My secret is "keep patties lightly packed".

This is the most important concept. As soon as a started doing this, my kids were like "Dads these are the best burgers, not sure what you changed.." What you want is freshly ground meat, or just make sure it has not been smashed.



Next lightly crumble the meat up with my your fingers. This is easily done if meat has never been smushed.


Season, just use salt and pepper.


Mix it, toss like salad, again want to keep it light...


Lightly pack paddy. You want to pack it just enough to hold it together, if you pack it more than that you are over doing it and the more you over pack it the worse...


Side...


On the gas grill cast iron skillet. Use 90% lean or more on cast iron. On open flame go 80%, but cast iron is best JMO.





What�s yours?

Looks good to me, in fact I wish I had one right now!

and Never mash the meat while cooking.........I think I would add a few Nacho peppers too. But that looks delicious...

I do mine the same way, just enough so it doesn't fall apart when I flip it one time on the charcoal grill. Check the internal temp with an instant read, like them to still be juicy. My wife peppers the potatoes before they go in the deep fryer. Looks good in the skillet also.

My secret to burgers is this....I pack the meat with this and let sit overnight, then get to room temperature, before throwing on the grill

My Burger Secret...

I've had them this way. Yum....

prefer flat top/griddle/pan over charcoal. it's all about the char.

I like the flavor of ground chuck over something more lean like sirloin. Prefer to make my own patties, maybe just shy of an inch thick, not measured guessing, versus premade ones. Don�t like to pack mine either, just formed enough to stay together. I make sure the patties are well seasoned with non iodized sea salt and fresh fairly coarse ground pepper.

I�ve done them on the cast iron skillet and the BGE. The cast iron produces a consistently very good burger as the cast iron can be held at a good temperature. The BGE can produce a great one if I get my fire just right, which is somewhere around 450-475. If I get to socializing too much and neglecting the fire, the burger suffers. A cast iron grill on the BGE is a must though. The OE stainless grill only works well for indirect cooking. A too hot grill, over 500, risks too fast of flare up when opening the cover and over charring the burger and producing bitter flavor. Too cool of fire, getting closer to 400 degrees, doesn�t produce very good results either.

I really like the HEB bakery buns available in their fresh baked bins. Toasted buns are a must and I toast mine on the grill as the burgers come off.

I like to have lots of add ones available on a separate platter. Fresh crisp torn not chopped lettuce, cold iceberg or butter are my favorite burger lettuce. Thin sliced tomatoes, preferably garden tomatoes but the best I can find, good pickles, very thin sliced red or sweet yellow onions, thin sliced peppers like bell, jalape�os and Fresno. Can�t stand a big hunk of thick sliced onion on a burger, so if I get one out at a fast food restaurant, I cut the onion.

I don�t want anyone but myself to add on the extras and the mustard and or mayonnaise. No ketchup for me.

For the folks that like cheese on theirs I put the cheese on in the last minute of the grill. I almost always prefer no cheese.

When everything is right, a hamburger might be my favorite all time thing to eat. I�d probably get a burger as my last meal on death row if I thought they�d do it right.

I like mine like this. smash the onions in the meat.

Amen Bigbob

i concur

Hard to beat a blackstone burger done right and the mess stays outside. When i had food truck i ground chuck brisket and short ribs in the mix for burgers.