Ground beef (Recipe: burgers)

If there's really a hamburger heaven, please save a seat for me.

I'm an unapologetic burger lover.

I love them all: the fat ones and the flat ones, sit-down or drive-through, blue cheese or Swiss cheese, buns with seeds or no buns at all. Slather on some ketchup -- that's all I ask.

Ground beef always has a home in The Perfect Pantry, not just for burgers, but for stuffed zucchini with brown rice, beef enchiladas, horseradish meatloaf, puffy tacos, Persian meat patties, Argentinean empanadas, Beijing sauce noodles, Thai meatballs and Greek meatballs and spaghetti and meatballs.

Did you know that there's a difference between ground beef and hamburger? According to the US Department of Agriculture, beef fat may be added to hamburger, but not to ground beef, whether the meat is ground and packaged at a USDA-inspected plant or in your local market (as is often the case). A maximum of 30 percent fat by weight is allowed in either hamburger or ground beef. Both can have seasonings, but no added water, phosphates, extenders, or binders.

For most cooking, like stews and stuffings, I buy the leanest ground beef I can find, as lean as 93/7 (which has 7 percent fat). For burgers, a fattier mix like 80/20 will produce a juicier burger. Follow your heart, or your cardiologist's dictates, to decide how much fat is fine for you.

It's the perfect time to enjoy a burger. Go ahead. Indulge.

I'll save a seat for you, right next to me, in hamburger heaven.

HOW TO COOK A FROZEN BURGER
I was too embarrassed to write a recipe for how to cook a burger. Really, you know how, don't you? Then I decided to follow the instructions that came with my Roseda Steakburgers. I was skeptical; I'd never grilled burgers straight from the freezer before. I'd never gone flip, flip, flip before. But the burgers we made were so delicious that I had to share the instructions with you (notes in parentheses indicate where we deviated a bit, as you knew we would).

Take the burgers straight from your freezer to the grill. (Note: the burgers were a generous half-inch thick.)

Preheat your grill (gas or charcoal) on a medium heat for 5-10 minutes.

3,3,3,2,2,1: Cook your burger for three minutes, flip, and cook for another three minutes, and then flip and cook for another three. Flip two more times, cooking for two minutes on each side. And then finish it off by cooking for one more minute. This should give you a medium-well to well-done burger. (After following those directions on the first batch, and coming up with a very well-done burger, we tried 3,3,3,2, and achieved medium-rare to medium. If you're making a cheeseburger, add your cheese in the last 30-45 seconds.)

Hold the ketchup: There's no reason to add anything but salt and pepper. (I wouldn't think of holding the ketchup, or the cheese. We didn't salt and pepper the burgers, either; they were quite flavorful as is, and we're not really big on salting our food. And there's salt in the ketchup.)

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Rotini with spicy meat sauce
Lydia's own meat sauce
Chipotle meatloaf
Beef stir fry with bitter melon
Peruvian spicy string beans
Tex-Mex penne

Comments

[Vicki]

Maybe their directions were to comply with FDA guidelines on cooking beef? I'm with you, medium-rare is best, especially if you have good beef.

[PaniniKathy]

I'm a huge burger fan too!! Gourmet burgers, fast food burgers, burgers grilled at home - I love them all (although they're hardly recognizable as being the same thing!). Your "young random generators" look like they're really enjoying theirs! :-)

[Helen]

I'm a big burger fan, too. Have never cooked them from frozen and found the cook and flip concept quite interesting. The "young random generators" look like they are really enjoying their food. The last picture of just the hamburger was so realistic that I felt like I could just take a bite and enjoy! How cool would that be!
Anyway thanks again for a wonderful post.

[Gudrun]

Lydia, great to meet you at BlogHer!

As the summer has progressed, I am more interested in eating burgers that are well thought out - no more frozen beef patties from the big box store, I will seek out smaller portions of excellent beef for my burger. And I agree with you, burgers are not complete without cheese and ketchup - I also add mayo, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. Ah, the perfect burger....thanks for the cooking instructions, I am going to try those tomorrow at our Sunday night BBQ.

Cheers,

[April in CT]

What an awesome thing to give away! I'm heading over to their site now to browse around.

