The most important moment of all, the one where you can’t go wrong: cooking . Make sure the grill or plate is very hot and then gently place your hamburger, forgetting oil or butter: the meat must cook in direct contact , no seasoning. The hamburger must be cooked slowly, evenly and over a medium-low flame , to avoid an overcooked and burnt effect or worse, a raw hamburger inside. Be careful not to turn it continuously : cook one side at a time, for at least 2 minutes, the time necessary to allow the Maillard reaction and thus obtain the inevitable external crust.
4. Press the hamburger
Remove that paddle, leave your burger alone, unless you are applying the smashed burger technique . During cooking, never , ever press the meat, not only does it not serve to speed up the cooking process (and haste is not a good adviser in the kitchen anyway) but it is profoundly harmful: with the pressure in fact the meat will release all the juices and “humours” and become dry and parched . Did you want to prepare a sandwich or a shoe sole? You know the answer, act accordingly.
5. Cook the hamburger with the film
It may seem strange, but a mistake that many people make is to cook the hamburger with the film : nothing could be more wrong . The film, in fact, cannot withstand the temperatures that develop during cooking: it is used for preserving and freezing, but certainly not for cooking. The material it is made of melts at around 150 °C , with the consequent release of substances that can be dangerous. Furthermore, if the meat is not in contact with the plate, the crust given by the Maillard reaction will not form .
6. Don’t take bread and condiments seriously
The meat is cooked to perfection, now all that’s left to do is enhance your burger and prepare the best sandwich of your life. Bread issue : no, not all types of bread are suitable , for a burger worthy of the name you need burger buns , a typical soft bun covered with crunchy sesame seeds ; alternatively you can opt for a homemade milk bun , nothing more. And the dressing ? The classic recipe includes salad, tomato, onion, crispy bacon and stringy cheese (melted on the meat while it’s still cooking) but we’re still talking about a sandwich, the more ingredients we use, the more delicious the result will be. Provolone, caciocavallo, dried tomatoes, rocket and so on: in the kitchen, imagination should never be lacking just like the sauces on the burger, mayonnaise, barbecue or ketchup, the choice is yours.
