How to Make Burgers Like a Diner

My husband and I love (love, love, LOVE) to watch Triple D on the Food Network. And since we've been watching for a looooong time, we've picked up a thing or two. Here are some tried-and-true tips to getting a diner burger in your own kitchen.

We start with grass-fed beef and add seasoned salt, bread crumbs, a splash of Worcestershire, and a splash of low-sodium soy. The bread crumbs will soak up all the juices and hold them in the burger so that the burger doesn't dry out, and the Worcestershire and soy sauce will up the beefy flavor. They just do. Try it.

Once the patties are formed, we let them sit and reach room temperature. This helps the beef to cook evenly and quickly. No, we've never gotten sick...but as a disclaimer, I should probably say that you try this at your own risk. :)

 

Preheat your griddle. When it's screaming hot, lay your patties down. They're going to cook quickly at this point. Only flip them once, and don't squish them with your spatula. Ever.

 

 

 

In the previous picture, you can see that the edges are starting to brown. That's when (and only when) you flip the burgers. If you're going to add cheese, now's the time.

 





Now put a lid over your griddle. (Please excuse the elderly nature of my lid...it can't help it.) The lid will trap heat inside, and the resulting steam will melt the cheese in the most glorious way possible. Depending on the thickness of your patties, you may want to turn off the heat and move the griddle off of the heat. The worst possible thing to do is overcook your burgers!

See what I mean? Glorious.

Butter and toast your hamburger buns. Surely I don't need to explain why.

Oh, yeeeeaahhhhhhh.

This post is linked up to Six Sisters' Stuff Positively Splendid Hungry Little Girl