What is the best Hamburger recipe to capture the American spirit of freedom?

19 comments

1. 1. Grill hamburger however you like
   2. Put whatever you want on it.
   3. Enjoy with the beverage of your choice.

2. Has to have Bacon and lots of it.

3. America is huge and we all have different ways of making burgers. Generally it’s a 1/4 lb of meat(angus is best) cooked on a grill, some garlic and onion cooked into it, sesame bun and cheese along with whatever toppings you might like.

4. The best recipe to truly capture the American spirit of freedom is to make it however the hell you want. Seriously.

   Personal preference though, grill with a little salt and pepper, top with cheese, bacon, onion ring, and a little barbecue sauce preferably more tangy than sweet. Put on a bun and enjoy

   Edit:a word

5. A burger is a real simple thing honestly

   A quality brioche bun is best but a potato bread roll will do

   I like throwing on a slice of bacon as well

   Lettuce and tomato optional but I like them

   I like cheeseburgers more than hamburgers so a slice of Boars Head American Cheese is what I throw on. I’ve used mozzarella in a pinch and others prefer swiss on theirs

   I usually buy 80/20 ground beef. It has the most amount of fat content around that I’m aware that I can buy. I don’t think many supermarkets sell a 70/30 around here.

   I make two meatballs of beef then throw them on a hot stainless steel skillet with a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I smush each patty down and try to get the Maillard reaction where one side has a bit of flavorful crust to the meat and the other side is just done enough so I can stick the cheese between the two patties and make one big greasy patty

6. I don’t think it’s regional, I think it’s pretty much country wide

   70% beef 30% fat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix and form into patties making it a little wider than your rolls and about a 3/4 inch thick.

   Stick it on a hot grill and plop a small icecube in the middle of it, making a tiny indent in it. (Keeps it super moist) grilled for ~ 3 minutes, flip, put American cheese on it and let cook until cheese is melted and your burger is done to your liking. I usually let it grill for 2&1/2- 3 minutes. It comes out medium rare

   Let rest for ~ 5 minutes

   Toast a kaiser roll when you’re making the burger

   Add whatever you like to it, personally I like a mixture of mayonnaise and chili garlic sauce (mayo and Sriracha works well too, if you can’t find chili and garlic sauce) sliced red onions, baby spinach and a ripe tomato (if I don’t have a fresh tomato I’ll just leave it out because store bought tomatoes are not good anymore)

   Then add the patty to the bun and enjoy.

7. Have a backyard Grill party, invite a bunch of friends and buy a massive pack of burgers from Costco(massive amounts, hell yeah), then cook them and eat them however you and your friends want. Hot dogs and brats can also be cooked at your discretion

8. The most delicious burgers I’ve ever had anywhere are the ones I make with ground brisket. [Sous vide at 135° for 1-2 hours](https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-burgers-recipe), sear in a blazing hot skillet for a few seconds on each side. Place in a [Publix brioche bun](https://www.publix.com/pd/brioche-hamburger-buns-4ct/RIO-BBR-596690) and top with whatever you like (for me, that’s sharp cheddar, red onion, jalapenos, and a bit of dijon mustard and non-sugar-laden tomato ketchup). None of this is relevant to being a Georgian or cooking these in Georgia (except for us having Publix here).

9. How I make my burgers; they’re awesome by the way.

   85% lean ground chuck.

   Mix 1 lb chuck with 1/4 pound ground pork.

   One half tablespoon kosher salt.

   One teaspoon pepper

   One tablespoon Worcestershire sauce.

   One tablespoon finely chopped garlic.

   One tablespoon finely chopped yellow onion

   One egg

   Two tablespoons fine bread crumbs.

   Mix well.

   Form paddy for 1/2 pound burger. Hot charcoal. Poke through the paddy with a toothpick to stop the meat from turnimg into a ball. Sear each side for 2 minutes. Do not ever smash the burger!

   Place burgers away from direct heat and cook for 5 min. When almost done, place a small dab of butter so it melts over the burger. With a minute left, add a think slice of cheddar cheese. Allow to melt but not get too gooie. Allow to rest a few minutes.

