20 of Summer's Best Hamburger Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Is 80 20 or 90 10 better for burgers? ›

A lot of the answers to these questions are based on preference. However, one truth always remains the same: To make the perfect burger, you always want to start with high-quality 80/20 beef, the juiciest and easiest to cook.

According to the USDA, a serving of ground beef is 3 ounces. Considering that, 3.75 pounds of ground beef would be enough to serve 20 people. Now, if you want to go the 'excessive and unhealthy' route… you can serve them a quarter pound patty.

Gordon Ramsay hamburger recipe blend of brisket, chuck sirloin, and short rib ground beef with our exclusive chef's secret recipe, featuring a perfect meat blend and expert grill techniques.

Selecting the best meat for burgers

Adding hard working muscles that contain a lot of myoglobin will lower the cost of your end product while enhancing that flavor. A good basic mixture would be to use 50% chuck (the cheap and lean), 25% rib plate (the fatty parts) and 25% brisket (the fatty and beef flavor).

Herbs: Parsley, basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano are favorites with beef, while mint, dill and cilantro are also popular with other proteins. Fresh herbs are excellent mixed into ground meat while dried herbs are the best choice for sprinkling on top.

Smashing the burger results in a sear on the outside of the meat, which locks in all of the juices and flavor. This method also helps to prevent flare-ups on the grill or griddle, as there is less surface area for the fat to drip onto the heat source.

Burgers. Our Test Kitchen uses a range of 1 to 1½ pounds of ground beef to make 4 burgers. That's 4 to 6 ounces per burger. Check out our best tips for grilled burgers and use these guidelines to know how much ground beef per burger to buy.

In short, 80 20 ground beef is a mixture of 80% lean meat and 20% fat. The fat content is what gives the ground beef its flavor and juiciness, making it a great choice for burgers, meatloaf, and other dishes that require a little bit of fat.

The most common burger binding agent is egg. This makes your ground beef stick together and is the most readily available ingredient.

Do you add egg to hamburger patties? ›

Egg yolk acts as a binder and adds flavor

After forming it into a patty, he explains that the egg actually helps bind the meat together, and adds an incredibly rich flavor to the burger patty. As a good rule of thumb, it's best to add one yolk per pound of ground beef.

For a burger to qualify as lean meat, it must be made from ground beef that is 90% lean or more. This means there can be no more than 10% fat in the meat. However, no one wants a fat-free beef burger, as it makes the burger dry and chewy. A better option is to go with Angus beef, which is 80% lean and 20% fat.

If you're just making fully cooked burgers, a lower fat ratio (90:10) is best, unless you're planning to collect the fat that leaks out. If you're going to make like a hearty stew with starchy root vegetables or something, a higher fat content (70:30) might be more desireable.

We'll sometimes call for 80 percent lean beef for extra juiciness in foods that are prone to drying out, like a well-done hamburger. Conversely, we'll use 90 percent lean beef in recipes with other sources of fat or moisture added, or where we want to minimize grease.

The best ground beef to buy for burgers is 80/20 ground chuck – 80% lean meat and 20% fat. Ground chuck is ground from the shoulder and has that ideal lean-to-fat ratio of 80/20 (i.e. not too lean) for a super flavorful, juicy burger. Ground round comes from the back of the cow, near the tail, upper leg, and rump.