Ultimate Burger Recipe

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What a great week of weather we have had, which only means one thing in the UK, BBQ. I had just finished up the new patio and have recently upgraded some of my cooking tools, and I wanted to test them out.

Whats on the BBQ menu?

I’m a firm believer that burgers are a staple at any BBQ, My kids have recently got into meat on the bone as well so have been working on what to add to the menu as chucking on a couple of chicken drumsticks isn’t my style.

So being just a small family BBQ with the wife and the kids it gave me the chance to test a few things out before forcing trying them on guests.

Ultimate Burger Ingredients

Makes 4 nice sized patties

• Beef chuck approx 700g
• Smoked Streaky Bacon
• Gentleman’s Relish
• 1 Onion
• 1 tsp Sugar
• Full-Fat Mayo
• Buns
• Cheese (Chedder or another good hard melting cheese)
• Mustard (Yellow or English)

My Ultimate Burger

A great burger needs a good piece of fatty meat, the amount of fat depends on how you like your burger cooked but for most a blend of 70% Meat to 30% fat should cover you from medium rare to medium well. If you like it rare reduce the fat content to about 80/20 as it won’t have time to render properly and if you want to ruin a piece of meat and have it well done then add more fat to 60/40 blend as this will attempt to keep it moist

My go to cut of beef is “Chuck” it’s tasty, has a nice fat content plus my local butcher always has a large stock of it.

I get my assistant to grind the beef at home, I use a nice medium/thick blade on the grinder. It gives a steak like texture to my burgers. One pass through the grinder is enough, anymore and you start mixing the fat to much into the meat.

I shape the patties by hand, I eat a different size burger to the kids, and it’s easier for me to do it by hand. Once formed, I put them back to chill in the meat draw until I’m ready to cook them.

Special Sauce

I can’t recall who introduced me to this, but I do remember having it with cold roast beef when I was younger. I also love mayo on my burger, so had to try this combo on my ultimate burger. It’s Patum Peperium Gentleman’s Relish, mixed with mayo a bit of pepper and juice from half a lemon.

Make sure it’s at room temperature as it makes it much easier to mix and not get any lumps in it. Put 150g of full-fat mayo in a bowl, squeeze half a lemon in then add a large teaspoon of Gentleman’s Relish. Then give it a proper mix with a small whisk or a fork, I’m lazy and or the kids like to play with the whisk, so I use this cheap electric whisk which has many uses in our kitchen. Once it’s all mixed and smooth, cover and refrigerate until your ready to use.

Additional Toppings

Depending what’s in the fridge plays a big part in what else goes on the burger. Yellow mustard, as I have kids and they moan, then spit their food out and refuse to eat any more if I use English mustard.

Cheese, Always a must on a burger, I like a couple of thick slices of chedder on my burgers, My youngest child doesn’t like cheese on his burger, he also has very fair hair, so am starting to see a pattern here and think he may not be mine. his taste hasn’t developed yet.

Bacon, I like a good couple of thick cut smoked streaky bacon that have been grilled so it’s crispy.

Caramalised onions, now these are great but normally take a while to prep and cook (45 mins) so these are normally saved for special occasions (when we have guests), as if it’s an unplanned BBQ I never have time to make them, have no onions, or get so distracted at the kids and making sure the are not killing each other I burn them. So they are normally saved as a treat when Clare can look after the kids

How to cook them?

I tend to only make them in BBQ season so for me they get cooked on a BBQ, for me that’s a gas bbq with cast iron plates. I know not coal I hear you say but I like it, It is getting quite old now and I may hint to my wife that I need a new one for father’s day or even Christmas (she might get a good deal in the sale as out of season).

I oil the grills then fire it up and get it to around 200deg, Then place them on without turning or touching for about 6-7 mins. At this point, I also add Bacon, be careful as it likes to flare up a bit, so keep it away from the burgers. You have to flip the bacon quite often but don’t flip the burgers.

After 6-7 mins flip the burger and add a grind of salt and pepper, then lay the cheese on to melt as it cooks the other side.

Whilst that is happening, slice the buns. Let’s not get started on buns, I like Brioche, Clare hates them and like soft sesame buns, so we always compromise and have soft sesame buns. toast these on the grill for the last minute. Careful they burn quite quickly if you don’t keep our eye on them.

How to Make The Ultimate Burger

Take the toasted buns, spread some mustard on the bottom bun, place the patties with the melted cheese on next. Layer the crispy bacon on next then pile on the caramelised onions finally top with a large tablespoon of the special sauce add the top of the bun then serve.

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