Ultimate Classic, Tasty, Tasty Burgers

Hamburger with Sugar-Free Chipotle Ketchup

As Americans, a good hamburger is practically our birthright.  Why is it then that they are so often so.... well, bad? First of all, of course, is the quality of meat you use.    For starters, most beef is raised, slaughtered, and processed in a pretty scary way.  Then, there has been such a trend for so many years to focus on leanness.  Because we've been told all these years that eating animal fat is bad for our cholesterol (which turns out to be dead wrong; our cholesterol is affected by the sugars and carbohydrates we can't metabolize heading straight to our livers) we've all been buying super-lean ground beef.  If you make a burger out of meat with sufficient fat content, much of the fat melts out into the pan while it cooks, leaving behind tastiness.  When you make lean meat into a hamburger, as the meat cooks the only available liquids are the meat juices, and you wind up with a nice beefy hockey puck.  Yum.

Then, there's the seasoning.  Too often, we just make a patty of ground beef and cook it up, relying on condiments for seasoning.  Well, I like ketchup as much as the next person, but really, shouldn't the main thing you taste be the beef?  When the meat is seasoned properly, you don't notice the seasonings, you just think "oh my, that's the best beefy goodness I've ever tasted!"

I have been making burgers for a long time now, and I can tell you how simple it is to make a super-duper, delicious, deluxe burger.  It only takes a few minutes, and your mouth will thank me.  Try this out friends; you won't go back!

Now, for safety and taste reasons, (as well as ethical, of course) you must be very careful about the source of your meat.  If you aren't grinding your own, make sure that the folks who are selling it to you are grinding it fresh for you that day.  If you didn't grind it yourself, be sure to cook it completely.  Having sufficient fat in your burger means that you can cook the burger thoroughly but still have plenty of juicy goodness left inside.

Deluxe Super-Tasty Hamburgers

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
OR 1 1//2 lbs well-fatted ground beef
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
1 TB Dijon mustard
2 1/2 tsp smoked sweet or hot Spanish paprika
3/4 tsp fresh-ground black pepper



In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients.  Using your hands (I like to use disposable gloves) mix everything well, (but don't get carried away and over-work the meat) and form the meat into patties.  You have enough to make six 1/4 pound burgers.  Let the patties come to room temperature.

Heat up one large or two medium cast-iron skillets over medium-high heat.  Put a little cooking oil or bacon drippings into each pan.  Add all of the burgers into the pans, being careful not to overcrowd.  Cook the first side until well-browned, then turn them over.  Cook the second side until well-browned.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Check temperature using a digital meat thermometer; when the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F, remove them from the heat.  If you don't have a digital meat thermometer, cut a small incision into the burgers to check for done-ness.

If you don't have an issue with carbs, serve the burgers with the best quality English muffins you can find.  I adore the ones they make at Cheeseboard Collective; they are fresh and still warm when you buy them - mmm, mmmm!