Hamburgers (or simply burgers)
One of America’s favorite foods, said to have made its first appearance in 1904, are hamburgers. Cheeseburgers, a favorite at our house, is said to have made their appearance in 1924. Grilling and hamburgers seemingly go hand in hand.
Tips to make the most of your grilling experience include:
First, when purchasing ground beef to make hamburger patties, look for meat that is coarsely ground. The reason, the finer the beef is ground the more compact the end product will be. Hamburgers should be light and juicy.
The least expensive regular ground beef may be good for your pocket book, but because of the excess shrinkage not the best for hamburgers on the grill. A more moderately priced ground chuck contains enough fat to give your burgers flavor and make it juicy, but not enough to cause excess shrinkage.
It might be tempting to push down on the hamburgers when you are grilling, but please don’t. Excess flavor and juice will be lost. Grilling burgers on direct heat for 10-12 minutes, turning once, should be all you need.
As a final note, before serving hamburgers, we always check the temperature. Hamburgers should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
To keep meal times interesting, we enjoy adding ingredients to the ground beef. Or tuck something inside of your patty before grilling for an added surprise.
Surprise Hamburgers
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp garlic, minced
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 (4-ounce) package cream cheese; softened
- 4 Tbsp blue cheese; crumbled
Mix meat, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings. Shape the mixture into 12 thin patties, each about 4 inches in diameter. Mix the cream cheese and the blue cheese together. Top six patties with a heaping tablespoon of the cheese mixture, spreading to within ½ inch of the edge. Cover each patty with one of the remaining patties, sealing the edges firmly. Grill the patties over direct heat, turning once, until the desired doneness is reached and cheese is melted, about 10 to 15 minutes.