Posted: 12/31/2025 9:39:48 PM EDT
|
Since the weather turned cold, I've been cooking my burgers on the stove, but no matter what I try, they still taste like homemade burgers (which is not a good thing, to me) instead of restaurant burgers. Can any of the pro's here troubleshoot my method and help me improve my burgers? 1) I use 80/20 chuck or better, from the butcher counter at the local grocery store. 2) I cook on a thick steel griddle at @ 450 degrees F. 3) I smash with a 2.5 lb burger press 4) I season with salt and pepper or Lawry's seasoning salt (ala George Motz) and pepper 5) I generally use plain old bread buns but finally found potato buns, which seem to be recommended a lot. 6) I smash flat, let cook until liquid bubbles up and the sides start to curl, flip (always have good crust), season and add cheese and the top half of the bun. 7) Sometimes I toast the buns on the bare griddle, sometimes in butter and sometimes I don't toast them at all. I've used fried onions and raw onions. I generally use mustard but sometimes use A1 steak sauce, BBQ sauce or ketchup and mayo. I use American cheese slices and think this might be a weak point, but I haven't seen "American Cheese" that seems of good quality. My burgers still taste like a homemade burger. Is there some ingredient or process I'm missing? |
|
I assume your outdoor burgers are also cooked on a griddle. How does the required indoor cooking time compare to the required outdoor cooking time? Does your outdoor griddle maintain temperature better when a cold patty is placed on the cooking surface? Larger, thicker griddle with more BTU's? Try making your indoor burgers thinner and stack two on your sandwich to compensate. |
|
Butter on the burgers Don’t work your burgers too much Grab a hunk of meat lightly shape it into a ball Smash into hot pan pat down thin Season with salt pepper add thin shaved butter Cook for at least 4 minutes to get a crust Flip For onion smash Butter thin sliced onions let them cook and lose water before smashing patties on the onion Then see above |
|
Quoted: So it sounds like you want tasteless thin burnt smash burgers, not a solid thick flavorful burger. OP, you need a grill with an open flame to get those burgers tasting right. For my kitchen burgers, I'm going for the greasy diner thing and just not getting there. |
|
Quoted: Butter on the burgers Don't work your burgers too much Grab a hunk of meat lightly shape it into a ball Smash into hot pan pat down thin Season with salt pepper add thin shaved butter Cook for at least 4 minutes to get a crust Flip For onion smash Butter thin sliced onions let them cook and lose water before smashing patties on the onion Then see above |
| I came across a "hack" for the classic belly bombs from White Castle/Little Tavern. Add 1/4# liver to 1# burger, make small thin burgers, fry with minced onion. They're the real deal, and make a nice change from plain old fried meat. Since no place will grind organ meat, you almost liquefy the liver in a food processor and them mix it into the ground beef (don't over mix.) And make sure to make them thin so they cook all the way through, because of the liver. |
|
Quoted: My burgers still taste like a homemade burger. Is there some ingredient or process I'm missing? I would hate to eat a burger that tastes like the ones my mother made with care and love. |
|
Quoted: That's pretty much my process, minus the butter. I'll try that here in a bit when I cook a burger. Butter on the burger is not the answer. Freeze a stick of Kerrygold butter and grate it into your burger prior to forming the patties. Do not attempt to cook these over open flame. Fry only. |
|
OP’s process sounds fine. What he really wants is fast-food, low-quality slop and is unsuccessful creating it at home with quality ingredients. A lifetime of poor decisions and following advertisements has left him unable to accurately judge what is good or bad food. "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who put darkness for light, and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!". Isa 5:20 |
|
For a Cheeseburger use same amount of beef as usual but make two thin patties. Place cheese atop lower patty and place the other patty on top of lower patty + cheese. Knead the perimeter closed to seal-in the cheese. Cook on somewhat lower heat than usual to melt the cheese and allow it to infuse the beef patties. Much tastier than dropping the cheese on top. Possibly can use a somewhat leaner grade of beef. Another tip is to apply 1/2 condiments to each bun instead of all of atop the burger. Evens out the taste. |
