Do Not Forget the Salt and Pepper. All Good Burgers have at least Salt and pepper.
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I agree with you on bacon and fried egg. I love both of these and eat them both fairly regularly but think they add nothing to a burger (if not detract from it).
I'm also very anti-ketchup - both in life and on burgers, I think it just taste so strongly that a good burger is better without. Needless to say, I feel the same way about BBQ sauce.
On the other hand, I love hot peppers on burger. Whether pickled, sauteed or just raw.
One idea that I've been kicking around but haven't done it yet, is to add a frico or fried cheese crisp instead of, or in addition, to melted cheese. I think the added texture from the frico plus that that melted/charred cheese flavor would work really well
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Anti-ketchup!?!?!?
That's mothers milk around here.... -
I try to get ketchup out of our house every chance I get. It covers up every other flavor, and m ost of the store bought stuff has a ton of crap I can’t pronounce!
The fried cheese crisp is a great addition. First time I did it was on accident when I had bad aim putting cheese on a burger. 🤣 It was so good I started doing it regularly. Such a great addition to a burger. Sometimes that’s the only cheese I add, other times it’s with a slice of cheese too.
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Call me a boring dud but bacon cheese burger is about as far I'm going with this.
I've tried so called state burgers, burgers with this, burgers with that, all kinds of toppings imaginable.
The one and only thing that makes them different is the mess they make trying to eat them.
Sure somethings are quite tasty while some combo's can be less than desirable.
Me, I'm not inventing the wheel....
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Eggs on a burger are often called "hangover burgers" here. Don't know if this is regional or not. Anyhow it only works if the yolk is runny. Messy? Yea. It is a big mess. But if you want a "hangover burger" you are probably a mess too. Bacon adds crunchy goodness to a burger. So yea, nothing wrong there either.
Really the verities are endless. For example, blue cheese crumbles and buffalo sauce. There you go. Perfectly good burger option, assuming you like blue cheese and buffalo sauce. That is the genius behind a hamburger. The only common trait is ground beef and bread buns. Gotta have those two things or else it is just a sandwich. But what else you add is a free for all. Complete chaos.Comment
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Blue cheese and buffalo sauce. 😎
That gives me an idea to toss some buffalo sauce on the griddle when the burgers go down. Doing fried mustard is common around here…I bet it would work with buffalo too! -
Santamarina -- Fried mustard? Interesting. You put the mustard directly on the grill and fry the burger in it? Is there enough oil in the mustard so that you don't need anything else to keep the burger from sticking? -
Murdy When I do burgers on the griddle I put the meat down, hit it with salt and pepper, then just before I flip it I squirt mustard on top of the patty, so when flipped the mustard is frying between the burger and the griddle.
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I might be in the minority here but if I have some really good, fresh, high-quality ground beef I like to put it on the grill and cook to medium, and then put it on a butter Toasted Bun with one thin disk of yellow onion and a light slathering of stone ground mustard on the bottom bun. And obviously salt and pepper the burger before it goes on the grill. With really high quality beef that is a winner.
all that said will I eat a burger with a whole bunch of other toppings and what not on it? Absolutely it's a freaking BurgerComment
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Mosca I get what you say about burgers being too busy, and I've never even had desired to try one with an egg on it, although I never turn down bacon. I've also done a lot of the things you mention like sautéed mushrooms on the burger, butter on the burger, and when doing smash burgers, I mix in garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper, sprinkling salt on at the grill. Garlic is good on beef, and great on or in a burger. Garlic butter your buns before grilling them briefly too!
For my summer cookouts, I always have pimento cheese available for the burgers. Maybe its a southern thing, but quite a few in the family like it.Comment
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Blue cheese in the mix.
Tomato jam vs tomatoes
Bacon jam vs bacon slices.
Carmelized onions.
Consider a heavenly mix of bacon and tomato jam with minced, cooked mushrooms and some carmelized onion.
