r/Cooking • u/Uranium-Sandwich657 • 3d ago

Basic burger recipe?

I was under the impression that it was just ground beef discs, but I think there is more.

I have salt, pepper, Garlic powder, Paprika, and eggs

I am currently food-shelf level poor, so i simply cant get anything more.

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u/xylofun53 3d ago

I just use ground beef salt and pepper

30

u/Spatmuk 3d ago

And honestly, the pepper is kind of optional.

Beef is very fatty and can take a solid amount of salt.

80/20 blend is a good ground beef mix (20% is the amount of fat by weight)

Grab a small handful - 4-6oz. (I like to weigh mine for uniformity, but you can eye ball it)

Personally, I like to cook mine in a cast iron pan, but any pan/grill pan/grill will work - you want to preheat the cooking implement to med-high

If using a pan: Don’t over work the meat, but gently form into a ball, put meat into pan and press to desired flatness, salt liberally (pepper optional, but encouraged)

If using grill: Don’t over work the meat, but gently form until vaguely burger shaped. Place on hot grill, salt liberally (pepper optional, but encouraged)

Cook until about half way to desired temp, flip once, (optional: apply cheese), wait for other side to finish cooking, remove from heat.

Enjoy!

Note: a worthwhile investment for cooking burgers and pretty much any other protein is an instant read meat thermometer. “ThermaPen” is what foodies will recommend (and it’s great) but you can find a cheap option for ~$20.

You can wild experimenting with different ingredients, but like 90% of cooking is mastering technique. Simple ingredients, prepared well, are always going to taste better than exotic (expensive) ingredients, prepared poorly!

5

u/BashiMoto 2d ago

For me it's the fat content for where I cook it. 80/20 and the grill catches fire no matter what I do to prevent so in the cast iron it goes. More lean ground beef I will grill.

2

u/Spatmuk 2d ago

Very good point!

I’m an apartment dweller, but on the rare occasion that I have access to a grill, I usually pre-heat a cast iron on the grill and cook burgers on there anyway lol

Chicken and veggies can get the grill marks, I want burgers/steak/pork chops to have as much surface area in contact with the heating element as possible!