8/4/2019 Excerpt and a Recipe From Serious Eats
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8/4/2019 Excerpt and a Recipe From Serious Eats
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WHATMAKESA GREAT
BURGERWith so many kinds of burgers out there,great depends on context. Still, there
are some universal indicators.
beef-to-bun ratioA burger needs enough beef so its tast e comes
through, and enough bun to support the meat a ndjuices. And the burger should be the same diameter
as the bun. Great burgers are like g reat sandwiches
all about balance.
bunIt needs to be fresh, appropriately sized, and sturdy
enough to support the meat and soak up its juices.
But it also needs some givesome softness and
squishiness. Its a tough act, balancing tenderness
and absorbency so you dont have to resort to a
knife and fork to finish.
donenessEveryone has a preference as to how a burger is
cooked; the best burgers are cooked perfectly to
ones liking.
burger grindYou want a nice loose-to-medium grind and a patty
that is not too densely packed. A fine g rind and
tight packing makes for a tough, dense burger that
starts to resemble a sausage.
cheeseRegardless of what type of cheese you prefer, it
should be properly melted, not just perched on top.
(Bonus points for two slices of cheeseone below
and one on top of the patty.)
fresh ingredientsIt should go without saying. But how many burgershave you had with wilted, crunchless lettuce,
anemic tomatoes, or stale buns? Weve had too
many. Get fresh or go home!
BURGERSTYLES
The burger is a seemingly simple dish
meat, cheese, bunbut there are more
incarnations than a casual eater would
suspect. Now that you know what basics
to look for in a great burger, here are a
few styles to try.
backyard grilled burgersYou know this one. Theres almost nothing like a
thick juicy burger, charred with dark cross-hatch-
ing, that you eat just minutes after pulling it off
your grill on a beautiful summer weekend.
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pub burgersThese burgers have sizable patties usually no
smaller than 8 ounces, often 10 ounces or more.
Theyre typically ovoid in shape, rather than f lat,
often broiled, and most often seen in pubs (hence
the name). Its a style much celebrated in New
York City.
fast-food burgersDo we really need to define this for you? We didnt
think so.
fast-food-styleburgersThe term denotes burgers that seem to take theirinspiration from fast-food burgers but are some-
how betterin terms of either ingredients or prep-
aration or both. Fast-food-style burgers will be
made with fresh, not frozen, beef; use fresh pro-
duce; and generally come from a single storefront
or, at most, a small, local chai n rather than a
nationwide chain. Burger Joint and Shake Shack
in New York City and Gotts Roadside Tray Gour-
met (formerly Taylors Automatic Refresher) in San
Francisco and St. Helena, California, a re primeexamples.
slidersMany people think a slider is just a name for a mini
burger. Many people are wrong. A slider is some-
thing specific: a t hin, thin slip of beef, cooked on a
griddle with onions and pickles piled atop the patty.
The steam from the onions does as much cooking
as the griddle. The buns are placed atop the onions,
absorbing the pungent aroma and flavor. A slider is
at once a hamburger and, yet, something more.
mini hamburgersMini burgers encompass every diminutive burger
that does not meet the definition of a slider (see
above), often because it has been grilled or broiled
rather than steam-griddled and a lmost always
because it lacks the bed of pungent onions. There
was an annoying trend, roughly from 2006 through
2008, whereby every chef in the country was
putting mini burgers (often misidentifying t hem
as sliders) on his or her bar menu.
steakhouse burgersThe steakhouse burger is defined more by where
its served than by any other unify ing characteris-
tic, though there are some general observations
one can make. Steakhouse burgers are usually
made from the beef trimmings of the various
steaks on hand and as such are ground from prime,
aged beef. Theyre almost always massive, hearty
burgers on a par with pub-style burgers, and theyre
often broiled.
kobe/wagyu burgersA Kobe burger is almost always a bad idea. Most
chefs cook these rare to medium rare, so as to not
overcook the premium meat, but with so little cook-
ing, the texture inevitably renders as mushy. Its
like moist cat food on a bun, with the meat oozing
out the sides and back as you try to eat the burger.
