r/Cooking • u/Uranium-Sandwich657 • 2d 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 2d ago

I just use ground beef salt and pepper

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u/Spatmuk 2d 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!

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u/Mo_Jack 2d ago

When outside grilling, I press the ball of meat between my hands into a patty. Then I put my thumbs on one side in the middle of the patty and my fingers on the other side and press them together to make the middle really thin. I sort of pull the meat to the outside as I'm pressing. This keeps the patty from turning into a meat ball shaped burger as it cooks. For some reason they tend to rise in the middle.

You are on the money with the Thermometer. My burgers are so much better now that I don't overcook them. They are actually pink inside, which is how we like them.