Our friend and Serious Eats contributor Blake Royer over at The Paupered Chef spent way too much time conducting some obsessive pseudoscientific kitchen experiments with his new KitchenAid mixer and a meat-grinding attachment trying to come up with the perfect burger recipe. But that's why we love him. The results are exhaustive, hilarious, and come replete with clever cattle line drawings.
Blake's verdict: Equal parts freshly ground untrimmed brisket and sirloin—what Royer refers to as the Shake Shack mixture. Our only question: How come he didn't invite any of the serious eaters to the burger party? The dude made 36 burgers, and we didn't get a bite of one. That's not right.
I asked this question on this site about a year ago: "What is the best meat mixture for the ultimate burger"..glad to see I'm not the only one interested.
I did my own experiments with my Kitchen Aid grinder, and found that 25% sirloin, 25% chuck and 50% brisket is the best mix. We tried different ratios, adding more fat, adding pork fat, but the best was the 25-25-50 mix. Try that and let me know if you don;t agree.
Beauty, beauty, beauty! BTW, 36 burgers, all on his own? That's almost selfish! LOL. Still, I love the manic-obsessive aspect of his experimentation. Keep grindin'!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, just as taste is in the mouth of the bun holder. My taste buds tell me it's important to get the proper ratio of lean to fat, no matter what cuts of meat you use. Too much fat makes the burger greasy instead of juicy, and too little fat makes the burger dry and mealy rather than tender and flavorful. I think 85% lean to 15% fat is just about right for burgers. But not all fat is alike. Beef fat is almost sweet, and many people prefer it. Mixing fat from pork, duck and/or goose with lean beef or bison, however, can result in some memorable burgers. Just for fun, I recently mixed some fairly lean beef with spicy pork chorizo, and aiiee chihuahua, it tasted like a fiesta in my mouth.
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10 Comments:
That's one terrific photo!
JEP at 5:33PM on 02/22/08
I agree. The holy trinity of crusted caramelized meat, onions, and cheese get me every time.
Ed Levine at 5:45PM on 02/22/08
that's so beautiful i wouldn't even put ketchup on it.
cybercita at 5:53PM on 02/22/08
I asked this question on this site about a year ago: "What is the best meat mixture for the ultimate burger"..glad to see I'm not the only one interested.
I did my own experiments with my Kitchen Aid grinder, and found that 25% sirloin, 25% chuck and 50% brisket is the best mix. We tried different ratios, adding more fat, adding pork fat, but the best was the 25-25-50 mix. Try that and let me know if you don;t agree.
Food Guy in Maine at 6:11PM on 02/22/08
That's a beautiful photo.
That's always been one of my big gripes against Shake Shack (although I still love 'em): they don't have caramellized onions.
Joseph Bayot at 6:23PM on 02/22/08
Beauty, beauty, beauty! BTW, 36 burgers, all on his own? That's almost selfish! LOL. Still, I love the manic-obsessive aspect of his experimentation. Keep grindin'!
levinedym at 6:41PM on 02/22/08
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, just as taste is in the mouth of the bun holder. My taste buds tell me it's important to get the proper ratio of lean to fat, no matter what cuts of meat you use. Too much fat makes the burger greasy instead of juicy, and too little fat makes the burger dry and mealy rather than tender and flavorful. I think 85% lean to 15% fat is just about right for burgers. But not all fat is alike. Beef fat is almost sweet, and many people prefer it. Mixing fat from pork, duck and/or goose with lean beef or bison, however, can result in some memorable burgers. Just for fun, I recently mixed some fairly lean beef with spicy pork chorizo, and aiiee chihuahua, it tasted like a fiesta in my mouth.
pattyplus at 3:09PM on 02/23/08
I made sliders for my family last night, and while they were great, they looked nothing like that masterpiece.
I'll take five.
And what a great photo, it makes the mouth water.
BigWoollyMammoth at 9:14AM on 02/25/08
that looks reaaaaaally tasty
foodinmouth at 9:32AM on 02/25/08
Ed, I have no excuses for not inviting the SE crew. My apologies! I guess this means that we'll have to do this party all over again. What a shame.
Just as soon as I finish digesting.
Blake Royer at 5:05PM on 02/25/08