Kobe burgers are most often seen as mini burgers,as the meat is more affordable in smaller, sharable
portions, and the Kobe/Wagyu and the mini
burger/slider trends seem to have peaked at the
same time.
fancy-pants burgersChefs and burgers are a tricky thing: in some cases,
high-end chefs work wonders with the humble dish;
in others, overthinking can get in the way. Price
is a pretty good indication youre eating a fancy-pants burger. But since price varies from city to
city, its difficult to set a hard-and-fast dollar
border. Lets just say that if a burger costs double
what a McDonalds Quarter Pounder Value Meal
does, youre probably in fancy-pants land. If thats
not enough of an indication, you know youre head-
ing into rarefied air when one or more of the
following is involved:
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THE
HAMBURGERFATTY MELTThe Hamburger Fatty Melt is a proud
creation of A Hamburger Today and
Serious Eats. From top to bottom, it
consists of:
A grilled cheese sandwich as bun top
A 4-ounce beef patty
A grilled cheese sandwich as bun bottom
Got that? Its a burger with two grilled cheese
sandwiches as its bun. Wild, huh?
We wish our R&D department here at Serious
Eats could claim this as the product of our own
grease-addled minds, but weve merely perfected a
burger we heard about through a Serious Eats com-
munity member, who mentioned the Chubby Melt
at the Mossy Creek Cafe in Fishersville, Virgi nia. It
consists of a burger between two grilled cheese
sandwiches, smothered with sauted onions and
mushrooms, and topped with Thousand Island.
The Mossy Creek pretty much had it right until
it ladled on the toppings. In our opinion, something
as glorious as a burger with two gril led-cheese
sandwiches as its bun needs litt le else adorning it.
Once the Fatty Melt hit the Web, it became a
viral sensation. But unlike most Web memes, the
Fatty Melt concept crossed from the virtual world
to the real. You can now order a grilled-cheese
bunned hamburger from coast to coast.
While some seem to execute the concept better
than others, we think ours is still the best because
we carefully considered the beef-to-bun ratio,
using just the right bread and amount of cheese.
the hamburger fatty melt: grilled cheese, burger, grilled cheese
8/4/2019 Excerpt and a Recipe From Serious Eats
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RECRECIPERCIP RECIP
hamburger
fatty meltMAKES 2 BURGERS
1/2pound freshly ground Basic
Burger Blend (page 86)
4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
unsalted butter, softened
8 slices sa ndwich bread, preferablythin-sliced
8 slices yellow American cheese
1/2teaspoon vegetable oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Toppings, as desired (werecommend a slice of ripetomato for each s andwich)
Though the recipe will work with regular sandwich
bread, we recommend thin-sliced bread like Pepperidge
Farms Very Thin White Bread to maintain proper beef-
to-bun ratio.
1Divide the beef blend into
two equal part s and shape
into square patties 1/2inch larger
than the bread slices. Set aside.
2For the grilled sandwiches,
butter all eight slices ofbread on both sides in a thin, even
layer, using 1/2tablespoon butter
per slice. Place the remaining
teaspoon of butter in a 12-inch
cast-iron or nonstick skillet over
medium heat until the foaming
subsides, 2 to 3 minutes.
3Place two slices of bread in
the skillet and cook until the
first side is hot but not browned,about 30 seconds. Transfer the
slices to a wire rack set in a
rimmed baking sheet, hot side
up. Top each slice with a slice of
cheese. Repeat with the remain-
ing six slices of bread and cheese.
4Assemble the bread a nd
cheese to form four sand-
wiches with two slices of cheese
in the center of each. Place two
sandwiches in the ski llet and
cook until the first sides are
golden brown, about 2 minutes.
Flip and cook until they are
golden brown on the second side,
about 2 minutes longer. Transferthe finished sa ndwiches to t he
wire rack and tent with foil to
keep them warm while cooking
the remaining two sandwiches.
5Place the skillet over
medium-high and heat the
oil until it is lightly smoking.
Season the patties liberally on
both sides with salt and pepper.
Place them in the pan and cookwithout moving for about 3 min-
utes, until they are well browned.
Using a metal spatula, flip the
burgers and cook for 1 minute
longer, or until the desired done-
ness is reached. Sandwich each
patty between two grilled-cheese
sandwiches, adding toppings as
desired. Serve immediately.
