To begin working on the perfect burger, Steve recommends starting with a half-and-half mixture of ground chuck and ground sirloin: "the former for flavor, the latter for style." Look for a fat content of 10 to 15 percent. "The fat is where the flavor resides in any meat," says Raichlen. "The more fat you have, the more luscious and rich it will feel in your mouth. But you don't want to take it too far, because you don't want to bite into a mouthful of grease. Fifteen percent is the best of both words." If you want a lower fat content without sacrificing flavor, try an animal with leaner meat, such as bison. But the meat is just the beginning. Here, Raichlen shares with us his tips for grilling a perfect burger.
1. Keep the meat cold (it helps to wet your hands with cold water), and handle it as little as possible when shaping patties. Over-handling "bruises" the meat, and compressing the meat too much will lead to dense, dry burgers. Make the burgers a few hours ahead of time and chill them on a plate covered with plastic wrap. This firms up the burger and helps it hold together during grilling. Leave them in the refrigerator until the last minute, or place them on a sheet pan over another sheet pan filled with ice.
2. Keep it simple. Raichlen seasons his burgers with nothing more than sea salt and fresh, coarsely ground black pepper. "Save the fireworks for the garnishes," he says.
3. Lightly brush the burgers on both sides with melted butter or extra-virgin olive oil just before grilling. This helps prevent sticking and adds an extra layer of flavor. You'll also need to practice good grill hygiene by heating, scraping and oiling the grill's grate prior to grilling.
4. "Do not, I repeat, do not press on a burger with a spatula while it's grilling," says Raichlen. All this does is squeeze out the juices onto the fire.
5. After about two minutes on the grill, give the patty a quarter-turn to get those handsome grill marks. After that, aim to flip the burger only one time. "As you ascend the ladder of grilling enlightenment, you want to get to the point where you only flip once," he says. When the edges begin to brown or you see a few little pearls of blood bleeding through the top, the meat's ready for its one flip.
6. Do not overcrowd the grill. Follow the "30 percent" rule; leave 30 percent of your grill free of food. That way, if you get flare-ups, you have a place to move the burgers if they start to burn.
7. Make sure your burger's cooked: While medium or rare burgers are tasty, you don't want your burger to make you sick. Insert an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the patty to make sure you've cooked the meat to at least 160 degrees. But you don't have to sacrifice the joy of a juicy burger for your health. "I like to place a disk of herb butter in the center of the meat patty," says Raichlen. Or, try an "inside-out cheeseburger": mix shredded cheese into your raw burger meat. The cheese melts as it cooks, keeping even well-done burgers moist.
8. Let the burgers rest, off the grill grate, for a couple of minutes before serving. This allows the meat to "relax," giving you a juicier burger. (The same holds for grilled steak.)
9. Grill your bun. "An un-grilled bun is like an unpressed shirt," says Raichlen. "You need the gentle softness of the bun with the crunch of the bread." Brush the cut sides of the buns. Raichlen recommends the sesame variety with melted butter or olive oil and grill for 1 to 2 minutes. Top with a red, ripe tomato "the sort that goes splat if you drop it;some lettuce, and maybe some grilled onions.