Also think about variations on the mayo and/or ketchup. Chioptle mayo. Roasted garlic mayo. Gochujang ketchup.Comment
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You know what I forgot? Meathead’s Burger Glop. I usually make a batch at the beginning of summer and put it in a squeeze bottle. People wouldn’t try it when I called it Burger Glop, so I started calling it Secret Sauce. Whatever, it’s damn good!Comment
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I love egg on a burger, but it's gotta be the right burger. Now I would say I'd prefer just a runny yolk over an entire fried egg.
As to butter, we cooked all our burgers in butter and buttered the buns at the restaurant I cooked at. Just use low or unsalted butter.Comment
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smokenoob you push the bun to squeeze the yolk before ya pick it up
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When we want a specialty burger, we go to this place. The descriptions in the menu may give you some ideas.
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A lot of great ideas here!
Personally, I've had by far the most satisfaction with minimally handled burgers (just pressed to shape, not squashed and kneeaded into oblivion. For this reason, I dislike flavorings that have to manually mixed since I think it does a huge disservice to the texture of the meat. Give me a heavy hand with kosher salt and some black pepper, and I'm happy.
If I'm going to season beyond that, I've dusted the burgers with:
BBB
BBB, but added cinnamon and ground espresso (not bad at all)
Chili powder, with fresh toasted chilis and cumin. Also very good
Stuffed burgers have potential, if not overstuffed to the point the innards just gush all over when you bite. Also, they should be issued to the consumer with a boiling lava potential warning. That said, I've been really happy with these:
Cream cheese and jalapeno
Pimento cheese
Brie and bacon
Other toppings that bring me joy:
Sauteed mushrooms
Avocados
Fire roasted poblanos
Bacon. Yeah, I heard ya, but I still love it!!
Gruyere cheese and mushrooms. Not the generic swiss cheese, but the quintessential, very best ever, only made actually in Gruyere, Switzerland. Un-freakin-beatable.
Generally speaking, I do think less is more. I don't usually put more than about 3 things on my burger, or the flavors of the components don't get to sing their part as harmoniously in the symphony of pure heaven that is the perfect burger.
Great topic, and I'm digging the input so far!Comment
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See, I am opposite I don't like stuffed burgers at all. I want my acutrimants on the outside of the patty. -
texastweeter
I generally feel the same, but I really love the flavor and richness the soft cheeses add. It just doesn't work to put cream cheese or brie on top, but the pimento could go either way. And you can't over-stuff, or they become a genuine hazard to the eater. My son obliterated the roof of his mouth on a volcanic mouthful of hot cheesy goodness. They're fiddly things to make, and can easily be over-complicated. I sound like I'm talking myself out of them...but I'm not!! :-) -
Minimally handled is important. When I worked in a meat plant, the manager explained to me that pre-pattied burgers weren't as good because patty machines have a lot of moving parts and friction raises the temperature, higher temps mean some of the bacteria gets active, and that affects the taste. Same is true of overhandling ground beef.
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Tonight’s burger: Martin's potato roll toasted in garlic butter, ranch dip (not dressing), sautéed onions, chällerhocker Swiss, chuck/brisket blend burger, sautéed mushrooms, roasted red pepper. It was pretty doggone good.
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Last edited by Mr. Bones; February 7, 2022, 11:40 PM.Comment
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I like all the cheeses, bacon, onions (caramelized for sure), jalapenos, different types of buns, lettuce and tomato all make for a great burger and it can be with and with out some items.
When we lived in middle GA there were so many great farms around that to get some awesome tomatoes for that burger (or even a blt) would definitely take it to another level.
One burger I make occasionally is my Mardi Gras Burger. I use cheddar cheese and tomato but what sets it apart is that I will put some Boscolli olive salad on it, olive oil and all. It gives it a very unique flavor and if one enjoys New Orleans muffuletta's this is one to try.Comment
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