|
Quoted: Toss in a packet of this for each 2# of meat. And don't smash 'em so much. https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.iyMLh0JMu6pkggLwpGAPXAHaHa%3Fpid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=18d77d57535cbf334cbde6e6f6a0e01e0653b67caef52e22b87b9bdd45cc5fa9&ipo=images Beat me too it. |
|
Quoted: Butter on the burger is not the answer. Freeze a stick of Kerrygold butter and grate it into your burger prior to forming the patties. Do not attempt to cook these over open flame. Fry only. I like that idea! I usually mix in a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with the meat. Butter would be better. |
|
I smash, salt, flip, pepper then toss cheese on. The reason I do this is so the pepper doesn't get scorched. Also try better meat. There is a massive flavor difference if I buy local vs packed high quality vs plain store ground beef. Regular white bread buns are pretty shitty. They are all air and loaded with sugar. Maybe find a local bakery and gets rolls |
|
Quoted: OP's process sounds fine. What he really wants is fast-food, low-quality slop and is unsuccessful creating it at home with quality ingredients. A lifetime of poor decisions and following advertisements has left him unable to accurately judge what is good or bad food. "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who put darkness for light, and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!". Isa 5:20  OTOH, the state in which I live is known for it's burgers and I'm trying to recreate the high quality burgers that made us famous, not fast food crap. I did an onion burger this morning with onions as thin as my mandolin could make them and used George Motz's process and it was damn good. I was very happy with it, but I want to make a similar quality burger that is not an onion burger. I'll keep working at it. |
|
Quoted: For a Cheeseburger use same amount of beef as usual but make two thin patties. Place cheese atop lower patty and place the other patty on top of lower patty + cheese. Knead the perimeter closed to seal-in the cheese. Cook on somewhat lower heat than usual to melt the cheese and allow it to infuse the beef patties. Much tastier than dropping the cheese on top. Possibly can use a somewhat leaner grade of beef. Another tip is to apply 1/2 condiments to each bun instead of all of atop the burger. Evens out the taste. |
|
Quoted: What's missing from or wrong with your burger specifically? Is it that it isn't cooking the same way, or the flavor? Color? Char? Doneness? You gotta get specific here in describing the deficiency so we can zero in on it. For other foods, I've speculated that it's a fat flavoring issue, where cooking in specific kinds of fat gives food a particularly good and rich flavor. |
|
The two things that I have learned to make superior burgers are to grind your own meat and use good buns. A home grinder doesn't cost much. Like $60 on Amazon. I use a mixture of 50% chuck, 25% short rib and 25% rib eye steak. Don't make it lean. Try to get at least a 70-30 mix. Even 100% home grind chuck is better than what you get at the store. Don't buy the cheap buns. Buy the better ones. I like the Ballpark brand but there are many other good quality brands. Smash burgers on a griddle, toast the buns, use good meat and enjoy. |
|
Quoted: I've always heard you want 500 + for smashburgers, so that's what I do. |
| Another thing, you mentioned putting the cheese on and and then the bun after you flip it. I always put the cheese (cheddar or pepperjack, strongly dislike American) on, and usually bacon, and cover with a melting dome, by the time the cheese is melted, it's cooked. I wonder if you just putting the cheese and bun on, without a melting dome, it's taking so long to melt the cheese and you're overcooking it? And maybe the steam from the dome helps with something too? Definitely don't want the bun on with a melting dome. |
|
