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Your Perfect Hamburger...

Tom Hendricks

Tom Hendricks

Vice Admiral
Premium Member
I was wondering, What's Your Perfect Hamburger? I mean, how do you like it cooked? Rare to Well Done? What are your favorite toppings? Do you prefer ground beef or say a turkey burger? For you what is your perfect hamburger? How about burger chains?

For me, #1 is grass fed ground beef. Having it cooked to medium, still a little pink but cooked enough to get some good caramelization. I prefer it on a brioche bun, with a light slathering of mayonnaise. Topped with American Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion and Ketchup.

My #2 would be a Turkey Burger, topped with Cheddar Cheese, Lettuce, Onions and BBQ Sauce.

My favorite place to get a hamburger out is Bobby's Burger Palace and for those in the know, the White Manna. I prefer the Jersey City location over the Hackensack one but both are great.
 
The best burgers I've had lately are from Olive Garden, and the Baconzilla from Checkers. As for cooking one at home, medium with ketchup only.
 
Perfect hamburger:

Meat: 85/15 Ground Chuck. If one *must* go leaner, then 90% is as far as I would go. Any leaner and you're wasting time. Fattier? No less than 80%. Patty should be fairly thick, maybe a half-inch or so. This is a fly-by-night sort of judgment one has to make. Too thick and to get the right donness in the center means burning the exterior. Too thin and to get the right exterior means an over-cooked center. Burger should still be very juicy when cooked which means no "smashing" the burger with the spatula while it's cooking. Want to know why? Take a soaked sponge and start pressing down on it, that's what you're doing to a burger as you press on it.

Cooking method: Grill or skillet on the stove, grill is ideal but skillet works.

Doneness: Medium, at least. Probably closer to medium-well, ground beef can get sketchy at rarer levels doneness but you can get away with close to medium for quality, fresh, burger.

Toppings: For me the only acceptable toppings for a burger are bacon and cheese. I could probably stand for a slice of a lightly salted fresh tomato. If you need to load down a burger with all sorts of toppings then the burger itself, the meat, must not be worth eating. Have a salad on the side.

Condiments: None. See: point above re: quality of meat.

Cheese: Ideally cheddar. American cheese is garbage, though tends to be the standard cheese for burger topping. Best Cheddar-Jack cheese.

Bun: Buttered then well toasted. Should be a good, thick bun. None of this slightly smushed $1.00 for 8 buns in the bread-bag crap. Big, hearty, bun.

Sides: French fries and/or onion rings. There's really no other choice.
 
Homemade.

Bison or grass-fed beef is great, but not enough fat. Tastewise, ground chuck is just about right. Raw patty is about 3/4" thick and about 8" round to allow for shrinkage. A thumbprint in the middle will help combat the bulge as it cooks. Salt and pepper, then throw on a flat-top or a skillet.

I like my burgers cooked through but not to the point of being hard and chewy. Just crusty and done.

I like the regular white buns that come 8 to a package. They're just the right size.

American cheese on top of the meat just as it comes out, not put on while it's cooking. Yellow mustard on the bottom bun, a few drops of ketchup, and 3-5 dill pickle slices. Meat on top of that, then the top bun.

Sometimes I'll add some iceberg lettuce on the bottom bun. Or if I'm feeling adventurous, I'll leave off the ketchup and put on a slice of tomato and a few rings of red onion.

Building a sandwich is an art. If you don't get the ingredients in the right place, it can get soggy. That's no fun.

But mostly it's about the meat. Meat and bread. And meat.
 
The best burger I ever had was a Kobe Beef one in Manhattan a couple of years ago. It didn't require any condiments. It was medium well-done.

Usually, I get burgers extremely well-done. I just like the texture of burnt and dry. Although, if I were to eat a steak I'm the opposite...very rare.

Veggie burgers, there aren't too many that I like. There was a brand called "Good Life" I really liked but they don't carry it around here.

Anywho, I like burgers on a dry toasted bun with a touch of mustard, field greens (in place of lettuce), a slice of tomato and Perrin's sauce.
 
I'm a burnt hamburger person, myself. When I get steak, it has to be well done. My mom's the same way, though she likes her steak "charcoal". :lol:

Now, I've only had chain restaurant burgers, save for a little burger joint here, but their burgers are so greasy, just looking at them gives you heartburn. Believe it or not, though, I like the Wendy's classic single. The beef is well done, but not too dry, the lettuce and tomato are cold and crisp, the bread and butter pickle is zingy without being overpowering, and the bun is a warm buttered roll. It all comes together really well. I'm sure there are better burgers, but none that I've had.
 
I like Wendy's for burgers. It's the good kind of greasy juicy and their patties seem to have a fresher taste.
 
Lindemann's Catch said:
I like Wendy's for burgers. It's the good kind of greasy juicy and their patties seem to have a fresher taste.
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They really do. I'm not entirely sure what they've done, but the consistency is just right.
WalkerBait said:
Rainbow Dash said:
I'm a burnt hamburger person, myself. When I get steak, it has to be well done. My mom's the same way, though she likes her steak "charcoal". :lol:
Click to expand...

*twitch*
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Which part? The charcoal or Wendy's? :lol:
 
I don't know why it was so special, but the Fountain Bar & Grill at the Country Inn & Suites in Sunnyvale, CA made a fantastic cheeseburger. I was in town for training and didn't have a car, so I ate all my meals at the hotel restaurant. I had the burger for four of the five nights I was in town. Just a very tasty burger!
 
Grilled ground turkey - 1/3 lb
Sunny Bun roll

Top Bun
Mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, dill pickles, pork bacon, pepper jack cheese, turkey burger, ketchup, spicy mustard.
Bottom bun

:bolian:

ETA: Crinkle fries. Beverage? I like root beer or if I can swing it beer(Killian's).
 
80/20 ground chuck cooked on a grill to medium-well.

A good sesame or poppy seed bun.

Toppings: cheese, either a good cheddar or monterey jack, bacon and a fried egg.

Sounds good right now.
 
L'Idiot said:
Five Guys.
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I like 5 Guys a lot too, first time I had it was in Brooklyn. I love how they do fries. The cut them fresh there, they place the fries in the bag and dump even more on top. That plus the peanuts, how can you go wrong?
 
For eating out/fast food. I like this local place called Village Grill, then Wendy's, Burger King. I despise McDonald's. I used to like a few chain places like Applebee's.
 
Fearless said:
For eating out/fast food. I like this local place called Village Grill, then Wendy's, Burger King. I despise McDonald's. I used to like a few chain places like Applebee's.
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I like the Big Mac from McDonalds. Yeah, I know, how could I, but for some reason, I really like Big Macs, and that only happened after moving away from my Vegetarianism.
 
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