinner. Not only that, it was jam-packed with extraordinary flavor. I guess I'll never learn to make one right.

Thank you, Michael for sharing your experience with us. Hopefully, we can all learn from your mistake.