Grilling a Perfect Burger

Nothing says summer like smoke rolling from a grill, the crackle of charcoal and the aroma of beef searing over an open flame.  Inspired by Stout Burger being the Best Burger in Los Angeles I christened the grill for the season in order to make my own. 

Gas grills make for a nice controlled cooking surface with easy clean up, but you miss out on the smokiness and antiquities of the smoldering charcoal fire. I prefer the hardwood lump coals with a little lighter fluid as opposed to the pre-soaked briskets for a couple reasons. 

- 1 the flavor is more natural and earthy than manufactured. 

- 2 the coals can be arranged to create temperature zones around the grill.

- 3 the natural lump coals burn cleaner, creating less residual ash.

What you'll need:

Grill

Small fry pan

Ingredients:

  Ground beef 90/10 - 1 lb
  Olive Oil - 2 Tbs
  Red Onion - cut in rings
  Mustard - 2 Tbs
  Horseradish sauce - 2 Tbs
  Blue Cheese - 2 Tbs
  Butter - 2 Tbs
  Tomato - sliced 
  Kaiser roll - cut in half

Directions:

Get the grill started by building a pyramid of coals. Fire needs oxygen so make sure there is room for air to flow around the coals. If you are using a gas grill, set it to medium-high heat. If you are using charcoal, leave room around the perimeter of the grill in order to move the burgers around the center of high heat - you could also use a large lump of coal to shield the adjacent spot on the grill to create a lower heat spot.  

Salt and pepper the ground beef and splash with a tablespoon of olive oil. Patty the burgers into three 1/3lb burgers or 4 1/4lb burgers. Add a dash more salt and pepper to the patty's and drop them on the grill. 

Heat up a small skillet with a tablespoon of butter and brown some fresh ground pepper.

After 2 minutes turn the burgers 45 degrees keeping the same side down, this will help evenly distribute the heat. Give them another 2 minutes then flip and repeat the quartering process.

Add onions to pan to break them down.

Now the burgers have been on for eight minutes, I say flip them once more to drain the juice back through the patty for another minute for medium rare, longer for less pink. Flip every couple of minutes to keep from drying out if you are going for the well done version.

Toast bun internal side down for a minute - check regularly as the bread heats up fast.

Add Mustard, Horseradish and blue cheese to pan, remove from heat and toss to coat.

Set burger aside to rest for a couple minutes topped with the onion mixture. 

Add tomatoes to onion pan and return to medium low heat.



Put it all together and enjoy!