My Love Affair with Juicy Meaty Burger!

My Love Affair with Juicy Meaty Burger!

My love affair with Burger started almost five years ago when I had to live in Florida followed by NYC for almost a fortnight.  Every day after the long studio hours (don't ask me how long they were), used to stop by roadside grilles and gorged upon juicy burgers, sometimes two double deckers back to back!!!

Now, back to the present scene. In the city like Udaipur finding a burger is same as finding good Dal Makhani in Finland! 

People just don't understand it and make terrible ones with even worse excuses for not making the real ones. Only last year, Radisson Blu organised a burger fest and served some real juicy ones but again for a simple thing like a juicy burger, spending at a five-star property is always a dilemma for me.

So, the only place where I started having a real burger is at my humble home! But, making a juicy one is a real deal, and when you're tiered with your daily course of life, it is indeed a challenge to make one. Finding a good balance of fat in the minced meat (keema) is also a challenge from local butcher shops. But then, somehow, almighty looked upon my plight and hurray, someone, started a home delivery service of quality meat in the city.

Freshomeat, the local startup, delivering fresh and quality meat with varieties of cut options such as curry cut, minced meat, reignited the passion of making a good juicy burger in me.

And here is the result.

A classic dinner-style Smashed Cheeseburger with a juicy and delicious meat patty.

Oh my, my!

I just love this smashed patties, and there are five rules for a delicious smashed burger. 

First, the minced meat, it should have the right balance of fat, and I love the 80-20 ration where 80% is lean meat, and 20% is fat. 

Second, less touch! The minced meat is a very sensible staff, and it reacts to every single addition of ingredients and most importantly the touch! The more you futz around, the worse it becomes.

Third, seasoning with salt and pepper only after the patties are made. If we season it earlier, the salt will definitely dissolve the muscle-protein and make it more like sausage-like meat, springy than juicy.

Fourth, the buns! You need to toast them properly with unsalted butter. And they shouldn't crumble. I use the buns from m favourite local bakery who make some really good ones.

And Fifth, cooking the meat in the really really hot pan. I use either my thick bottom stainless steel pan and or the cast iron one. Today I used the stainless steel one and made the vegetable oil reach the smoking point before placing the patties in it. And I always use my instant read thermometer to check the temperature to get an idea of the doneness of these thick burger patties.

That's all. Spilled all my secrets for a really juicy burger.

For the patty making, I use an assortment of Indian spices like red chilli powder, garam masala, and egg and finely chopped onion with pinches of flour. And I prefer applying Garlic infused Mayonnaise sauce on the lower half of the toasted bun and for toppings simple grilled onion and lightly salted tomatoes and fresh lettuce are my permanent choices. 

Juicy Burger is ready!

And all you need is your love for the burger, which is kind of insanely intense for my case!!!