New York Etiquette Guide

Perfect Burgers: Cooking Tips for Your BBQ Party

 

Courtesy of Food Network

Photo Credit: Getty Images; Middle Eastern Burger

To make perfect burgers for your BBQ party follow these tips from Tyler Florence on how to select your ground beef.

How to Select your Meat:

If you're going to make a beef burger, your first decision takes place in the butcher or meat department. Your ground beef choices are usually chuck, round, and sirloin. Here is what you need to know to get the burger you desire:

• Chuck is your classic burger meat and is usually the most flavorful, simply because it has the most fat. Ground round is the leanest of the three, with sirloin in the middle range. Sirloin has a great flavor, but it is the most expensive.

• Packages either identify the percentage of lean to fat, i.e. 80 percent lean/20% fat (the maximum fat allowed by law is 30%), or sometimes just the primal cut, meaning chuck, sirloin, or round.

• Fat gives beef burgers flavor and "juiciness," and if the meat is too lean, it has a tendency to dry out when cooking.

One of our favorite beef combinations is half chuck, half sirloin. You get the great taste of sirloin with the juiciness of chuck.

Perfect Burger:  Recipe courtesy by Bobby Flay 

Prep Time: 10 min.

Cook Time: 10 min.

Level: Easy

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 pounds ground chuck (80 percent lean) or ground turkey (90 percent lean)
•  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
•  1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
•  4 slices cheese (optional)
•  4 hamburger buns, split; toasted, if desired

Directions:

Toasted Burger Buns

Divide the meat into 4 equal portions (about 6 ounces each). Form each portion loosely into a 3/4-inch-thick burger and make a deep depression in the center with your thumb. Season both sides of each burger with salt and pepper.

IF USING A GRILL: 

Heat a gas grill to high or heat coals in a charcoal grill until they glow bright orange and ash over. Brush the burgers with the oil. Grill the burgers until golden brown and slightly charred on the first side, about 3 minutes for beef and 5 minutes for turkey. Flip over the burgers. Cook beef burgers until golden brown and slightly charred on the second side, 4 minutes for medium rare (3 minutes if topping with cheese; see step 3) or until cooked to desired degree of doneness (see page 17 for approximate cooking times).

Bon Appetit and Happy 4th of July from Etiquette Expert New York!