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The Perfect
The Perfect Hamburger
Nicely brown with a thick
layer of cheese
CHOW wades into shark’s waters of perfection: the burger. Josh Ozersky, author of The Hamburger: A History and editor of New York magazine’s Grub Street, confers with Gail Simmons of Top Chef and Food & Wine magazine. For Ozersky, it’s the burger at Veselka in New York.
The unparalleled. The best in show. We call it the Perfect: our video series on how something so very good gets to be that way.
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American cheese? WTF?
They squished it while it's on the grill? That's a culinary cardinal sin! While the sizzle is impressive, the sizzle is the juiciness of your burger escaping from the burger (where you want it) to the heating element (where you don't). The only thing it accomplishes is a dried out burger.
The perfect burger starts out with ground chuck. It has enough fat in it that it's not dry when it comes off the grill, but not so much fat that the burger is greasy. It's best if you grind it yourself. you can do this in a food processor with minimal fuss. The burger should be cooked over a searing hot flame, no further than medium unless you enjoy eating hockey pucks. It should only be turned once, and never, ever pressed. The only thing that pressing will accomplish is drying out the burger. If you choose to add cheese, it should go on the burger before the burger itself is finished cooking so it has time to melt without giving the meat a chance to overcook. The cheese should have a personality of its own; American, Colby, and Monterey Jack all melt nicely but are quite bland. Better to go with sharp Cheddar, Swiss, or even crumbles of your favorite blue cheese.
The bun must not be an afterthought. The ones in the bread aisle at the supermarket are almost always flavorless, waifish things that can't hold their own once loaded down with toppings. Find yourself a good bakery and buy their hamburger buns. They should have some flavor of their own, and be big enough to hold up through the entire burger without collapsing, but not so big that all you taste is the bread. Toasting the buns is mandatory. Buttering the buns before toasting is highly recommended.
Toppings are up to you. Some people prefer the clean, minimalist lines of only burger and bun. Daniel Boulud lavishly tops the signature burger at his restaurant with braised short ribs, foie gras, and black truffles. I believe that a burger should come with a standard set of green leaf lettuce, ripe tomato, sliced red onion, and slices of pickle unless such things are not complementary to other special toppings. A dollop of a spreadable condiment is always welcome even on the simplest burger creation. Mustard, mayonnaise, or ketchup are all classic standards. More inventive creations may include Thousand Island dressing (or for that matter, any creamy salad dressing, blue cheese is especially wonderful), homemade aïoli, a red wine pan sauce if you happened to pan-sear the burgers... Really, anything in the kitchen that's savory and spreadable. From there, the sky is the limit for toppings. Look over the topping list at fancy burger joints, such as Burger Bar in Las Vegas, for some terrific ideas. Don't limit yourself to just those lists; if you think it sounds like it's going to be good on a burger, it almost certainly is going to be delicious.
This will bring a lot of controversy.
you've got to be kidding me....wow. certainly didn't expect this when I clicked "the perfect hamburger"...
Many people disagree with some of these "the perfect" things, and I usually chalk it up to personal preference, but this flies in the face of every piece of burger advice I have ever seen.
1)What ever happened to a nice thick juicy burger? That thing is SO thin and as someone previous mentioned they squeezed all the juices out of it on the grill. Great for fast service, not so great for a good burger.
2)I really don't think you need "American" cheese, or cheese at all for that matter. However, if you are going to put on cheese I really do think you can do a little better than that processed garbage.
I agree about the not cooking past medium (I wouldn't be terribly disappointed with medium well, but medium is what I am shooting for). I personally like to add a little bacon fat into the burger and some finely chopped onions, but even if you just had a good bun, some quality meat and mixed an egg in to hold the meat together you should get a pretty good burger.
Maybe thats just me...
So, how "perfect" is the perfect burger? Gail Simmons (the woman in the video) called it "nice." What a compliment. Obviously, everyone is entitled to their "perfect" burger but this thing doesn't look like it. My favorite of all time was from McHale's in New York (closed about two years ago because high-rise built in its place.) The bacon cheeseburger was 1 pound of meat, 10 full strips of bacon and 3 to 4 ozs. of the cheese of your choice, including bleu. And no, I'm not exaggerating, it was that big, and it was cooked perfectly to order.
'PERFECT', my a**!
MORE PROOF that too many Americans under 45 have been poorly educated in the art of Burger Science. This Ozersky guy isn't qualified to talk, let alone write about hamburgers.
