Homemade Hamburgers

A few weekends ago, when the weather was much better than it is now, I developed a craving for a burger but I didn’t feel like going out for one. I would have to make my own. While I had cooked ready prepared burgers from my farmers’ market, I hadn’t actually put them together from scratch and this is what I undertook that Sunday with only minced beef, salt and pepper.

Of course, for such simple burgers, where there’s no onion, herbs, spices, etc, mixed in, you’ll need to find the best quality mince you can find. If in doubt, get some steak and mince it yourself or get your butcher to do it. I found my mince at my local farmers’ market. Some fat is always good for both flavour and moistness.

I feel slightly ridiculous providing a recipe for burgers; for that reason, I’ll write more general instructions. For 2 nicely sized hamburgers, you’ll need about 300 – 350 g minced beef/steak. Season the meat with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix thoroughly. Form into 2 patties that are slightly larger than your bun (they’ll shrink as they cook). Heat your frying pan over medium-high heat and add a little bit of olive oil. If you have a stovetop grill or barbecue, use it! Fry the patties until done to your liking. I left them to get lovely and brown on either side and ended up with them cooked to a perfect medium.

If you want to add cheese, have some sliced up and ready. I used Double Gloucester as that’s all I had in the fridge. Halfway through cooking the second side of the burgers, I added the cheese on top and then covered the pan. A minute later and they had melted wonderfully.

I ate these with salad and homemade chunky oven chips. Oh, and some of Miss Stoneham’s homemade tomato ketchup. However, I can understand the want to embellish burgers like these with more toppings. Mustard? Sliced pickles? Or perhaps push the boat out a little further with slices of bacon or chorizo? Avocado? Guacamole? Onion? A fried egg?! What do you like on your burgers?

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