Must have a big green chili.
I still have quite a bit of Hatch Green Chilies in the freezer. Ma was just saying we hadn’t had Green Chile Cheeseburgers for a while. Guess their coming up soon.
The only thing in the world improved by raw onion is…
Hmm. Nothing. Blecch.
Preach. I do the smashburger thing and a quick fry (2 minutes on a side) in a stainless skillet for a juicy, medium-rare burger. No added bullshit that turns it into a non-burger. If I want meatloaf, I make meatloaf. Grilled burgers are overrated, IMO, and usually overcooked.
Yeah, the problem I have with mixing in stuff in the burger is that you have to knead the meat a bit to mix everything in, and that ruins the texture of good hamburger, which should be a bit light and airy, for lack of better description, and once you start working the meat, it because more firm and almost sausage-like (if you overdo the kneading). But even with light kneading, the texture just isn’t right for me. I barely form the meat into a ball or patty and fry it up. You’re making a hamburger, not a meatloaf, here.
Out of curiosity, where in Custer? The burgers at the Buglin’ Bull are pretty good I thought, but nothing like that was on the menu when I went there. If you’re back in Custer again, Skogen Kitchen is a true hidden gem. It’s a real-deal fine-dining experience to rival anywhere in a big, cosmopolitan city, except tucked away in Custer, South Dakota. And nicer in a lot of ways, because it’s a small place and you’re more intimate with the wait staff and chefs- it’s the sort of place where if you ask a question about the food to the server, the chef will come out and answer your question.
As for my ideal cheeseburger, I think I’d go the route of grinding my own meat- probably something like 2/3 chuck roast and 1/3 brisket. Salt well, pepper well, and grill until medium in the middle, while good and seared on the outside. Homemade bun, cheddar cheese, sauteed onions, lettuce, tomato, dill pickles, mustard and mayonnaise.
It was just north of the main drag, Mt Rushmore Road, on the west side of the highway heading up to the Crazy Horse memorial. Checking a Google map, it was in the location occupied by Skogen Kitchen now. The interior photos look familiar, and it DID have a gas station immediately adjacent.
Skogen’s menu is much fancier. I suppose the joint I remember closed down and was replaced. Shame.
I agree. Very important for the patty to develop a nice sear and crust. I’ve given up on grilling burgers, too, for the same reason: nearly always overdone, even though I keep skimping on the time.
Re: Fatso’s in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village. My daughter lives about four blocks from the place. If I did, I might weigh 50 pounds more than I do. I like their grilled local style hot dogs nearly as much as the smashburgers.
I don’t know… Skogen Kitchen is awfully good. As in, it would compete in any city I’ve been in and gone out for a high-end meal (Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Austin, Boston). I’m a little surprised that it’s in Custer and not in Rapid City, where I’d think there would be a little more of a customer base.
Everything I’ve had there has been great. Been going there occasionally (I don’t live in the area) since it was Phil’s Last Stand. He passed away a number (6? 7? ETA: June 2014) of years ago and they renamed it to Fatso’s. Their shrimp poboy is also surprisingly good. Back when it was Phil’s, it was a “secret menu” item you had to know about, but it’s been on the regular menu for years now. Give it a shot next time you find yourself around these parts.
To me a burger has to be charred into a hockey puck to be “overdone.” I want that sucker grey through and through. Any red gets it sent back with instructions to do it right. I frakking LOATHE medium or rare burgers.
Before everybody gets on their righteous high horse, it should be noted that I love steak tartare and I want my steaks still mooing. But there’s something about the texture of an underdone beef patty that just repels me.
Pimento cheese is awesome on a cheeseburger. Especially when the pimentos come from your garden and have been fire roasted with a blowtorch!
I disagree, but that is probably because I live in a pimento cheese deprived area. I value the real deal enough that I want it in its pure state, not smeared on a burger. But I understand the concept intellectually, if that helps. 
It can be done without having every ounce of fat cooked out of it. I like mine medium, which is cooked through but not turned into a tasteless lump. My wife, on the other hand, would eat them seared and raw.
For my thin-pattied burgers, well-done is fine. I like mine really thin (like sixth of a pound or even lighter), so there really isn’t a way to do them without getting them cooked all the way through. Maybe if you made a patty and cooked it from frozen, but, still, it’s so thin that it’ll probably cook through.
For pub-burgers, like 1/3 lb, I like those medium rare. I want it oozing myoglobin and juicy and soft on the inside. I’m the opposite of silenus here, as I can’t stand the texture of a thick patty that is cooked all the way through, even to medium. I need that squishy, juicy middle. I always tell the waiter, if you err, err on the side of rare, because I get so disappointed when the err on the side of medium. That’s the only reason I eat those pub burgers–it’s because I have a hankering for that rare-to-medium-rare meat.
I can haz cheeseburger is nice, but I like your use of the word “weary”; I feel that we’ve grown lazy in our language, and I’d like to see/hear this word a bit more often.