Choose protein product, ground beef, turkey, pork, chicken, shrimp, fish
Ground Beef Hamburger Example
Add liquid to help make a juicy burger, eg., Worcestershire Sauce, barbecue sauce, ketchup, grated butter, milk bread mixture, (for ground turkey add chicken broth or turkey gravy, etc for pork or other protein)
Add seasonings, jerk seasoning, cayenne, or dried onion soup mix (1 envelope for 1 1/2 - 2 lbs), garlic powder, dry chopped onions, paprika, dry fajita seasoning, taco seasoning, black pepper, whatever seasonings desired, mix well and consistently (optional: use KitchenAid mixer)
Portioning is key to determining the level of doneness for every burger
Consistently sized burgers allow consistent cooking method for all the burgers, so it is easy to make some medium rare, some medium, and some well-done--just use thermometer
Weigh them out before forming into patties, 3.5 oz is a good size for average person, those who want more can have another hamburger
Use the grilling method, set grill to highest setting
Look for coagulation of proteins (stiffening and shrinking) up the side, smell for caramelization of sugars
Cook 75% first side, 25% flip side
Leave the grill lid open, because we want direct-source conductive heat, if you close the lid the burgers will bake and you will lose all the signs needed for knowing when to flip
When coagulation reaches 1/4 way up the side, turn the burgers 90 degrees to make cross-hatch grill marks
Flip them when you see coagulation more than half-way up the side, and you see the "point" (blood, fat, and moisture rising to surface), just like a steak
Determine doneness with thermometer, medium 135-140F, remove from grill at 130F, carry-over cooking will raise the temp to 135F, put cheese on now if desired, set aside for juices to redistribute, and the cheese will melt down, and serve
The "perfect" hamburger is the one that is cooked to your "perfect" temperature, use an instant-read thermometer to quantify your "perfect" doneness, Beef final temperatures: rare-130F, medium rare-135F, medium-140F, well-150F
Peel and devein the shrimp (freeze shells for later use)
Pulverize 1 cup of panko bread crumbs to a fine grain (pulse about 15 times), then transfer to a shallow dish for dredging
Put 1 cup of the shrimp into processor, along with the mayonnaise, black pepper, and Old Bay, pulse about 8 times to pulverize and combine the ingredients, not quite mousse
Add the rest of the shrimp to the processed shrimp mix, pulse about 4 times, to combine but leave larger pices for texture
Tranfer the shrimp mix from the processor to a separate bowl
Chop 4 scallions finely and add to the shrimp mix
Form 8 equal weight balls (about 2.5 oz each) for slider buns, or make larger patties and use larger buns
Roll the balls in the panko and flatten, about 1/2 inch thick
Pan fry with a bit more oil than a saute, about 4 tbs oil in a 12 inch skillet, and medium heat (about 360F), you want them to brown, but also cook through (about 4 minutes per side) 145F internal temp
Serve with slider bun, mayonnaise or tartar sauce or cocktail sauce or aioli, lettuce, roma tomato slices, avocado slices, long thin onion pieces
3 oz butter, grated and kept cold (freeze after grating)
1 slice white bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp ketchup
2 tbs milk
1 onion, finely diced (brunoise)
1/4 cup beef broth
1/4 white wine
12 slider rolls (brioche rolls are great)
6 slices American cheese
S&P to taste (1/2 tsp each or more)
Procedure
Keep everything cold throughout the process, right up to the time of grilling
Combine milk and bread, garlic, Worcestershire, ketchup, mix well, refrigerate
In processor, break up cold ground beef into small pieces, then process until finely ground, not quite a mousse
In large bowl, add the milk and bread, garlic, Worcestershire and ketchup mixture to the ground beef, mix well, and refrigerate another 15 minutes
Add cold grated butter to the hamburger mixture, breaking the butter into pea-size pieces, mix gently but well, and refrigerate another 15 minutes
Roll out the ground beef, starting with a sheet of wax paper a bit more than twice as long as the packaged rolls (assuming 12 rolls in 3 x 4 configuration), because we want enough wax paper to be able to fold over and seal the rolled out hamburger meat for the freezer
Place the ground beef on one end of the wax paper, cover with an additional piece of wax paper (half the length of the initial sheet of wax paper, and roll the beef out thin with a rolling pin (ensuring even thickness), trying to hold a rectangular shape the size of the 12 buns, and about 1 inch larger on both dimensions because they will shrink when cooked
With the buns placed over the meat to determine size, use a dough/bench scraper to trim off excess meat beyond the size of the 12 buns (that meat can be added back to the rolled out meat and rolled back in, being careful to retain the overall dimensions to match the size of the buns plus 1 inch
Use dough/bench scraper to cut individual burgers the size of the rolls, which means a 3 x 4 grid of equal burgers (leave the burgers in place)
Next come the holes in the burgers, which allow steam to come through, help cook the beef and steam the buns which will be placed a top the beef as it cooks
The holes should be 1/4 inch in diameter, so a short 1/4 inch dowel or a chop stick end or anything that will make a 1/4 inch hole can be used
Make 5 holes in each burger in the configuration of a "5" on dice, be sure to press all the way through to make the opening
Now, take open end of the wax paper and cover the burgers, place on sheet pan and freeze for 3-4 hours (brick hard)
Prep the buns, pull apart and cut in half (top and bottom)
Prep onion, finely diced (brunoise)
Very lightly coat a 12 inch iron skillet with oil, using a paper towel to wipe out any excess, bring to low saute temperature
Add onions to the skillet, then the beef broth and the wine, this liquid adds the steaming, cook for 3-5 minutes to begin the softening
Take frozen burgers from the freezer and separate into individual burgers, then place on top of the onions (burgers still frozen)
Season the burgers with S&P