Quoted: Flavor. A good burger, like other good foods, has a certain complexity and umami that makes it greater than the sum of it's parts. Mine don't have that. My onion burger this morning did, but I've failed to do that with a non-onion burger. The onions and the process clearly added something significant to the flavor but I don't know the ingredient or process to do that with a regular burger. I know it can be done, because I've had many in restaurants. For other foods, I've speculated that it's a fat flavoring issue, where cooking in specific kinds of fat gives food a particularly good and rich flavor. Quoted: Quoted: What's missing from or wrong with your burger specifically? Is it that it isn't cooking the same way, or the flavor? Color? Char? Doneness? You gotta get specific here in describing the deficiency so we can zero in on it. For other foods, I've speculated that it's a fat flavoring issue, where cooking in specific kinds of fat gives food a particularly good and rich flavor. That tells me the cooking method is what you need to look at. The surface, the amount of heat, and the amount of cooking time involved. A burger like this should be cooking in its own fat, sort of like a confit. This is what develops that flavor. I would experiment with the temp and the length of the cook. This shouldn't really be a searing hot quickly cooked endeavor IMHO. And of course the beef should not be cold nor frozen. |
|
Quoted: The two things that I have learned to make superior burgers are to grind your own meat and use good buns. A home grinder doesn't cost much. Like $60 on Amazon. I use a mixture of 50% chuck, 25% short rib and 25% rib eye steak. Don't make it lean. Try to get at least a 70-30 mix. Even 100% home grind chuck is better than what you get at the store. Don't buy the cheap buns. Buy the better ones. I like the Ballpark brand but there are many other good quality brands. Smash burgers on a griddle, toast the buns, use good meat and enjoy. I can confirm that grinding up your own meat maeks better burgers. I usually buy bonless beef short ribs. After grinding I stick it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm it up, seems to smash better. A good brioche bun is a requirement. I know onions are debated but I think they are mandatory. Cut as thin as a mandoline will allow. |
|
Quoted: Flavor. A good burger, like other good foods, has a certain complexity and umami that makes it greater than the sum of it's parts. Mine don't have that. My onion burger this morning did, but I've failed to do that with a non-onion burger. The onions and the process clearly added something significant to the flavor but I don't know the ingredient or process to do that with a regular burger. I know it can be done, because I've had many in restaurants. For other foods, I've speculated that it's a fat flavoring issue, where cooking in specific kinds of fat gives food a particularly good and rich flavor. I'd mix some Worcestershire Powder or maybe some MSG (Accent) into your burgers if you're trying for a taste like that instead of pure beef. When I'm browning beef for (say) spaghetti sauce, I'll put some W-shire liquid and maybe a bit of concentrated beef bouillon (Minors or Better than bullion) into the beef as it cooks down. Does bump the flavor up a good bit over just the beef. I prefer straight beef burgers (homemade or frozen) with a seasoning salt (my own) on them. But, if you're looking for something like what you describe, you'll probably have to put some 'additives' into the burger. |
|
Quoted: That tells me the cooking method is what you need to look at. The surface, the amount of heat, and the amount of cooking time involved. A burger like this should be cooking in its own fat, sort of like a confit. This is what develops that flavor. I would experiment with the temp and the length of the cook. This shouldn't really be a searing hot quickly cooked endeavor IMHO. And of course the beef should not be cold nor frozen. |
|
Keys to making a better burger. Fresh ground beef. I prefer using straight whole chuck. Don’t mix anything into it. A good bun. Get them fresh from a local bakery if you can. If not, a martins potato roll is good. Don’t bother with brioche. Season the beef well. Salt and fresh cracked pepper work just fine. Don’t be stingy. This is where most people fail. Toast the bun. Get some good American cheese. Not Kraft single slices. Get some from the deli. They will have Hildale or land o lakes of something comparable. Place the ball in the hot (400 or so) pan or on the griddle and smash it to 1/4 or so. Taper /smear the edges a bit. Season with plenty of kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Once it ready to flip, scrape it off the cooking surface making sure to get all of the crust up. Immediate put the cheese on top, followed by the bun with some mustard or whatever, and wait till it’s melted to scrape the burger off. Build your burger. Eat it. Think of the flavors you’re using. Fat, salt, acid, sweet, umami. In balance. If you’re doing all this and your burger lacks flavor, you are likely building a burger that is not including all of the flavors in a balanced manner. Mustard, pickle, onion is all you need.  |