Most Unconventional Burger Recipe You've Ever Loved

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Marknmd

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Jun 22, 2022
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Brookeville, Maryland
Okay I don't have a youtube channel for food but I would like to share this because I think it may be a break-through recipe and have nowhere else to post it. I've been trying to perfect the best burger ever for fifteen years and I've finally come up with this. I've never seen a burger recipe like this anywhere.

I believe this may be the makings of the best burger on the planet. But it's unconventional so please bear with me and try it as described without making changes. Make changes the second time if you wish. :-)

This is best done for yourself or for your family as it would be too much work for a large bbq party unless you are really ambitious.

You'll benefit from an instant read thermometer for this. You'll also need some Dale's Steak seasoning and some italian dressing, or any oil and vinegar dressing. You'll need a sheet of burger wrap paper such as parchment paper or wax paper or foil. Most wraps are 12" x 12" but I prefer 16" x 14".

Mix the Dales' and the dressing 50/50 in a small dish. You only need one or two tablespoons total for each burger.

Just do one burger this first time. Then if you like it, you can make more and serve to others. So let's say we're cooking one 6 oz burger.

Start with good quality fresh ground chuck 80/20 from a source that you trust.

Place about 6 oz on a board and, using a fork, use the fork tines to shred the meat apart little by little until you have a large mass of extremely loose ground chuck.

This cook must be done with a skillet - whether it be on a stove top or a kettle or a gas grill. You could also use cast iron cookware if you wanted. Aluminum or carbon steel skillet works nicely outside. You cannot use the standard grates on an outdoors cooker for this deal.

Start your fire. If using a kettle, start with a low amount of charcoal.

When the coals begin to ash over, add some wood for smoke flavor if you want, then place skillet over coals.

Get your buns ready. I like the brioche buns. I like to toast them in my toaster, 90 secs is perfect. Use a timer. Two mins is okay too. Don't worry about them getting cold after they come out. It doesn't matter.

Place your fav spread (mayo?) on the top bun but not the bottom bun. Credit Meathead at amazingribs. Add some of your favorite toppings to the bottom bun (sliced onions, pickles?). You must add them to the dry bun. After that, add a dollop of spread (mayo?) on top of the toppings but not on the bottom bun directly.

By now the skillet should be fairly hot, over 225 F, you can check with a laser thermometer, so bring your board of extremely loose ground chuck over to the cooking surface and, using a spatula, carefully place it onto the skillet in a way that it roughly resembles the size of a burger. Now you have a pile of extremely loose ground chuck on the fairly hot skillet. But it's not a burger patty. Use your spatula to push in the sides to make it closer to the round shape of a burger to fit your bun.

Now take your Dale's Steak Seasoning and drizzle just a tiny bit on top of the mass of extremely loose ground chuck. Just a teaspoon or two will do the trick. Get half or a little more on the top surface of the burger with the Dale's mixure, but not all. Try to distribute it evenly around the burger but it's okay to leave some dry spots. Credit Dave at SnS. Season the burger liberally with your favorite dry burger seasoning or just salt and pepper.

Close the lid of your cooker and wait a few mins. All your slicing of pickles, tomatoes. lettuce, onions, etc. should be done already or can be finished now. Your buns should be toasted and ready to go.

Remove cooker cover and check your burger temp at the top of the burger since it will cook from the bottom up. When the top of the burger is at about 90 F, take a wide spatula and gently slide it under the mass of loose burger and carefully flip it. You will find that the mass of loose burger is no longer loose! It is now a patty. It has become a patty due to the reaction of the salt in the seasonings which have caused the loose burger remnants to adhere to each other - credit kenji lopez-alt

Immediately add another 1-2 teaspoons of the dales seasoning mixture and your favorite dry seasoning as you did before. Add cheese as desired. Close cover of cooker or use a melting dome. Wait.

