There are few things in this world worth stuffing in your face more than a fat, juicy, homemade BBQ hamburger.
This recipe started from a business I was a partner with, then I altered it to add some ingredients my father used to use, as well as those I wanted to add.
While I have all the ingredients listed, it is up to the reader to decide the amounts they would like to add.
I promise, you will not regret trying these!
To get started, buy some good-quality lean ground beef. Regular ground beef will not cut it, and extra lean is not my favourite to go with either. In the end, a good lean ground beef provides a nice balance of moisture & taste.
Ingredients to use:
- garlic powder
- Worcestershire sauce
- extra virgin olive oil
- onion powder
- A1 sauce
- fresh parsley
- salt & pepper
Chips. I hear of many people using All Dressed chips often in their burgers. These are good but I prefer to think outside the box on this one.
I have found an amazing chip that tasted great in the burger patty but I am not going to share that as it is what makes it my recipe. Get creative and give something a try and make it your own.
Now pull out the rolling pin and get crushing those chips!
Now that you crushed the chips and put all the ingredients on top of the beef, it is time to mix up everything well. If there is one tip I can give here, it is to be generous with the bbq sauce!
For mixing, wash those hands and get right in there. There is no better way of mixing everything together than with your own fingers.
The key is to not over-mix as well. Mix it all up just enough as if you overdo it, I find it thins out the beef too much and leaves it with a less desirable texture.
Now that we have all of the ingredients mixed up nicely, you want to form balls of beef at a size roughly between a golf ball and a baseball. This depends on how you like to eat them. For myself, I love a fat burger!
In the process of rolling balls of beef, I throw it onto the cutting board, pick it up again, then throw it again. This helps the meat work into itself and stay together for the cooking process.
Now that the beef has been worked enough, I press down on the ball on the cutting board, forming the thickness that I am going for. Then grab a bowl or something to use as a template to cut equal-sized burgers that will fit my buns.
Note: When cooking your burgers, they will shrink a bit side to side, but not so much with the thickness.
This one look like it is ready for some fire!
Because I make large patties, I tend to cook mine a bit longer than others might. I make sure the BBQ is turned up high and is well heated before I place them on the grill.
They usually end up on the grill for roughly 7-8 minutes a side, finishing up with basting bbq sauce.
Then, of course, a slice of tasty cheddar cheese on the top!
For this batch, I cut up some red onion, tomatoes, pickles and lettuce.
While we do not eat much bacon these days, I had some in the freezer and decided to cook it. To be honest, I love these burgers so much that I am noticing that I do not like to overdo any other ingredients that take away from the taste of the beef. I likely will not use bacon again for a while for that reason.
For the buns, most of the time I use a large Kaiser bun. Mostly because it is one of the only types of bun that can handle huge burger patties.
Every once in a while I will use some Ciabatta buns as they are a tasty option as well; this time around, I used Ciabatta.
No matter what type of bun you use, you want to butter them up and throw them in the oven on broil for 5 minutes to give them a slight golden crisp around the edges.
Note: stand beside the oven when broiling the buns as an extra 30 seconds can burn them.
Oh happy day we have a delicious burger!
Quite often, we have some extra beef that I like to form meatballs with as well. It is nice to toss them in the freezer to give you some options for a meal later in the week with a different style dish.
Don't mind me, I could not wait!
Enjoy your burgers:)