If you have never tried to do this at home, then the time has arrived. Making burgers at home allows you to control what goes into them, as opposed to visiting a fast food chain.
This allows you to make them as healthy as you like by using only the finest ingredients. You also have the freedom to make your own patties, meaning that you can flavour them with whatever your heart desires.
Firstly, you can select exactly what type of meat you want to use. You could use beef, lamb, chicken or pork, or even game meat on their own, or mix them together to make your own unique blend. Many people use ingredients including bread crumbs and egg to ensure that the patty doesn’t break up while being cooked.
Herbs and spices can be used to add a unique flavour such as basil or chilli, if you prefer your burgers with a bite. There are a few important tips to remember when preparing your meat:
- Try to keep it as cold as possible while working with it
- Because you will be working with your hands, ensure that they are properly washed before you start
- Once done, clean all surfaces which were in contact with raw meat
Once your mixture is complete you can start shaping your patties. You have to decide what size you want them to be, and ensure that they will be big enough to cover the entire bun. The easiest way to get a consistent shape and size is to grab a section of the blend in your hand and take note of the size.
Once you have the ball of meat in your hand, press down to flatten it into the general shape that you want. The consistency should be solid and compacted all the way through, but you may notice cracks forming on the edges. When moulding, it is important to keep the edges thicker than the middle, as the edges are more prone to cracking and will cook faster.
Doing this will help you achieve a well-cooked burger all the way through. Once you have your shape sorted you can start to season it. A burger patty, like any other type of meat, requires herbs and spices to get the best results in terms of taste. You can choose to keep it simple by adding only salt and pepper, or go wild with your favourite flavours.
Once you are of the opinion that they are perfect, you can slap them onto your preheated Weber gas BBQ. When cooked, you can serve them on rolls of your choice with whatever accompanying garnishes tickle your fancy such as:
- cheese
- caramelised onion
- rocket
- bacon
- mushroom sauce
- chilli sauce
- pepper sauce
- avocado
- Chilli poppers
All you need to do now is get a guest list together to have friends around for some home-made hamburger delights! What’s more, with your gas bbq you’re able to enjoy burgers such as these all year round, regardless of the weather.
Sally is a food lover. What she enjoys most is making fresh food from scratch and cooking it on her BBQ.
