The hamburger is a symbol of red-blooded Americanism, and as much as we may love soy, wheatgrass and organic salads ““ this Wednesday is a time for meat.
Specifically, it’s a time for ground beef, seared to medium-rare perfection, smothered in all of your favorite condiments.
Creating the perfect burger is simple and it’s also cost-effective; at most it should cost $15 to make four from scratch. But all too often people make very bad burgers: If you buy premade patties and throw them straight on the grill you might want to just go to McDonald’s. It’s cheaper and it will probably taste better too. Every minute you spend preparing a burger from scratch increases the quality exponentially, so this Fourth of July, take the time to do it right.
To make the perfect burger, start with a pound of ground beef. I use 80 percent lean because the meat has a better consistency. High quality beef tastes better, but the difference isn’t so great that it’s worth spending an extra $5 to 10 ““ I just bought what was on sale at Ralphs.
A pound of beef makes three to four burgers, depending on how large you like them.
While you’re at the store pick up toppings like sweet onions, pickles, and lettuce and also be sure to get the really big buns. This is not the time to skimp on buns.
When you get back to your apartment, dump the ground beef into a large mixing bowl and liberally season it with salt, pepper and garlic powder. I also like to add a pinch of cumin for a southwest flair, and several squirts of steak or barbecue sauce.
Now get over your fear of raw meat and use your hands. First wash them, then massage the meat until it feels mixed. Keep mixing until it is uniformly gooey ““ you shouldn’t see any lingering spices or blotches of steak sauce.
Next you have to form the meat into patties, and there really isn’t a way to do this with a spoon.
Separate the beef into large balls, and then flatten them into discs. The discs should be a little bit bigger than what you want the final product to look like because they shrink during cooking.
Most students probably don’t have access to a grill, but fear not, cooking burgers in a pan can be even better because the fat doesn’t drain out as well ““ it’s a holiday, therefore it’s OK to eat fat.
So to use the stove, put a large, deep pan over medium-high heat, and let it sit for two minutes to warm up.
If you have a “kiss the chef” apron, this would be the time to don it as a burger splatters while it cooks, and could very well ruin your red, white and blue couture.
When the pan is hot, place down three or four patties. This will almost immediately be followed by a very satisfying sizzle and the smell of cooking meat.
You may feel a very strong urge to take a spatula and push on the top of the cooking patties. Resist this temptation, as the only time you should touch the burger while it is cooking is to flip it once.
Pressing on it will release valuable juice and will mess with the structure of the meat.
The burger should plump up while cooking and each side should cook for about three to four minutes.
When the patties are done, remove them from the heat and cover them in foil to keep them warm until they are ready to be served.
I like to toast the bun and add sweet onions and pickles with mayonnaise and ketchup, but you can use whatever tickles your palate.
Put the cooked patty on the bun and serve with a cold beverage and your favorite brand of potato chip for a big, fat American meal.
Pesce loves fatty, red meat. If you are an offended vegetarian, e-mail him at apesce@media.ucla.edu.