What could be simpler than making a burger, right? Just slap a patty on the grill and slide it onto a bun. But if you want a perfect burger — irresistibly rich and dripping with juice — well, that takes a little more doing.
Herewith, our secrets and sources:
SECRETS
- Mix the meat (1 pound) with 2 tablespoons of Duke’s mayo plus 1 1/2 tablespoons of fish sauce. The mayo adds tiny pockets of fat, ensuring that the meat stays soft as it cooks; the fish sauce adds flavor.
- Don’t season the mixture with salt and pepper; salt leaches away moisture.
- Form the meat into giant meatballs, not patties, and put a dimple in them.
- Let the meat chill in the fridge for at least an hour. The meat needs to settle down after being worked.
- Season now, then press the balls gently onto a cast-iron griddle.
- Cook the patty more than halfway through on one side, then flip it; that first side should get 70 percent of your cooking time.
- Let the meat rest after cooking; the juices need five to 10 minutes to redistribute.
SOURCES
Meat
Buffalo Creek beef. The meat at this local fifth-generation cattle farm is as humanely raised as it is rich and robust. Available at Belmont Butchery.
Cheese
Sullivan’s Pond Farm’s Chesapeake Blue goat cheese. Creamy, salty, tangy. Available at their stand at the South of the James Farmers Market.
Buns
Flour Garden Bakery’s burger bun, made with milk, butter and a kiss of honey. Sturdy but yielding. Available at Libbie Market.
Pickles
Dayum This Is My Jam’s “Psycho Diller” — sour, sharp and spicy. Available at Lakeside Farmers Market and Union Market in Church Hill.
