Plain Jane – A No Frills Hamburger Recipe

How to make hamburgers? Some people like to make things very complicated. I prefer to make them simpler, especially when it comes to homemade hamburgers. What could be more simple than a no frills, nothing but salt and pepper added hamburger? This makes a great homemade hamburger recipe, but flavorful meat is a must. This will make 4 hamburgers. Here we go. Basic ingredients:

• 1 lb ground sirloin steak
• pinch of salt
• dash of pepper

Homemade hamburgers

That is it. Nothing else. Use your hands to shape the ground beef into a ball, heat a cast iron skillet on the stove with a splash of oil. When the skillet is hot, add the four balls of ground beef, and using a spatula to squash them flat, cook for around 2 minutes each side depending on how well done you like them. Homemade burgers in under 5 minutes. Seeing as you are cooking them at home you can tell the Government Inc to go screw - and if you like them rare - cook them rare.

I prefer to remove the meat, and then quickly butter the buns and fry them in the skillet until brown - only on the inside of the buns. Serve with lettuce, tomato, a slice of raw onion and mustard and ketchup. Or if the mood takes me, with a dollop of ketchup, and sliced pickles and chopped raw onion. But if you prefer them some other way - then that is the way to serve them.

A lot of people wonder why they are called hamburgers when they are made from beef - not ham. Simple - they are named for the town in Germany they are supposed to originate from - Hamburg, not for the ingredients. Unlike copy cats - deer burgers, fish burgers or whatever.

You can cook them in a skillet, under a broilder or on a grill - gas or charcoal. My personal preference - call me boring if you wish - is to use a weber charcoal grill with a lid. I love the smoky flavor  they get when the fat starts dripping on the coals and with the lid on, you get a  great smokey taste to them.

This is hands down the best taste as far as I am concerned - so get grilling. This is my tool of choice - the basic Weber Kettle Grill.

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