After a few mins, check the temp of burger. If the temp is over 130 F, it's ready to come off the cooker. Anywhere over 130 F will be delicious and I like the 135-145 range. If it goes over 145, it'll still be great. Credit Meathead

Concerned about FDA guidelines? Consider that substantially more people are hospitalized or die each year from biking than from eating medium rare burgers - credit Helen Rennie on youtube.

Place burger on your bottom bun. Place remaining toppings on top of burger. Crown masterpiece with top bun.

Place burger in the middle of your burger wrap. Wrap the burger tightly in wrap (see how on youtube, there are various methods). This will allow the steam and vapors from the burger to permeate the bun and warm the bun. Credit - some random guy on quora.

Now comes the hardest part of all. Waiting. Wait at least 90 secs. Two mins would be good too. Pour yourself a glass of milk or a coke. Put the pickles back in the 'fridge.

Unwrap, lean forward and place both elbows on the table. Pick up burger and enjoy the most tender and juicy burger you've ever had.
 
Last edited:
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Okay I don't have a youtube channel for food but I would like to share this because I think it may be a break-through recipe and have nowhere else to post it. I've been trying to perfect the best burger ever for fifteen years and I've finally come up with this. I've never seen a burger recipe like this anywhere.

I believe this may be the makings of the best burger on the planet. But it's unconventional so please bear with me and try it as described without making changes. Make changes the second time if you wish. :-)

This is best done for yourself or for your family as it would be too much work for a large bbq party unless you are really ambitious.

You'll benefit from an instant read thermometer for this. You'll also need some Dale's Steak seasoning and some italian dressing, or any oil and vinegar dressing. You'll need a sheet of burger wrap paper such as parchment paper or wax paper or foil. Most wraps are 12" x 12" but I prefer 16" x 14".

Mix the Dales' and the dressing 50/50 in a small dish. You only need one or two tablespoons total for each burger.

Just do one burger this first time. Then if you like it, you can make more and serve to others. So let's say we're cooking one 6 oz burger.

Start with good quality fresh ground chuck 80/20 from a source that you trust.

Place about 6 oz on a board and, using a fork, use the fork tines to shred the meat apart little by little until you have a large mass of extremely loose ground chuck.

This cook must be done with a skillet - whether it be on a stove top or a kettle or a gas grill. You could also use cast iron cookware if you wanted. Aluminum or carbon steel skillet works nicely outside. You cannot use the standard grates on an outdoors cooker for this deal.

Start your fire. If using a kettle, start with a low amount of charcoal.

When the coals begin to ash over, add some wood for smoke flavor if you want, then place skillet over coals.

Get your buns ready. I like the brioche buns. I like to toast them in my toaster, 90 secs is perfect. Use a timer. Two mins is okay too. Don't worry about them getting cold after they come out. It doesn't matter.

Place your fav spread (mayo?) on the top bun but not the bottom bun. Credit Meathead at amazingribs. Add some of your favorite toppings to the bottom bun (sliced onions, pickles?). You must add them to the dry bun. After that, add a dollop of spread (mayo?) on top of the toppings but not on the bottom bun directly.

By now the skillet should be fairly hot, over 225 F, you can check with a laser thermometer, so bring your board of extremely loose ground chuck over to the cooking surface and, using a spatula, carefully place it onto the skillet in a way that it roughly resembles the size of a burger. Now you have a pile of extremely loose ground chuck on the fairly hot skillet. But it's not a burger patty. Use your spatula to push in the sides to make it closer to the round shape of a burger to fit your bun.

Now take your Dale's Steak Seasoning and drizzle just a tiny bit on top of the mass of extremely loose ground chuck. Just a teaspoon or two will do the trick. Get half or a little more on the top surface of the burger with the Dale's mixure, but not all. Try to distribute it evenly around the burger but it's okay to leave some dry spots. Credit Dave at SnS. Season the burger liberally with your favorite dry burger seasoning or just salt and pepper.

Close the lid of your cooker and wait a few mins. All your slicing of pickles, tomatoes. lettuce, onions, etc. should be done already or can be finished now. Your buns should be toasted and ready to go.

