Keep it simple!

I’ve messed with all types of burgers. From burgers with nothing but meat to burgers with everything including the kitchen sink. And not to brag, but I have even been told more then once (by maybe the same guy) that my burger was the best he ever ate. You can lie and say it was great, but you don’t lie and say it’s the best ever.

The problem I often run into is that I can’t repeat that same great taste every time. What and how much did I put into the burger? Was it the onion, honey, hot sauce, etc. etc..? I’m still looking to master the most popular back yard BBQ food of all time.

The burger I describe below may not be the best you have ever had because that’s a tall order and everyone’s taste buds differ (don’t let me get started on the Pizza Patrol again), but I’m getting to the point where I can continue to turn out a great product every time.

Let me start with the meat. I’ll keep this short and clean (well at least short, it may not sound clean to some of you health nuts out there). When you go to the super market you reach for the ground beef right? Ground beef; I don’t have exact details but a cow is beef and if you grind up a whole cow from tail to snout technically that’s ground beef?

Not exactly but you can use just about any part of the cows scraps to make up ground beef. More like gross beef! Do you really want to eat that shit? What do I do? That’s easy, find a butcher. I grew up a mile or two from two butchers and never stepped foot in one until this year. Why? Because I was the jerk who was buying ground beef and who needs a butcher when you have a grocery store! With the exception of a few celebrity meat purveyors (see earlier Pat La Freda post) fancy blends of beef, the foundation of a great burger is CHUCK. It is from one part of the cow and contains no fillers. It is a fatty piece of meat that is great for the grill.

You’re looking at about 70/30 fat content but that’s just how it is. And get this, Chuck cost about $3.50/lb at my butcher (as opposed to the 93% fat free revolting ground beef that my wife insists on buying for about $7.00/lb) and he grinds it in front of me. His store smells like shit but his chuck is sweet. One quick note, the sooner you get it on the grill the better it tastes. A bacterium starts to attack meat the second it’s messed with or sometime close that.

Now that you have the chuck, get the kosher or sea salt out and fresh ground pepper, turn around and put that Worcestershire sauce back in the fridge. This is not grade school.

Form a nice patty but do NOT pack the meat like a meat ball! It needs to be loosely packed.

Now it is time to get your grill rocking, you want high, hot, direct heat. Clean your grill grates and oil them up. Salt and pepper are the last things to go on. Pop that bad boy on the grill and let it rip. Flip once then put on your cheese. People get crazy with cheese and it masking the taste of beef, etc., but I can’t help it and people love it and this particular cheese will be your new secret weapon, Port wine cheddar!

I also went with the often under utilized toasted onion roll, a thick wedge of raw onion and a fist full of shoestring fries and “Voila”, a great simple burger. People will love the flavor and juiciness of this burger, especially since most people are used to eating scrap…

Stay tuned, my first attempt at smoking ribs has taken place and my famous pulled pork in a crock is soon to follow.

Enjoy!