I tend to agree with this. BBQ sauce just ruins a burger for me. (Well, “ruin” is harsh, but I would never put it on a burger of my own.) I’m also not a fan of bacon on burgers.
My baseline burger is simple: beef patty (double if fast-food style), deli-style American cheese or similar, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard. When I try out a new burger joint, that is almost always what I order for the first time to gauge it as a general hamburger place. I used to be very much against lettuce and tomatoes on my burger (since usually the tomatoes such and are just watery styrofoam), but as I get older, I’m kind of enjoying the cool-hot contrast a little bit more and it gives me the illusion of eating something a little healthier.
But I also enjoy a wide variety of burgers, as long as they are not over dressed. Blue cheese on a thick, pub burger, preferably with cracked peppercorns and caramelized onions, is divine to me, but 4 times out of 5 I’m going to be in the mood for a fast-food style burger.
Yeah, for me it’s one or the other. If it’s thick, it had better be medium rare/pinkish red in the middle. If it’s thin, it had better have crispy edges.
Beef, medium rare, bacon, cheddar cheese. If no bacon, pickles.
A truly good burger does not need catchup, mustard, or mayo.
There’s a restaurant near me that has 1/2 pound burgers that are a mix of beef and pork sausage. Yum.
I’ve had other proteins, and they are acceptable, but you can’t find them out here in beef country.
Veggie burgers are right out, because they have onions, to which I am allergic.
I saw something on YouTube about shrimp burgers. I would like to try that, but I doubt I’d be able to find them.
“Need,” no, But I think anything fatty benefits from a hit of acid. It could be ketchup, mustard, or pickle (or all three), but it benefits greatly from something that will cut a bit through the richness (and I like my burgers fatty! At least 80:20, but I’ll go as far as 60:40.)
Fat carries some flavor (maybe not as much as people think, but some), contributes to a buttery mouthfeel, and makes burgers juicy. I see you are sous viding, so I suppose that helps with the latter. But, even as a little kid, I loved just the plain fat on the sides of a steak that everyone else would cut off. Lean beef makes me sad. When I grind my own, I use boneless short ribs, or a mix of short ribs, chuck, and brisket.
I like the “classic” burger; high quality beef, raw onion, lettuce and tomato. Mustard is pretty much it. I do like veggie and black bean burgers also. Made salmon burgers two nights ago.
Ditto. The butcher shop prepares 80:20 normally, but they grind then mix very fatty and lean meat together to get the right ratios and they’ll just go mix up any density you like.
About 10 years ago I began making a burger with about 2/3 ground beef and 1/3 Parmesan cheese (the cheap Kraft stuff, not the good shredded stuff) and a little olive oil to make it all sorta stick together as patties. I mix in some chopped spinach and minced garlic and top with a slice of tomato. It’s pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
I ate hamburgers dressed with peanut butter often as a teen; I wasn’t into most dressing condiments at the time and my mom tended to cook the burgers really dry. Peanut butter burgers are great! (Peanut butter pizza is, too, btw…)
My favorite non-beef burger meat is lamb. It makes a very flavorful burger, which can be topped with all sorts of items, including some cheeses that I wouldn’t normally top a beef burger with.
I do a Balkan hamburger-type thing called pljeskavica. I basically use my usual cevapcici recipe (a Balkan type of skinless sausage; basically a type of kofte kebab, except not not cooked on a skewer). It’s a mix of lamb and beef (50-50; sometimes I go 50 lamb 25 beef 25 pork), seasoned with salt, generous black pepper, garlic and/or onion, paprika. Mix it all up and grill. Serve with raw onion, ajvar (a roasted egg plant and red pepper paste) and/or kajmak (a sour cream-cream/creme fraiche/cream cheese sort of thing. You can fake it by blending sour cream and cream cheese or even feta together.) Serve in a pita or on a bun. Here’s a recipe and a picture, though note I use a different mix of meats.
I love lamb in every form. We went in with another couple once and bought half a butchered lamb.
I like lamb burgers. But I had one at the state fair once and it wasn’t good at all. Even a little smelly. After 3 bites I tossed it! I couldn’t even think of eating one for 3 years after that. Just shows how something like that can screw you up on a really good thing!
I live in Korea, the land of crappy hamburgers. They think they are adding value by adding even more lettuce and such; actually, they are taking something that’s already only 15% meat and turning it into something that’s only 5% meat.
A topping can either enhance/complement the ground beef, or it can detract from it. I don’t want pineapple or mango on my burger, or a steak sauce that has too much of them. Horseradish and sliced bell peppers, on the other hand…
When I’m in a meat-free mood, Boca Burgers are really nice.
A friend has sheep on his little farm, and sells lambs. A researcher at a nearby university occasionally needs fresh lamb hearts. So, he buys a lamb, my buddy butchers it and gives him the heart, and the meat is waste. I help butcher and vacuum wrap. We eat a ton of tagines.
If you come across someone who doesn’t like liver at least offer them to try lamb liver. Lamb liver is much, Much, MUCH more mild (and less “stringy”) than beef or pork liver. I really didn’t like liver at all, but lamb liver is quite nice. Still, smother it in onions or their choice. It’s not bad at all. And I am, overall, a very fussy eater. Don’t trick them, or anything. But it is not bad at all!!!
An Australian hamburger ‘with the lot’ consists of:
A bread-roll, split and toasted.
A grilled meat patty
Grilled onion
A fried egg
Fried bacon
A slice of processed cheese
A slice of tomato
Chopped lettuce
Tomato Sauce (ketchup)
AND IT MUST HAVE BEETROOT on it as well. It ain’t a hamburger without beetroot.
When I grind my own, I use boneless short ribs, or a mix of short ribs, chuck, and brisket.