We really love burgers as well and have a cookout planned for tomorrow. The weather has finally turned beautiful and we're going to take full advantage. :)

[mae]

They look delicious. I sometimes do burgers the old time way with egg, spice, and breadcrumbs worked into ground round. That's also good.

[Sharon]

mmmmmm.....beef (in my best Homer Simpson voice)....there really isn't anything better than a well made beef burger.
Well, strike that. What I meant to say was, there isn't anything better than a well "cooked" burger, made from top quality beef.
Really, it's "summer" in a bun for sure.

[Paz]

Oh, yum! What a handsome and lucky fella eating that delicious-looking hamburger. *sigh* I'm hungry now.

Paz

[Juanita Olson]

Pick me; pick me; I love a good burger especially on the grill in summertime. Mmmmm, just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

[Bev Thomas]

OK, This is something I can deal with. The last beef patties I grilled were stuffed with herbs from the garden and celery salt (just a bit).

[Paula in NH]

Beef . . . it's what's for dinner. We have a fantastic family butcher in town where we buy our meat. They will fresh grind beef for you. It makes an awesome burger. Earlier this summer I found a recipe for espresso rubbed burgers. Now they were awesome. Talk about combining my favorite foods - coffee and beef. It's heaven!

[Pauline]

Mmmmmm..summer burgers, all beef and no guilty feelings. I'll pass on the ketchup and add mustard and thinly sliced onion.

[Michelle]

I'm generally indifferent about red meat in anything but "ground beef" form and the occasional roast... but, oh... my beloved burger!

I go with the classics... mustard, ketchup, mayo, tomato, and a little onion. Mmmmm...

[Mike]

This sounds like a great give-away. I've been meaning to make a trip to a local rancher for a while now and this is a good reminder. The burgers look great although I'd never heard of the grill-straight-from-frozen thing before either. Glad to hear it worked out!

I do my burgers a number of different ways--never quite the same twice. Some would argue its more meatloafy than burgers given how much other "stuff" I mix in. *shrugs* The hit the spot just the same. ;-)

[noobcook]

Hey u know what ... I have never made a burger in my life, and just the other day, I was telling my hub that *maybe* I'll make him a really nice burger for dinner one day, and his eyes lit up in happiness... heh ...

[Josie]

Oh, there is nothing like a good hamburger. We make them at least once a week in the summer and once or twice during
the winter. I love to add things to my meat mixture. Sometimes even the cheese
goes in. I have never made them straight
from the freezer. Will have to try

[Beverly]

I made the best and most juciest burger ever! I used some A-1 peppercorn flavor in it and it was so juicy!

[Mary]

I am a huge fan of putting bacon and guacamole on my burgers.
Yum! Great post!

[Iris]

I love my George Foreman Grill. Don't laugh. It allows me to make yummy burgers all year round. I even like horseradish sauce on them sometimes.

[Cindy]

Mmmmm...they look delish. I love a good burger. Since I'm a terrible griller I cook burgers slowly is in a cast iron skillet in a little olive oil. YUM.

[Amy Sherman]

I love the Recipe of the Week: 52 Burgers book. The best so far was one stuffed with blue cheese and topped with caramelized onions. Yum!

[Cythia]

These burgers look fantastic. I hope I win some!
Cynthia

[Sue]

My mouth is watering looking at those pictures. Every so often I get such a hankering for a big, greasy bacon cheese burger.

I was undecided as to what to have for dinner, but now I know. Burgers and fresh corn from our local farm.

Thanks again for the inspiration.

Sue

[Julie]

Your random number generator and burger tester staff is quite adorable.

At our house we always eat burgers with my husband's special sauce: ketchup, worcestershire sauce, and horseradish mixed to taste. Delicious stuff.

[Terese]

There's nothing like the scent of grilling burgers and those flares up that let you know you have a fat filled, juicy burger coming!

[Nancy]

Wow, do those burgers look fabulous! Your grandsons are so cute - you can see that they are loving those burgers! Isn't it funny how people add very different things to their burgers? I love to add cheese, onion, tomato, and ketchup - lots of ketchup ! Thanks for the opportunity to win the Roseda Summer Cookout Kit and give your grandsons an extra hug from your Perfect Pantry fans!

[veron]

Hamburger heaven indeed. Nothing like grilled ground beef!