Remove cooker cover and check your burger temp at the top of the burger since it will cook from the bottom up. When the top of the burger is at about 90 F, take a wide spatula and gently slide it under the mass of loose burger and carefully flip it. You will find that the mass of loose burger is no longer loose! It is now a patty. It has become a patty due to the reaction of the salt in the seasonings which have caused the loose burger remnants to adhere to each other - credit kenji lopez-alt

Immediately add another 1-2 teaspoons of the dales seasoning mixture and your favorite dry seasoning as you did before. Add cheese as desired. Close cover of cooker or use a melting dome. Wait.

After a few mins, check the temp of burger. If the temp is over 130 F, it's ready to come off the cooker. Anywhere over 130 F will be delicious and I like the 135-145 range. If it goes over 145, it'll still be great. Credit Meathead

Concerned about FDA guidelines? Consider that substantially more people are hospitalized or die each year from biking than from eating medium rare burgers - credit Helen Rennie on youtube.

Place burger on your bottom bun. Place remaining toppings on top of burger. Crown masterpiece with top bun.

Place burger in the middle of your burger wrap. Wrap the burger tightly in wrap (see how on youtube, there are various methods). This will allow the steam and vapors from the burger to permeate the bun and warm the bun. Credit - some random guy on quora.

Now comes the hardest part of all. Waiting. Wait at least 90 secs. Two mins would be good too. Pour yourself a glass of milk or a coke. Put the pickles back in the 'fridge.

Unwrap, lean forward and place both elbows on the table. Pick up burger and enjoy the most tender and juicy burger you've ever had.
I think you definitely need a YouTube channel for food because if you can describe the cooking process so "deliciously," I can imagine how it will look when it's captured on video.
Absolutely agree with you - the last two paragraphs were the hardest.
 
Quite a burger. Never used Dales. I'll try it. Here's my attempt.
Gorgonzola burger on pump. 80/20 Gorgonzola and Dukes with all the fixings.
20220222_170235(1).jpg
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Gotta' try this ASAP. 225F skillet temp seems pretty low to me but I've been doing a lot of smash burgers on a griddle lately so may be thinking too much of quick searing.
Anyone try this with flaked onion or dry onion soup mix in the ground meat? Hate to miss that opportunity.
 
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Hi guys - thanks for your kind words.

I took some pics of the burger prep from last night but I can't edit the OP so I guess I'll put them here.

If cooking outside, light the fire. I used 8 Kingsford briquets, lit up with a tumbleweed. You may need more depending on your cooking surface and the number of burgers you're cooking. Vents wide open.

DCP_8157.JPG


I used ground chuck 80/20. I used a half pound of ground chuck for this cook. Be sure to acquire your fresh ground beef from a source that you trust.

DCP_8158.JPG


Get your burger wrap ready. I used two wraps. One is 12x12. The other is 16x14. But one whole wrap is enough.

DCP_8159.JPG


Use fork tines to shred ground chuck nice and loose

DCP_8160.JPG


Get your Dale's seasoning and your italian dressing out. Mix them 50/50. You only need a tablespoon or two total. Don't use the Dale's straight - it's too strong IMO. Dilute it with the dressing. Credit Dave at SnS.

DCP_8179.JPG


Get your favorite fresh toppings out

DCP_8161.JPG


Seasoning the tomato slices is a must

DCP_8162.JPG


If cooking outside and the coals are grey, add some wood chips and/or a chunk if you want - I like to use mesquite since it's such a short cook. Then slide the griddle over the fire to heat it up

DCP_8163.JPG


DCP_8164.JPG


Here's another type of griddle which fits a 22" Weber

DCP_8135.JPG


And another which fits on top and slopes to the middle

DCP_8142.JPG


Another

DCP_8181.JPG


...and the chimney grate method, but you'd want a melting dome too

DCP_8188.JPG


Gently size the ground chuck into a pile roughly the size of a burger and gently slide your widest spatula under the very loose ground chuck. This spatula has a width of four and a quarter inches.

