I am so pumped for the first episode of Let’s Make Dinner!! If you would have told me a year ago I would be starting a podcast I would have said you were crazy… But here we are. I guess never say never, right?!
In Episode 001 we are making really good grilled hamburgers for dinner. Susie shares all the tips and tricks you need to make crave-worthy burgers. This will definitely become your go-to recipe you will have on repeat all summer long.
Transcript
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Intro: Welcome to Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich.
Susie Weinrich: Welcome everybody to the very first episode of Let’s Make Dinner. Okay, we’re not going to come in like that every single time. I’m just super excited because this is the very first episode of Let’s Make Dinner, my new podcast. I just want to take a minute and say thank you for being here. Thank you for listening and supporting me. I am super pumped about this new journey that I’m on.
The very first episode, the very first recipe. We had to make it a really killer one, and today we are talking about the perfect juicy, grilled hamburger. That is something that you want to have in your arsenal, especially for grilling season, which here in Kansas is spring, summer, fall, and maybe not winter. I am not strong enough to get out there in the winter. I just don’t do it. I know some of y’all are out there and praise you for getting out there in the cold.
Tips and Tricks: All right, so for your burgers, if you want to make burgers for dinner, this is going to take you about 10 minutes to actually make the burger patties. Depending on how well done you want your burgers, we’re talking about eight minutes to grill. So in total, this dinner is probably going to take you about 20 minutes. So under 30 minutes. Not bad to have some killer grilled hamburgers.
You probably have most of the ingredients you need to make really good grilled hamburgers. Besides maybe the beef. This recipe costs one and a half pounds of 80/20 ground beef. The rest of the ingredients, I bet you have in your spice cabinet and then in the fridge. I bet you have Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard. You need a little milk and you need a piece of white or wheat bread.
Now, some tips when you are making grilled hamburgers. Number one, the main ingredient here is ground beef. You want to make sure that you are buying really high-quality ground beef. So if you have a butcher that you can go to, definitely choose that option over, I’m going to explain this to you and I hope you know you’re what I’m talking about, that kind of block of ground beef that’s already pre-packaged and it’s all smooshed together.
The better option is going to be something that is more fresh ground that looks like ribbons of ground beef, but if you can get it at the actual meat counter, that’s going to be your best option. If you can get ground chuck, that is the best. However, a lot of times when I ask the meat counter, dude if they have ground chuck, I usually just get pointed to an 80/20. At the very least, get an 80/20 ground beef.
The next tip I have for you is to make a panade, and that’s where the milk and the bread come in. A panade is basically, I think, is that a French word? I mean, it sounds French. It’s basically a kitchen or cooking technique where you’re mixing starch and a liquid to keep a ground meat recipe juicy, which is perfect in this case for grilled burgers. It works really well for Turkey burgers, meatballs, or meatloaf. Pretty much any recipe you’re going to find on my site for any of those things is going to have a panade mixed in.
Two more tips I have for you. Before we get to the actual making of the recipe. You’re going to want to form your burger patties about half an inch to an inch larger than the bun you’ll be serving them on because they’re going to shrink up just a smidge on the grill. Once they shrink up, if you make them a little bit larger than the bun, they will fit your bun perfectly.
The other tip is when you form that patty, take your thumb, your clean thumb, or a clean spoon, and press it right into the middle of the burger patty, making it kind of a little divot. And that also helps prevent the burgers from shrinking up into little hockey pucks. Have you ever had those burgers that grill up into slider-sized burgers? This will prevent that from happening.
Perfect Grilled Hamburgers Recipe: All right, so onto the recipe. How do we make these burgers? So you’re going to start by making that panade in a bowl. You want to mix one piece of white or wheat bread that you have torn or cut into tiny little pieces. Three tablespoons of milk, a teaspoon of kosher salt, a teaspoon of onion powder, half a teaspoon of black pepper, and then one garlic clove that you minced really well. A tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. You’re going to mix that all together, and that is your flavorful panade that’s going to get mixed into the burgers. I like to wash my hands really well and get my hands in there and literally squish the panade like it’s Play-Doh. That really gets it down into that nice paste that will mix into the ground beef really, really well. If you don’t want to get your hands in there, that’s fine. Then you just want to use a fork or spoon or something to really mash everything together.
Then you’re going to add your ground beef. When you add your ground beef, make sure that you’re not overworking the beef into the panade. You don’t want to end up with tough little hockey pucks like we talked about before. So mix that ground beef in just until everything is incorporated together. Then you can form your patties.
Now you can grill your burgers on a gas or charcoal grill. Obviously, either one will work. If you are grilling on a gas grill, you’ll want to set your grill to a medium, medium-high heat and grill them right over direct heat. I recommend about four minutes per side. Same with a charcoal grill. You’re going to want to set it up for direct grilling, and then you’re going to want to grill them for about four minutes per side.
Now if you want to add cheese to your burgers, then what I recommend doing is moving your burgers to the indirect heat side. Place the cheese on and then close the grill up for about a minute and let that cheese melt. Grab all of your burgers, take them inside, and get ready to eat.
When you are serving your perfect juicy grilled burgers, some side dishes that I recommend are of course fries or sweet potato fries. That’s just classic, right? Some other ones are potato salad. If sweet corn is in season, get that in there. Baked beans, coleslaw, or any of those classic barbecue side dishes will work here. I will link my recipe for potato salad and instant pot sweet corn in the show notes for you. That’s it for today.
As always, I will link the full printable recipe for Perfect, Juicy Grilled Burgers in the show notes, and you can use it all summer long. Or all year long if that’s how you do.
Thank you so much for listening today. If you are enjoying Let’s Make Dinner, then I would love it if you would subscribe or follow your preferred podcast player. That will just make it easier for you to find future episodes right in your podcast feed.
Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner makes your dinner time a little easier.
Tips
There are 7 main rules to follow when making great grilled hamburgers:
- Use high quality 80/20 ground beef
- Start with a panade to keep the burgers juicy.
- Add fresh garlic to the panade to add a punch of flavor.
- Don’t overmix your ground beef into the panade.
- Form the patties about ½-1 inch larger than the buns, then they will shrink to fit your buns.
- Place a divot in the center of each burger to prevent too much shrinkage on the grill.
- Grill the burgers over direct heat.
Recipes in the Episode
Here are the links to the recipes discussed in this episode:
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