- Flat, no way! A little central bulge preserves the juiciness.
- Perfectly round, not critical.
As cb said first - American 'cheese', WHAT THE F***?
My guidelines:
- meat should not be too lean, prefer 15 - 20% fat
- spice meat with small amounts of salt, black pepper, garlic powder, dried minced onion, worchestershire sauce
- grilled over smoky wood coals, not griddled
- shoot for medium rare doneness
- slighly toasted bun should have character but not too dense - traditional sesame seed is fine, even english muffin
- NO CATSUP (punishable by firing squad)
- NO PROCESSED CHEESE (ditto)
- no bacon (distracts from beefy goodness)
- toppings should complement the beef and each other; prefer
a) sharp cheddar, kosher dill pickle slices, dijon mustard
b) sharp cheddar, picked jalapeno strips
c) thin RIPE tomato slices, mayonnaise, iceberg lettuce
Any questions?
How little you people understand about hamburgers! The hamburger exists on a horizontal plane, like the inhabitants of Flatland. The american cheese is the only dairy product that produces the proper viscosity. Cheddar is lumpy and greasy. Bulgy burgers are grotesque, an affront to everything that make the burger special; why not have it be shaped like a ball? Why not eat a meatloaf covered with roquefort cheese on a roll? Hew to the burger orthodoxies, and live a life of virtue!
So the perfect burger starts w/ a premade, cut-off-a-log, sausage-textured patty?
No thanks, Mr Big Word Burger "Classicist"
Give me a hand-shapen, fatty piece of ground beef any day. Grill it over charcoal, and you're good to go. Don't bother pre-seasoning my burger. Carbon is the only seasoning for a manly man like me.
Cheese is debatable. I personally like cheddar, or even muenster or pepper jack. Hell, I like mozzarella for pizza burgers! However, the LAST cheese I'd want to put on my charcoal grilled burger is American cheese - much less TWO slices! It's not so bad when I buy a double cheeseburger off the McDonald's dollar menu.
Oh yeah... and pass the ketchup. I don't care what this burger aficionado and Alton Brown have to say about ketchup. They're both self-absorbed weirdos anyway. I like ketchup, so it goes on my perfect burger.
And if you haven't picked up from my post by now, it's all about personal preferences. I like my cheddar-bacon burger topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo and ketchup on a sesame seed bun with dill pickle spear on the side.
Some may like theirs plain.
Some even put the french fries on top of their burger. Who are we to judge?
"Why not eat a meatloaf covered with roquefort cheese on a roll? Hew to the burger orthodoxies, and live a life of virtue!"
That actually sounds like a great idea...
I can't believe he smushed the burger on the grill. A big no no!
Who let the comic book guy from the simpsons become a hamburger expert? That burger looked like the the worst affront to backyard bbq's everywhere. Frozen pre-made patties do not make a good (or even "nice") burger. There's no way you can cook that to med-rare and feel comfortable eating or serving it.
Worst "perfect" ever
For me a good burger should never be preseasoned with anything more than salt and pepper..no garlic or onion and god no worchestershire sauce...and the last thing you should need is an egg to hold it together?..thats a total WTF...It shouldnt be too thick, make sure its not too lean, if its cooked correctly it doesnt need to be thick with a bulge in the middle to be moist..a quick hot sear a flip another sear and your done not matter what your cooking it on...keep the cheese simple and dont put too much of it on and keep the toppings sparse..no ketchup, or bbq sauce or any of that....a soft buttered grilled roll that the burger completely fits on is the way to go too, nothing too crusty..burgers shouldnt be way too big for the bun...a pickle on the side...some fries and Im happy....
this burger snobbery is ridiculous. In my opinion, the argument over the perfect burger needs to be fought on two different fronts: the bar/diner burger, and the backyard burger. Both have their specific merrits, and are by no means substitues for one another.
Everyone arguing for the plump burger with gourmet cheese and a homeade bun is absolutely right, if we are talking about the 'backyard burger' category. And, in my opinon, that is what comes to minds when thinking about the 'ultimate' burger. This is the category that gives absolute artistic liscense to the creator.
But sometimes, there is absolutely nothing else that satisfies like a flat, crispy bar burger with american chese and bacon, all on a plain old bun. A burger that goes perfectly with a Labatt and some fake wood paneling. So I am thankful that Mr. Ozersky presented his case, because the humble bar burger has gone too long unnapreciated in todays 'eat local' food world.
