Beef

10 Chef-Approved Tricks to make Your Burgers Taste Awesome

Do you have a favorite restaurant, food truck, or burger joint (or even a fond memory of one) that makes outstanding burgers, burgers that are uncommonly, inexplicably good? “Wait a minute,” you think. “I make good burgers at home. Why don’t they taste like this?” The answer? Because many of these chefs and chef-like ground beef greats have a few tricks up their sleeves. Read on, and you’ll be privy to “secrets” that will have the guests at your table murmuring, “Best burger…ever!”

It’s the meat and what you do to enhance it with umami flavors that will set you apart. (Umami is the Japanese word for “savory,” a term that wasn’t widely recognized in the U.S. until 2002. It joins salty, sour, bitter, and sweet in the basic descriptors of food.)

We highly recommend you buy ground beef with a ratio of 80 percent lean to 20 percent fat. Anything less can dry out on the grill; anything more (like 73/27) has too much fat, leading to fatty flare-ups and shrinkage. A mix of chuck and sirloin is easy to come by at the meat counter, but if it’s an option, have your butcher custom-grind something for you. Short ribs—though pricy—are a great addition. (While some high-end restaurants use custom-blends, many well-respected restaurants use commodity grinds…but then improve them!)

Below are ten tricks we’ve learned from the best.

10 Chef-Approved Tricks For Burgers

*Parmesan Cheese: Freshly shredded Parmesan (preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano) contributes much to grilled or griddled burgers, lending both moisture and flavor. Add about 1/2 cup per pound of meat. Mix gently and chill before grilling. (It’s important to keep the meat cold until the moment it goes on the grill.)

*Asian Fish Sauce: Oh, my. This is a game-changer. Mix 1 to 2 teaspoons into a pound of meat, and you’ll never look back. One of our favorite brands is Red Boat. It works like liquid magic. It’s so good, you’ll start adding it to many dishes.

*Worcestershire Sauce: Who doesn’t recognize the logo of this amazing condiment? Like many great steak sauces, it contains tamarind. A little (a teaspoon or so) mixed into your ground beef is a good place to start.

*Miso: Google the word umami and miso, aka soybean paste, is likely to turn up on the first page. It packs incredible flavor, but can be salty. We like to mix a spoonful with a bit of warm water or beef broth, then combine it with the meat.

*Soy Sauce: Well, this is easy: Almost everyone has soy sauce in their pantry. Use two forks to mix a tablespoon or two into your ground meat. The soy sauce will both flavor the meat and keep the burgers moist.

*Mushrooms: Clean a couple of ounces of mushrooms (regular button or cremini mushrooms). Chop fine, then stir into the meat. The mushrooms give off liquid as the burgers cook, keeping the meat moist. Of course, for a real umami bomb, you could dust your burgers with porcini mushroom powder.

*Rubs: Seasonings—and that includes salt and pepper—are best applied right before grilling the burgers. Applying them early will draw moisture out of the meat and give the burgers a dense, rather spongy texture. Do use rubs that play up the beef flavor, like Steven’s Santa Fe Coffee Rub.

*Bacon: Okay, this veers rather close to the toppings topic. But if your ground beef needs a bit more fat, you can add chopped or ground bacon to it before cooking.

*Butter: Freeze butter, then grate it into your beef. Two ounces per pound of meat should be enough. The butter will baste the burger as it cooks. (Watch for flare-ups.) Or, bury a tablespoon in the center of the burger before chilling (for at least an hour), then grilling.

*Marmite or Vegemite: Mostly unknown to Americans, but very popular in the U.K. and Australia, this is incredible—if you use it sparingly. Mix a teaspoon of this bouillon-like paste with a spoonful of hot water and stir to combine. Your beef will be beefier!

Check out our 1000+ Recipes section here on Barbecue Bible.Com

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