[Jenny]

Burgers! Love them - especially on my new grill!

[T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types]

You know, I rarely eat beef, unless I'm eating it out - because what I make at home always seems to have the consistency of shoe leather. But, having read your "recipe" and savored the photos, I'm seriously thinking about "beefing up."

[jami]

OK, I'm de-lurking in hopes of winning delicious burgers, but I do love your site and have even made a couple of things with great success - the tex-mex pasta was a big hit. So, pick me please?

[Jane]

Those burger pics are making me salivate! I think I'll fire up the grill tomorrow. I have been dressing my burgers with some gorgonzola and caramelized onions lately--- delicious!!

[peabody]

Thanks for all the ground beef recipes, my husband loves all things ground beef.

[Heather]

Mmmm. In my opinion there is nothing like a juicy burger fresh off the grill. I alternate between liking bacon and cheddar on mine, or making blue cheese burgers, or swiss with mushroom.

[Stacy Owens]

Great to find some good ground beef recipes! My in-laws always bring us lots of beef from their farm and I never know how to be creative with it. Thanks!

[Sid]

To paraphrase a familiar commercial,"Burgers, it's whats for dinner". That burger looks so good, I think we're having our version tomorrow for dinner. We call them 'Messy' burgers, probably because by the time we put the toppings on, they're a little on the messy side to eat.

[Amy]

That's quite the burger! I'm a burger lover too. My new favorite topping is a roasted poblano. mmm!

[Aggie]

Those look so juicy and delicious!

I personally love having a fried egg as a topping (weird? maybe, but oh so good) on my burgers. It's definitely a treat, not an everyday burger.

[tigerfish]

I have been missing a good burger for a long time now...

[grace]

my favorite burger:
beef patty, pepper jack cheese, guacamole, roasted poblano peppers, and ketchup on a soft wheat bun. swoon. :)

[Channing]

I love, love, love a good burger. I like mine pretty basic - old fashioned Texas-style. They must be oozing juices(and medium to medium rare). I'm not much of a burger snob - I'll eat most any, save McDonald's. But my favorites of all are big and juicy and have some love in them, with a big side of good, greasy hand-cut fries. Yum!

[ann]

A burger just isn't a burger in my book without ketchup!

[Kristi]

I love burgers too! The flip flip flip I would never have tried. And my 3 year old daughter would never have a burger without ketchup (me either). I have to watch or she will eat ketchup with a spoon!

[carlotta mondatta]

the Roseda burger (3,3,3,2,2,1) was actually one of the best burgers i've ever had!

btw, Lydia........you mentioned the addition of the all important fruit spread (aka ketchup), but not the roll.......please tell us more about the roll that the Roseda burger was served on.

thanks again!
carlotta mondatta

[Adrienne]

Hi Lydia!
I love beef burgers, but I am a mustard girl through and through... sometimes (gasp!) I don't even use ketchup! Avocado slices also make me happy on a burger :)

[EAT!]

There is nothing better than a great burger. My husband asks for them about 2x a week. My fav is traditional - burger, American cheese, tomato, lettuce, and a good dollop of "special sauce" i.e. 1000 island dressing. An occasional burger with blue cheese, grilled onions, and mushrooms. A couple favorites made by others include In-and-Out Burger and Shake Shack in NYC.

[Liz]

I love the addition of the "gourmet" burger to most upscale restaurant menus these days. I had one recently that was served with bacon, mushrooms and brie on a buttery brioche (with fries drizzled with truffle oil).

If I'm making them at home, I keep it traditional: cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup, and mustard. A sesame seed bun is a must.

[Maria]

What a great giveaway!! great blog too!

[Wendy]

We love burgers of every kind... beef is the best (medium rare with blue cheese, sauted onions and bacon is my favorite...) but we have been experimenting with other ways to do burgers. Last night we did asian pork burgers with ground pork and chinese five spice mixed in... a lovely sauce of hosin and soy sauce and other spices on top... yum!!!

[Laya]

I've been thinking of trying grass-fed beef, and I've been looking for a small supplier to buy from. Plus, I'm in Baltimore, so Roseda is fairly local to me. Bonus!

[ayankeeinasouthernkitchen]

Lydia, that by far is the best looking burger that I have ever seen. So my favorite way to make them is just like you did, I want one now.