By the way, the best bar burger in the world has to be at Timothy's Pub in Gaylord, Michigan. If you've been, you know exactly what I mean.
american cheese????
what an idiot!!
that's not even real cheese.
le monde used to have the best burgers. try one with the brie. they have a good brie there.
I second cb_s "WTF?" on the American "cheese" usage. This guy plainly hasn't eaten enough burgers, and he's obviously never been to Father's Office in Santa Monica.
American "cheese" makes my bottom weep brown tears.
FATTY beef (30% at least), salt and pepper on the outside, grilled over coals, topped with whatever you feel like, but the burger should stand on its own.
Also, the perfect pizza comes from Ray's in New York City.
[runs for cover]
No reason to be rude and ostracize those whose opinion differs from yours. Where are your manners?
Hey!!!!
No hatin' on Ozersky! He's a good friend of mine and NEVER has there been a burger fanatic of his caliber (cheap shot, sorry josh). Everyone's entitled to his definition of "perfect"; and I respect his opinion, but don't share it 100%. Still, if I needed burger advice I'd go straight to the guy. There's MY 2 cents.
josh shuffman
While a case can be made for American Cheese or an untoasted, enriched flour bun, (not by me, but at least I see the point,) as others have pointed out, the pressing is the dead give-away that this is a burger to avoid.
While I agree with the majority that a burger should be 25-30% fat, I prefer to add my own. If you start by grinding your own sirloin (go with sirloin tip for economy and low fat content) you can add both bacon drippings and, IMNSHO, the best all-around fat available: olive oil in which you've roasted (or, more properly, done a confit of) garlic. Per four burgers, a tablespoon of panko or even old cubed bread soaked in a tablespoon of milk until it disolves will give you a binder that adds smoothness. A little parm and some oregano will add complexity. (don't go wild with these - you want complexity, not an Oregano-Parm burger.) If you have access to powdered smoked serano chilies, a tiny bit is wonderful.
The biggest mistake in the video, and in 99.99% of burgers is the shape. When I read Willingham's description of the hole-in-the-center burger, I thought "how cute." Believe me, it works. Like the pressing down of the center with your thumb (or shot-glass) trick, a hole in the center keeps the burger from becoming a meatball on the grill; however, it also accomplishes a much more important task: it allows a grilled burger to cook from the center out as well as from the edge in. This means that you won't have that half inch of grey under the crust, before you get to the juicy, rare-to medium-well meat.
As to the video, I wonder if Ozersky fails to mention some seasonings used at this place that make the burger special. The technique is certainly flawed. I'm moderately surprised at Simmons - her taste is usually impecible, and while some un-named seasonings might make this a good burger, what we see in the video proves that it can't possibly be a great one. Perhaps her "nice" is an instance of damning with faint praise... one can only hope so.
agree wholeheartedly with the american cheese.
and that burger looks delicious.
The burger featured in this video is the type of burger I can eat regularly and not get sick of (minus the second slice of cheese and half of the bacon). Which in my opinion might qualify this burger as "perfect."
Though personally, I would go with a cheddar over American for it's added bite. And not a fancy 5 yr old white cheddar either -- something processed that melts good.
Gourmet burgers are great -- definitely steps above your average burger, but if I could only choose one burger to eat for the rest of my life, you better believe it won't be a gourmet burger (e.g. burger with roquefort or brie). There's no way I could eat one of those regularly without switching it up a bit.
Not to say I eat burgers regularly. Maybe once a month, sometimes twice.
And yes to ketchup and mayo! Ketchup adds umami!
I never even think about hamburgers until there's a big beefsteak tomato ripe in my garden. But when that happens those tomatoes hang out back there just yelling for me to put them in a hamburger until I oblige them.
Every component of a great burger must be delicious, no, outstanding on its own: burger, cheese, bun, etc. One of my favorites is at Royal Taven in South Philadelphia. A wonderfully tasty burger topped with gouda cheese, jalapenos, on an old school grilled bun. The belgian frites with the garlic mayo adds a nice touch too. Back to the burger, the textural and flavor contrast are second to none in my opinion at Royal. I can taste it now.
Chow needs to take this down to retain any semblance of credibility.
As soon as that "chef" pressed down on the burger, robbing it of its juiciness, I knew it would be a burger not worth eating.
Perfect? That dried out patty can't even be passable.
this guy has lost any credibility he may have had. maybe he just got out of solitary confinement.
I eat at Veselka regularly, and their burger is definitely quite average. This guy wrote a book on Hamburgers??? Geez, put away the crack pipe.