Lars’s Ultimate Burger and Sliders

A Little Personal History:

As long as I can remember, I’ve been on a personal mission to create the Tastiest, Juiciest, Most Ultimate Burger … Ever!!
A burger I can put my name on.
One so flavorful and juicy it explodes in your mouth (and your clothes if not careful). Well, here it is!!

Description:

History of the Hamburger

Ingredients:

• 2 pound ground chuck or sirloin
• ⅓  cup Lars’s Secret Hamburger Sauce

Toppings (Optional):

• Hamburger buns, rye bread, sour dough bread, etc. For sliders use smaller buns, Pepperidge Farm makes some nice ones.
• Cooked Bacon, thin sliced Ham, Pineapple, fried Egg, etc.
• Lettuce (wedges), Mushrooms (sautéed), Onions (sliced raw or sautéed), Tomatoes (sliced raw), Avocados, etc.
• Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Mustard, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire Sauce, Steak Sauce, Thousand Island Dressing, Tartar Sauce, etc.
• Cheese (American, Swiss, Cheddar, Pepper Jack, etc.)

Procedure:

1. Break up ground beef in a large metal bowl.
2. Add Lars’s Secret Hamburger Sauce. Mix thoroughly.
3. Flatten meat out in bowl, use knife or pizza cutter and slice into 8 wedges.
4. For Quarter-Pounder Burgers – With hands, shape each wedge into a ball and flatten/shape on cutting board into round patty – ⅛ – ¼ in. thick.
5. For Sliders, divide each wedge in half and follow same instructions.
6. With thumb or spoon, press a dimple in the center of each burger.
7. Note: If burgers have been refrigerated or frozen, allow them to return to room temperature before cooking.
8. Fire up the grill or fry in skillet at medium heat (6 o’clock on the dial). 3 – 5 minutes each side. Note: If adding cheese, place on burgers during last two minutes.
9. The patties are already thin. Do NOT press beef patties during cooking, you’ll squeeze out juices & flavor!

Advanced Preparation:

• Patties can be made up day of event and refrigerated OR frozen for later use.
• If you intend to freeze, place on wax paper large enough to enclose, follow Step 4, fold wax paper over, over and over again to enclose. Place individually wrapped burgers in large Ziploc freezer bag(s) – 4 per bag or individually in sandwich sized bags.
• If you’re pressed for time and only get through Step 3, shape each wedge into a ball, transfer to plate or individually to 2 ½ oz. ramekins, wrap with plastic and refrigerate.

Tips, Notes, and Variations:

• Ground chuck is the most flavorful type of ground beef (sirloin’s a close second but not as juicy) and comes from one single cut of beef. Plain “ground beef” can include meat from all over the animal.
• The real secret to re-creating those great, mouth watering hamburger joint burgers is making sure the patties are THIN. Not more than ¼ in. thick as described in step 4.
  • For this recipe that translates to 8 ¼ lb patties pressed a little larger than the size of bun. If you’ve got the appetite for a ½ pounder just stack  2 ¼ pounders.
  • For Sliders divide burger wedges again fo ⅛ lb patties. Double up and you’ve got a ¼ pounder Slider!!
• Why a “dimple” in Step 6?  Hamburgers shrink as they cooks, the more fat in the meat the more they shrink. Making the burgers slightly thinner in the middle promotes even thickness and cooking across the patty.
• When determining “doneness”, as these burgers are thin to begin, I prefer medium which is about 4 minutes a side. If you’d rather just eyeball it, try this: wait for patty juices to run red, flip them, wait for juices to run clear.
• Another technique to lock in the juices while giving just the slightest “crunchiness” to your burgers, just before cooking, lightly flour the burgers on all sides (be sure not to press or flatten during cooking).