Now top the burgers with the slider buns (bottom half first, then the top half, right on top of the bottom), steam comes up from the holes to steam the buns
Prepare the cheese for 12 burgers, set aside
These burgers never get flipped, just steamed in place, then when done, use spatula to lift each burger, onions and all, turn over with bottom half of bun in place, put cheese on top, then the top half of the bun, and burger is finished
Use ketchup, mayo, remoulade, aioli, etc, as you desire, or not
3 oz butter, grated and kept cold (freeze after grating)
1 slice white bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp ketchup
2 tbs milk
Procedure
One key to this method is keeping everything cold throughout the process, right up to the time of grilling
Combine milk and bread, garlic, Worcestershire, ketchup, mix well, refrigerate
In processor, break up cold ground beef into small pieces, then process until finely ground, not quite a mousse
In large bowl, add the milk and bread, garlic, Worcestershire and ketchup mixture to the ground beef, mix well, and refrigerate another 15 minutes
Add cold grated butter to the hamburger mixture, breaking the butter into pea-size pieces, mix gently but well, and refrigerate another 15 minutes
Weigh the hamburger mix, then portion out 3 to 4 oz burgers (about 5 or 6), forming patties, and pressing thumb into the center to make a depression (to prevent puffing up on grill), lay out on sheet pan and back into the refrigerator
Clean the grill grates, then fire it up to high heat to get the smoke and grilling flavors going, then back off to medium high
Coat the burgers with oil, place burgers on the grill
When coagulation reaches 1/4 way up the side, turn the burgers 90 degrees to make cross-hatch grill marks
Flip them when you see coagulation more than half-way up the side, and you see the "point" (blood, fat, and moisture rising to surface), just like a steak
Determine doneness with thermometer, medium 135-140F, remove from grill at 130F, carry-over cooking will raise the temp to 135F, put cheese on now if desired, set aside for juices to redistribute, and the cheese will melt down, and serve
Use ketchup, mayo, remoulade, aioli, etc, as you desire, or not
The "perfect" hamburger is the one that is cooked to your "perfect" temperature, use an instant-read thermometer to quantify your "perfect" doneness, beef final temperatures: rare-130F, medium rare-135F, medium-140F, medium well-145F, well-150F
2 tbs mayonnaise and 1 tbs ketchup whisked together
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Procedure
Saute ground meat, draining off excess fat, saute onions, garlic with the meat, use seasonings at will (salt and black pepper are good, but other steak type seasonings are ok, or rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, basil, sage, etc)
Turn off heat and melt the cream cheese into the meat and onions via residual heat, set aside
Using a slicing (bread) knife, slice the entire pack of Hawaiian rolls in half and lay them down, cut- side up, on top of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
Using a pastry brush, apply a layer of the Tuscan herb compound butter (melted) to the bottom half of the Hawaiian rolls
Layer 5 slices of American cheese evenly on bottom half of Hawaiian rolls
Spread out the meat/onion/cream cheese mixture on top of the American cheese slices
Spread the inside of the topside of the Hawaiian rolls liberally with the mayo and ketchup spread
Put the top half of the Hawaiian rolls on top of the bottom half
Add 1 tsp of Worcestershire sauce to the remaining tbs of melted compound butter, and apply it to the very tops of the Hawaiian rolls via pastry brush
Top with "Everything Bagel" nice toppings of dehydrated garlic, onions, sesame seeds, etc
Cover the entire package with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 350F
Remove the foil, and bake another 10 minutes
Slice along break lines, to make 12 sliders
Serve with lettuce, tomato, pickle slices, and more mayo as desired, and fry up some bacon as well (4 slices cut into thirds as recommended above)
2 to 3 white or yellow onions (depending on size), north and south ends cut off and peeled
8 slices American cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp each salt and black pepper
Procedure
Toast the brioche rolls ahead of time with butter in a hot skillet (heat of the buns not critical here, but light browning is)
Run ground meat through food processor to chop more finely (a few good pulses)
Measure 8 - 2 oz balls of ground meat
Place each ball between 2 pieces of parchment paper and smash thin (1/8 inch) using a small, flat baking pan or pizza pan, should be about 4 inches across
Stack the 8 smashed balls (burgers) between pieces of parchment paper and refrigerate or freeze for at least 30 minutes
Use mandolin (careful, mandolins are very handy but dangerous to human hands) to slice onions as thinly as possible (super thin because they need to soften and carmelize in same time it takes to sear the 2 oz burgers), and place in bowl
Heat up 12 inch iron skillet (large enough to cook 4 burgers at a time)
The cooking takes place very fast, so mis en place is very important, cheese with plastic wrappers off, onions ready to go, beef patties ready, brioche rolls ready, S&P ready at hand
Place 4 burger patties in skillet, add S&P and garlic powder, then drop about 1/2 cup of shaved onions on top of each patty, then use spatula to give each patty a 10-second press to be sure of even contact with skillet
Allow each patty to sear for about 30 to 45 seconds on the first side, then flip the patties making sure the onions that were on top are now on the bottom making contact with the skillet (the beef will steam in the onion juice, and the onions will caramelize giving great flavor)
After 20 to 30 seconds, place the cheese on each burger to melt down
Place top buns on top of cheese, and bottom buns on top buns to help them warm up a bit
When the onions have caramelized nicely, lift the patties and place the bottom bun under the spatula and pull out the spatula, and place on a plate, keep warm in 175F oven until the next batch is done
Serve with french fries, home fries, cole slaw, etc
Use sliced tomato, lettuce, ketchup, mayo, remoulade, aioli, etc, as you desire, or not