I've often been unhappy with burgers prepared by others at cookouts and only moderately happy when I did them myself. So a few years back I set out to improve my process. Keeping in mind I have a decent talent for cooking but still prefer to balance out cheap and easy.
I buy loose ground beef from a local market that has decent quality and still grinds in house. No tight packed chubs or compressed containers. It made the biggest difference overall.
I then take a large baking sheet and very softly spread the meat, break up the few bits if compacted (sometimes remove those clumps for other purposes), season it, then very softly toss with hands. Then season some more, but don't toss again as it can lead to too much handling.
To form, I very gently push together disks on the sheet pan. No picking them up. No smacking them into patties. Handling as lightly and as little as possible. Just take as flat a layer of ground beef and then gently push them into disks in place on the sheet pan.
By now the meat will be warmed a bit and clingy, which is good to help the looser meat stick to itself. The bottoms will end up fairly flat from being on the sheet pan. The tops will be bumpy and craggy and that's good. Generally loose enough sometimes you can see small holes straight through.
Then I refrigerate if making soon to let them cling to themselves more, or these days I'll make large batches at a time and freeze open on the sheet pan and then vacuum seal them and take them out a few days prior to cooking to thaw which is handy having them in vacuum seal bags.
I've found prepping burgers this way they always turn out better whether on the grill or stovetop. They're looser, so need more care, but never had one fall into the grill or break apart while cooking.
Stovetop I just do my All Clad pan seering temp hot, then avocado oil, then into the pan. If doing cheese (so always) I put it on the bumpier side so the cheese melts into the valleys. Usually cooks to a fine temps, but finish in toaster oven if needed or if trying to keep them warm since I only get two or maybe three per pan.
I've overcooked them but they're still good because they don't dry out the same way or get hockey puck firm since they aren't hard patted. Adapted the method from a serious eats article intentionally doing thin, craggy, well-done diner-style burgers, but the loose method made all the difference in thicker patties too.
I tried sous vide and then seering in a pan to warm them, and other tricks like starting from a cold pan, but in the end the prep was what made all the difference and the cooking method became far more forgiving.
Lanx
, lots of msg. It is from New York so what was I expecting.
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