   Toast a quality bun. Slice and season beef steak tomato. Purple onion and fresh lettuce.

10. I’m a sucker for any burger topped with pimento cheese. Obviously. I thought that was a South Carolina thing, but it’s apparently done elsewhere as well.

11. Angus ground beef, slice of red tomato, whit Am. cheese, and blue cheese. Bun optional, but a good sourdough roll is one of my favorites.

12. “It’s a hamburger made out of meat on a bun with nothing. Add ketchup if you want. I couldn’t care less.” — Ron Swanson

13. I mix about 2/3 beef and 1/3 hot Italian sausage. Gives the patty serious flavor. Its pretty good, but I don’t know if it captures the American spirit of freedom

14. Burgers are so versatile that I don’t think regional variations really show through the wide variation available in restaurants anywhere. A burger is kinda whatever you want it to be and anyone telling you there’s one true burger is an asshole. I think that’s the most American thing about it. The only essential elements are meat of some sort and a circular bun. All I ask is that if you stray very far from the standard, you give it an adjective or modifier in its name (chicken burger, cheeseburger sub, etc). Here’s what I do at home for myself.

    1. Pure ground beef, roughly 110-140g, molded by hand into a patty. You can mix in some salt and/or spices if desired, but this is a great place to let high-quality beef shine through and enjoy it for what it is.
    2. Thick cut bacon, one or two slices
    3. Cheddar cheese
    4. maybe a tomato slice and/or a leaf of lettuce
    5. Maybe 1/3 of a Hass avocado
    6. Nice bun, sliced in half

    Set the burner to medium heat, probably about 4. Ideally use a cast iron pan but it doesn’t matter.

    Put the bacon in first if it’s thick cut, then lay down the patty shortly after. If the bacon is normal or thin sliced, it goes down a little bit after the burger instead.

    Flip the bacon fairly often

    Flip the burger only once, when it is good and browned on the underside. Exactly how brown depends on taste and the thickness of the burger. Hard to describe in a way that’s useful, sorry.

    Depending on how good, how thick, and how dry the cheddar is, the right time to put it on the burger can range from a little before it’s done to right after you flip it. Very thick or hard-to-melt cheese might even need you to cover the pan. If the slice is still pretty solid, it was put down too late. If it’s fully liquefied and flowing down all sides, it was put down too early.

    If you’re using avocado, slice it up and put it on the bottom half of bun before you take the burger off the pan

    When the underside is roughly as browned as the top and the cheese is melted, take it off the pan and put it on your bun, then add the bacon and any desired cold toppings before putting the top half of the bun on top. Let it cool for a minute and enjoy. If you own any carnivorous pets, make sure to give them an opportunity to lick any juices off the plate when you’re done.

15. Pay the extra $1 per pound and get the good pre-made ones from the butcher.

    Lettuce, Tomato, Cheddar, Bacon.

16. Too many people think hamburgers are just ground beef patties, fucking masochists.

17. Ground beef.

    Form into a patty.

    Top it with whatever you want because this is America.

    Cold beverage of your choice.

18. I once invented *The Menagerie*

    Fry up a few slices of bacon. Degrease and put aside. Pour most of the grease out of the pan, but leave a little bit to cook the burger in.

    Make a patty of 33% lean beef, 33% lamb, and 34% bison (rough measurements – this isn’t rocket science).

    Cook up the burger

    Put some crumbled blue cheese, feta cheese, and goat cheese on top and then melt a slice of real mozzarella over top, to seal the crumbles in.

    Put on the bacon you cooked earlier

    Cook some duck sausage and some venison sausage. Slice them lengthwise and put them onto the bacon.

    Fry up an egg and top off your tower of meat.

    So this meal has products from pig, cow, sheep, bison, goat, buffalo (the European kind), duck, and deer. You could add more, but that’s all I had in the fridge at the time.

19. My favorite hamburger recipe has the same flavors as losh kebab. Which is not American. But it’s a delicious burger dammit.