Foolproof: Burger

Know Your Burger

1. 01

   Start with 80/20, cold

   Use 80/20 ground chuck, 20 percent fat is the floor for a juicy burger. Chuck has great flavor and the right fat built in. For extra richness, grind in some brisket, and if you smoked a Foolproof Brisket, the fatty trim you cut off is perfect ground into these (waste nothing). Grinding your own with a meat grinder also gives a looser, more tender texture and lets you cook it pink safely. Keep the meat cold start to finish.
   

   Why 80/20

   Lean beef makes a dry burger. The fat bastes the meat as it renders and carries most of the flavor. Warm fat smears onto your hands instead of staying in the patty, so form it cold and cook it straight from the fridge.

2. 02

   Never mix salt into the meat

   This is the mistake almost everyone makes. Salt the outside of the patty only, and only right before it hits the heat. Salt the inside and the texture goes wrong.
   

   The salt rule (the big one)

   Salt pulls a protein called myosin out of the muscle into a sticky gel that glues the loose meat together. When it cooks, that gel sets into a firm, springy network, the exact snap of a hot dog. Great in a sausage, wrong in a burger. Season only the outer faces, right before cooking, and the inside stays loose and tender.

3. 03

   Chase the crust

   That deep brown crust is where the flavor is. Get a bare-metal pan ripping hot (nonstick can't get hot enough), pat the patty dry, don't crowd the pan, and leave it alone until the crust sets and releases on its own. Never press it, those flare-ups are your dinner's juice burning off.
   

   The 450°F sweet spot

   The crust is the Maillard reaction, hundreds of new flavor compounds that form when proteins and sugars hit a hot, dry surface. It runs fastest around 350 to 400°F and keeps climbing, but past about 450°F the surface tips into pyrolysis, the actual burning that tastes bitter and acrid. So you want the metal screaming hot, around 450°F: deep, fast browning, right below the point where good char turns to burnt.

4. 04

   A burger is not a steak

   On a steak, bacteria live only on the surface, so a seared, rare center is safe. Grinding mixes that surface bacteria all the way through, so ground beef has to reach 160°F. Color lies, so check it with an instant-read thermometer through the side into the center.

   Burger doneness temps

   Rare 120-125, medium-rare 125-130, medium 135-140, medium-well 145-150, well or safe 160 and up. Only 160°F is the safety floor, and it kills the bacteria instantly no matter where the beef came from.

5. 05

   How to cook a burger pink, safely

   If you want a pink burger, kill the surface bacteria before you grind. Sear or quickly blanch the whole outside of a chuck roast (just the surface, not cooking it through), keep it cold, grind it yourself, and cook to 135°F. The inside was already clean, so there's nothing left to spread.

   When to always cook to 160°F

   This never applies to store-ground beef (mixed from many cows, ground days ago, always 160°F). And anyone pregnant, very young, over 65, or immune-compromised should always cook to 160°F, no exceptions.

Make the Sauces

1. 06

   Big Mac style special sauce (for the pub burger)

   Whisk the mayo, sweet relish, yellow mustard, white vinegar, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and a pinch of salt. Chill at least 30 minutes, longer is better.
   
2. 07

   Hot-lime sauce (for the juicy lucy)

   Whisk the mayo, hot sauce, lime juice, and a pinch of salt, and chill. It's there to cut through the rich, molten cheese.
   

The Smash with Grilled Onions

1. 08

   Grill the onions

   Cook the thinly sliced onion with a little oil and a pinch of salt on the hot griddle until soft, sweet, and a bit charred. Set aside, these go on top, not smashed in.
2. 09

   Smash hard, once, while it's cold

   Roll loose, golf-ball-size balls (about 2 oz) and don't pack them. Set a cold ball on ripping-hot bare metal and within 30 seconds smash it hard, flat, and once into a thin patty (parchment between the spatula and the meat so the crust doesn't peel off). Salt the top now.
   

   Smash it cold and early, before the juices render, so it's all crust and zero moisture lost. Smashing a patty that's already cooking just wrings the juice out.

3. 10

   Scrape-flip and add cheese

   Cook 2 to 3 minutes until the edges go deep brown and lacy, then flip by scraping under the crust with a stiff metal spatula. Lay on American cheese and cook 1 to 2 minutes more (a thin smash hits a safe 160°F fast).
   

   Why American cheese

   American cheese melts glossy and smooth because it's made with emulsifying salts like sodium citrate that keep it from breaking. Aged cheeses lack them and can turn oily on a hot patty.

4. 11

   Build it

   On a toasted potato bun: mustard, the patty, a pile of grilled onions, and pickles. Double the patty for more crust per bite.
   

   Toast the bun in butter or beef fat. It's a moisture barrier that keeps a juicy burger from turning the bottom bun to mush.

The Thick Pub Burger

1. 12

   Form and dimple

   Roll baseball-size balls (about 5 oz) and shape into patties about an inch thick and a little wider than the bun (they shrink). Press a quarter-inch dimple in the center and season the outside only.
   

   As a burger cooks, the edges contract and push the middle up into a dome. The dimple cancels that out so it cooks flat instead of into a meatball.

2. 13

   Gentle first, then sear

   Cook gently first to bring the inside up (a 300°F oven or the cool side of a two-zone grill), then a hot sear for the crust. Flip it often and never press it.
   

   Flip more than once

   Flipping every 15 to 30 seconds actually cooks a thick burger faster and more evenly, and you still get a great crust. The 'flip only once' rule is a myth.

3. 14

   Cheese, pull, build

   Add cheese under a dome near the end. Probe through the side with an instant-read thermometer and pull at about 130°F for medium (it climbs to 135°F as it rests), or 160°F if it isn't self-ground. Build with special sauce on both buns, iceberg, onion, and pickle.
   

The Juicy Lucy

1. 15

   Mound the cheese, leave a bare border

   Make two thin ~3 oz patties per burger, a bit wider than normal. Salt the outside only. Mound American cheese in the center of the bottom patty, leaving a half-inch BARE meat border, because cheese near the edge blows out into the pan.
   
2. 16

   Seal into a puck and chill

   Lay the second patty on top and firmly pinch and crimp the entire edge into a thick puck. Re-check the rim for thin spots and re-pinch, then chill 10 minutes to set the seal.
   
3. 17

   Cook on medium to 160, temp the ring

   Cook over medium heat only, about 4 to 5 minutes per side, never pressing. Cook to 160°F, probing the meat ring away from the cheese pocket.
   

   The cheese core insulates the center, so high heat would burn the outside and burst the seal before the inside is safe. Medium and patient is the only way.

4. 18

   Rest, then build (it's lava)

   Rest 3 to 5 minutes before biting, the sealed cheese comes out far hotter than a normal slice and will burn your mouth. Build with the hot-lime sauce, pickle, and raw onion.