What's a Burger?

What's a Burger?

It's a weeknight meal

It's a holiday grill out

It's a quick bite at the game

It's a drive-thru away

It's simple

It's a favorite

It's an empty pallet

It's a birthday dinner

It's a million different ways

It's personal

Most people think of hamburger as cheap meat.  A good amount of quick-fix meals contain ground meat.  It's an everyday thing.  However, how many special meals center around the perfect hamburger?  They are built out of the same ground meat that our go-to casseroles are, but higher up on the culinary pedestal.  With so many variations, I do believe it's time to get cooking.  Stacey and I have come up with some tips and tricks to help you create the perfect burger.  Perfect…meaning tasty, healthy and satisfying. 

Choosing the meat

When choosing your meat you have many options.  Beef, turkey, chicken, pork, lamb and even buffalo.  I could go on. 

First take a look at the percentage of fat.  Go for the highest percentage of lean meat you can.  Keeping in the 90s will keep you going till you’re 90.  This simply means your heart will thank you.  This is not a guarantee that you will in fact live until you are 90.  With turkey and chicken you still need to look at your percentage.  You may be surprised that a higher percentage of fat with ground poultry can be pretty close to lean red meat.       

Next take a look at how you prepare your meat.  The more you work with it the dryer your burger will be.  When working with leaner meats we automatically think we need to add all sorts of flavorings to the burger, mix it in real good and form it…this just makes for a tougher end product.  Your best bet is to portion your ground meat and form it with as little handling as possible.  You can create wonderful rubs, sauces or toppings to jazz your burger up.  Meat rolls/chubs are perfect for making burgers.  Pop them in the freezer for about half an hour then slice to desired thickness.  Try to keep each slice at about ¼ pound for a perfect serving.  The one pound chubs make great sliders.  I get 8 sliders out of one pound.

Finally, make sure you cook your burgers to the proper temperature.  Did you know that 8 out of 10 burgers that come off a grill are undercooked?  Yikes!  Get your thermometer out boys and girls…don’t become a statistic! 

Here are the USDA recommended safe minimum internal temperatures for you to reference for all your summer grilling

Steaks - 145°F

Fish - 145°F

Pork - 160°F

Ground Beef - 160°F

Chicken - 165°F    

Just one more thing…you are probably just chomping at the bit to know what our favorite burger toppings are-

Hy-Vee Chef Lindsey – caramelized onions, mushrooms, green onion, Havarti cheese and crème fraiche.

Hy-Vee Dietitian Stacey – sautéed mushrooms, lettuce and tomato.

Our Foodie Friend Elisa - Turkey burger with avocado, sprouts and spicy Dijon.