DCP_8166.JPG


Gently slide the pile of loose ground chuck onto the griddle. Drizzle about two teaspoons of your Dales / italian dressing mixture onto the top of the loose ground chuck and also add your dry seasoning. Be sure to add the Dale's mixture right away. This will allow the Dale's mixture to seep down into the loose raw ground chuck. Close the lid and wait. If cooking inside, I like to use a large HD foil tent to capture the heat that rises around the pan and guide it back into the burger.

DCP_8167.JPG


While burger is cooking, get your buns ready. I like mayo and hot cherry peppers on the top bun. Best to keep bottom bun dry. Then begin to add toppings. Credit Meathead at amazingribs.

DCP_8168.JPG


DCP_8169.JPG


You can put a dollop of mayo or whatever on the bottom bun after you put some other topping on the dry bun. This is so that the burger doesn't try to squirt out of the bun when you eat.

DCP_8170.JPG


Burger will heat from the bottom up. So when upper area of burger reads about 110 or so, flip gently. You will find that the very loose ground chuck has magically transformed itself into a patty! The phenomenon of a ground beef patty becoming tough due to mixing salt into ground beef before making a patty causing burger patty remnants to adhere when cooking (making the existing burger patty less tender) is credited to Kenji Lopez-Alt. This is a little different in that we never made a patty - the patty literally made itself! Add more of the Dale's mixture, your favorite burger seasoning, and the cheese. Close lid and wait a few. It won't be long now.

DCP_8171.JPG


When burger temp reads 130+, it's ready to remove (credit Helen Rennie who points out that statistics show that riding a bike is 800x more dangerous than eating a medium rare burger). If you want to bring it up to 160, go ahead. It'll still be great. Gently slide wide spatula under patty and remove. Place on bottom bun. Note the brown crunchy edges even when cooked gently on a relatively low temp skillet - this is apparently due to the amino acids and sugar in the Dale's which promotes the maillard reaction at lower temps than one might expect.

DCP_8172.JPG


I actually used a Big Marty's bun on this cook, but I like brioche better.

DCP_8173.JPG


I did a half wrap to start which makes it more fun to eat. Optional.

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Finish the wrap

DCP_8176.JPG


Wait two mins. Then open it up and enjoy.

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Last edited:
Hi guys - thanks for your kind words.

I took some pics of the burger prep from last night but I can't edit the OP so I guess I'll put them here.

If cooking outside, light the fire. I used 8 Kingsford briquets, lit up with a tumbleweed. Vents wide open.

View attachment 646131

I used ground chuck 80/20. I used a half pound of ground chuck for this cook.

View attachment 646132

Get your burger wrap ready. I used two wraps. One is 12x12. The other is 16x14.

View attachment 646133

Use fork tines to shred ground chuck nice and loose

View attachment 646134

Get your Dale's seasoning and your italian dressing out. Mix them 50/50. You only need a tablespoon or two total. Don't use the Dale's straight - it's too strong IMO. Dilute it with the dressing.

View attachment 646157

Get your fresh toppings out

View attachment 646135

Seasoning the tomato slices is a must

View attachment 646136

If cooking outside and the coals are grey, add some wood chips and/or a chunk if you want - I like to use mesquite since it's such a short cook. Then slide the griddle over the fire to heat it up

View attachment 646137

View attachment 646138

Here's another type of griddle which fits a 22" Weber

View attachment 646139

And another which fits on top and slopes to the middle

View attachment 646140

Gently size the ground chuck into a pile roughly the size of a burger and gently slide your widest spatula under the very loose ground chuck

View attachment 646142

Gently slide the pile of loose ground chuck onto the griddle. Drizzle about two teaspoons of your Dales / italian dressing mixture onto the top of the loose ground chuck and also add your dry seasoning. Be sure to add the Dale's mixture right away. Close the lid and wait. If cooking inside, I like to use a foil tent.

