How to make the ultimate hamburger
The Ultimate Hamburger recipe below was created the Underground Cookery school on the launch of the new film, The Founder. The burger patty is made with a blend of 3 cuts of meat, served on brioche buns with some pickles, tomato and lettuce.
If you are a serious burger aficionado, you will make your own meat blend to make burgers with. This way you know that you get the best cuts of beef with the right fat amount to make a juicy burger. All you have to do after that is to grill it with a good char on the surface and nice and medium rare inside.
About the Founder Movie
The Founder Movie is about the story behind the birth of the Golden Arches. The movie is about a major business coup where Ray Kroc, a salesman from Illinois, met the McDonald Brothers and how he created an amazing opportunity for himself. They had a thriving hamburger business in Southern California. The film follows Ray as he talks himself into creating a franchise using their system. From there, it follows the fortunes of the company as it expands into the Mid West.
While the franchises run into business difficulties, Ray sees a new way to profit from the business for himself. He changes they way they work, ultimately cutting out the McDonald brothers input.
It culminates in him forcing the hand of the McDonalds to sell him the business for $2.7m and 1% royalties (which was taken off the negotiated contract and became a handshake deal. ) Ray walked off into the sunset with his new company that would turn into a global fast food behemoth. The McDonald brothers never got paid their royalties.
Michael Keaton plays another award winning character in this film. Worth a watch if not for his performance but for the business shenanigans and greed.
Watch the trailer below. The Founder is out in UK cinemas now.
How to make the ultimate burger
Ingredients
Burgers
- 1 tbsp Oil % onion 500g minced beef 250g chuck, 125g short-rib, 125g brisket 1 tbsp breadcrumbs
- % tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/2 tbsp chopped thyme
- 4 tbsp buttermilk
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Triple Cooked Chips
- Large pinch of cracked black pepper
- 4 large potatoes- potato lovers or maris piper
- 4 litres vegetable Oil
Burger sauce
- 2 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp tabasco 1 tsp
- 1 tsp Worcester sauce
- 1 tsp brandy
- 1 tsp hot smoked paprika
- 4 brioche buns
Extras
- 2 sliced gherkins
- Sliced onion
- Iceburg Lettuce
- Sliced tomato
Instructions
For the burgers
- Finely chop the onion, and fry with the oil until slightly golden.
- Drain on kitchen paper and allow to cool. -combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and the cooled onion, and gently mix being careful not to work the
- Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and the cooled onion, and gently mix being careful not to work the mix too much, but ensuring all ingredients are combined.
- Shaping hamburger patties
- You can also use these hamburger patty shapers to make your burgers.
- Form 4 hamburger patties and place them in the fridge for 1 hour. This allows the flavours to develop, tenderises the meat, and firms up the mix.
- Heat a frying pan with a little oil to a medium high heat, add the burgers. Ensure you get a good golden brown colour on both sides and cook to your liking.
- Allow to rest for 3 or 4 minutes after cooking
- Gently toast the brioche bun, and build you burgers
For the chips
- Peel and cut your potatoes into chunky chips, and rinse thoroughly in cold water to remove the starch.
- Cook your chips in a large pan of lightly salted water until fully tender, then gently remove from the pan.
- Place them on a wire rack to allow them to dry. This can be done overnight (in the fridge), to ensure the chips dry out thoroughly.
- Heat your oil to 135 deg celcius, then fry your chips in small batches. Fry until a skin has formed, for about 5 minutes.
- Drain and chill. Ideally overnight.
- Heat the oil to 185 deg celcius. Fry the chips until golden brown and crispy. Drain onto kitchen paper, and season with Maldon sea salt, and serve immediately
- Burger sauce -combine all ingredients.
What are the best cuts of meat to use in Hamburger?
You want meat with a good beefy flavour so the cuts like chuck, brisket and short rib. The animal it comes from is more important than the cut of meat used. Grass fed, of course is preferable.
Ideally, you want about 20-30% fat in the meat as this will keep the burger juicy and flavourful. The amount of fat will depend on how you like to cook your burgers. If you like it medium, then 80:20 would be a good meat:fat ratio. If you like it well done, then you need more fat, like 70:30.
You don’t want the meat finely minced. You want it minced to a medium texture so that it feels like you are eating steak when you bite into your burger.
Watch The Founder Movie Trailer
