Excerpt and a Recipe From Serious Eats

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


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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


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Excerpt and a Recipe From Serious Eats