View attachment 646143

While burger is cooking, get your buns ready. I like mayo and hot cherry peppers on the top bun. Best to keep bottom bun dry. Then begin to add toppings.

View attachment 646145

View attachment 646146

You can put a dollop of mayo or whatever on the bottom bun after you put some other topping on the dry bun. This is so that the burger doesn't try to squirt out of the bun when you eat.

View attachment 646147

Burger will heat from the bottom up. So when upper area of burger reads about 110 or so, flip gently. You will find that the very loose ground chuck has magically transformed itself into a patty! Add more of the dale's mixture, your favorite burger seasoning, and the cheese. Close lid and wait a few. It won't be long now.

View attachment 646148

When burger temp reads 130+, it's ready to remove. If you want to bring it up to 160, go ahead. It'll still be great. Place on bottom bun.

View attachment 646150

I actually used a Big Marty's bun on this cook, but I like brioche better

View attachment 646151

I did a half wrap to start which makes it more fun to eat. Optional.

View attachment 646152

View attachment 646153

Finish the wrap

View attachment 646154

Wait two mins. Then open it up and enjoy.

View attachment 646156
Looks amazing! And I love that attachment on your Weber Kettle.

I know there are better grills out there, but I will always have my Weber kettle. Best purchase I have ever made.
 
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Looks amazing! And I love that attachment on your Weber Kettle.

I know there are better grills out there, but I will always have my Weber kettle. Best purchase I have ever made.
Yep. I can't imagine life without a Weber kettle. So versatile. Hot and fast, low and slow, direct, indirect, rottiserie, smoke, fried wings, it will do almost anything. You can even bake a cake with it. That attachment - you must mean the little table. It's made by BBQ Dragon and I think it's their best product. Rock solid. Installs in less than one second. Will hold 20 lbs easy. Best kettle table out there.
 
Last edited:
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Yep. I can't imagine life without a Weber kettle. So versatile. Hot and fast, low and slow, direct, indirect, rottiserie, smoke, it will do almost anything. That attachment - you must mean the little table. It's made by BBQ Dragon and I think it's their best product. Rock solid. Installs in less than one second. Will hold 20 lbs easy. Best kettle table out there.
I need one. 😎
 
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Nothing exotic but I recently tried peanut butter in my smash burgers and it was delicious. I gently folded in a heaping tablespoon of chunky PB in about a pound of burger. You want a hint of PB...so dont over do it or it will taste more like a PB sandwich.

Not surprised it was good though. An old chef once turned me on to one of his secret ingredients for his meatloaf. Thin sliced almonds. I now add them whenever I do meatloaf.
 
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Peanuts go well in lots of things. I always have Costco Kirkland jumbos in the big gold can around.
 
Nothing exotic but I recently tried peanut butter in my smash burgers and it was delicious. I gently folded in a heaping tablespoon of chunky PB in about a pound of burger. You want a hint of PB...so dont over do it or it will taste more like a PB sandwich.

Not surprised it was good though. An old chef once turned me on to one of his secret ingredients for his meatloaf. Thin sliced almonds. I now add them whenever I do meatloaf.
My favorite local burger

The PB & J
Stuffed with creamy peanut butter & American cheese, this delicious burger is topped with strawberry jam.

1702310044669.png


 
My favorite local burger

The PB & J
Stuffed with creamy peanut butter & American cheese, this delicious burger is topped with strawberry jam.

View attachment 683150

When my son played American Legion Baseball, he traveled a bit and there was a Burger Basket place(now closed and gone) that had their well known Goober Burger...Guess what that was? Peanut Butter... https://www.thekitchn.com/missouri-guber-burger-22995461
 
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A little late to the game, but here is my entry

A slice of American cheese, cheddar cheese and a 1/4 pd of bacon
1702579277147.png

and the plated shot:

1702579395360.png


Chris
 
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