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5 GREATCHEFFYBURGERSIt wasnt too long ago that the phrase
high-end burger sounded like a
contradiction in terms. But over the last
few years, some of the countrys finest
chefs have hopped on board the burger
train. While theres a real appeal to the
down-and-dirty $3 cheeseburger, theres
no denying that pricier restaurants can
turn out a mighty fine product. Here are
some of our favorite chef burgers across
the country.
1 LE PIGEONPORTLAND, ORLe Pigeon makes one of the juiciest, meat sponge-
iest burgers you may ever eat. James Beard
nominated chef/owner Gabriel Rucker grills a
thick 1/2-pound patty of Cascade Natural Beef,
ground in-house, and tops it with Tillamook four-
year aged white Cheddar, grilled pickled onions, a
hefty mound of crunchy iceberg lettuce slaw,homemade aioli, house-made ketchup, and highly
potent housemade Dijon mustard. Although the
juices may soak through t he soft grilled ciabatta
bun, the bread manages to hold up until the last
bite. Just make sure you get to Le Pigeon early if
you want this burger; they serve only five a night.
2 DAVID BURKES PRIMEHOUSECHICAGO, ILThe burger patty made of 40-day aged beef has alineage more exhaustively detailed than most
family trees. The beef comes from Primehouses
own line of Black Angus cattle, a ll the descendants
of a single bull named Pri me, all with supremely
well-marbled beef. That beef, in the restaurant,
gets dry-aged for 40 days in a Himalayan salt-tiled
aging room; then its seared at a remarkable 900F.
before its bunned. But the toppings dont hurt
when it comes to making one of the best burgers
in the city. A mound of garlic spinach and crispyshallots tops the rich, flavorful patty, and it all
comes on a bacon mayonnaisesmeared toasted
potato bun. The skin-on fries are a good side, but
the asiago-truff le potato skins are even better.
3 CRAIGIE ON MAINCAMBRIDGE, MAIn line with the rest of the seriously delicious,
funky, thoughtful, and local food at this hig h-end
bistro, Craigies hamburger is made from three cutsof sustainably raised grass-fed beef (including beef
cheek) ground together with bone marrow. A touch
of dehydrated miso paste ups the umami factor.
Chef Tony Maws slow-cooks the burger to a precise
medium-rare in a high-tech steam oven before
charring it. Topped with aged Cheddar, crisp fried
onion rings, a schmear of sweet, house-made
mace-flavored ketchup, red wine vinegar pickles,
and watercress dressed with the pattys panburger at le pigeon, portland, or
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drippings, its a composed dish on a house-baked
sesame-seed bun.
4 MINETTA TAVERNNEW YORK, NYChefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Keith
McNallys Minetta Tavern tried a dozen different
blends from New Yorks top meat purveyors before
deciding on the Black Label blend, from vaunted
meat purveyor Pat La Friedadry-aged ribeye,
along with skirt steak and brisket, sourced from
Creekstone Farms in Kentucky. The beef is
handled as little as possible, formed into patties,
and seared on a plancha with g rapeseed oil and
clarified butter; its served with sauted onions on
a buttery, salty brioche bun thats far less sweetthan most. The simplicity of the finished burger
belies the careful thought and extreme precision
involved in bringing it to table.
5 COMME AWEST HOLLYWOOD, CAThe best cheffy burgers are the product of a combi-
nation of competitive urges, endless tinkering,
and f lat-out burger love. At Comme a, they take
8 ounces of high-quality g round beef, salt it, andcook it as many talented chefs cook a steak, on an
insanely hot flat-top griddle, until it gets a delicious
salted, caramelized exterior. Then they slide it into
a 375F. oven until its a perfect medium rare, and
top it with Cheddar cheese. When you bite into the
burger after its nestled into its soft toasted brioche
bun, you might end up wearing itits that juicy.
The shredded lettuce and special sauce are less
important ingredients here; meat, salt, a nd bun are
all you need.
prime steak burger at david burkes primehouse, chicago, il
black label burger at minetta tavern, new york, ny
8/4/2019 Excerpt and a Recipe From Serious Eats
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