Forget about those plasticky and dried-out burgers and get ready for a truly enjoyable dining experience. If you want to make the perfect cheeseburger, here’s the recipe!
Ingredients for the American Cheeseburger
For 4 people
- 2 kg of beef to be ground
- 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon of marjoram
- salt, pepper and oil
- 4 slices of Cheddar cheese cut 1 cm thick
- 4 thinly sliced slices of Asiago, no slices, plastic slices
- 4 hamburger buns
- 4 pickled gherkins
- 1 tomato and lettuce (optional, but if you want a fresh touch put them)
- 4 slices of bacon
How to Make the Perfect Cheeseburger
The cheeseburger is the quintessence of simplicity, there must be only bread, meat, cheese and at most bacon. That’s all, no onion, tomato or other frivolity. It’s not a gourmet sandwich and it doesn’t want to be.
And it’s right to sell, especially if you get top-quality meat, it doesn’t take much, even if the lettuce-tomato-onion combo refreshes and breaks the brick for a moment, let’s say.
Nuances, the important thing is to choose a real cheese, no slices or industrial cheeses. It is not necessary to choose Cheddar, there are hundreds of types of cheese, so let’s not fall into the mistake of ruining a good hamburger with cheese that is not up to par!
Ok, let’s start, as always with the meat: the top cut is the shoulder, with a good mix of fat and meat, but also the spinach, it is an excellent piece of meat from which to make burgers. It depends on what you find at your trusted butcher.
Butcher who will grind the meat before your eyes, never buy the minced meat. First and only rule!
Well, now season the minced meat with a level teaspoon of salt, 3 ground pepper, 1 tablespoon of marjoram and 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds and mix with your hands.
The aromatic, almost balsamic flavor of fennel seeds adds a delicious touch and breaks up the monotony of the meat, making the sandwich more nuanced in taste. If you don’t like fennel, you can also add cumin. If you don’t like cumin either, don’t add anything and we’re good to go.
Form 4 round balls with the meat and then flatten them, squeezing with the palm of your hand. Push in the middle of the burger with your thumb, creating a small indentation, so they won’t pulp or swell during cooking.
Cut the Cheddar cheese into 1 cm thick slices.
Fry the bacon in a pan until crisp but not dry – 10 minutes is enough. Drain the fat and put it on absorbent paper.
Cut the bread in half.
It is essential that everything is ready, so you can cook the burgers all together and then compose them, without having to wait for the other ingredients.
Prepare the grill for direct heat cooking, medium heat.
Grill the burgers for 10 minutes in total.
When there is 1 minute left to cook, place the cheese and bread on the grill. 30 seconds per side , then remove the ingredients as you prepare the individual burgers.
The others move them to an area without embers. If you use the gas BBQ, turn it off. A great tip is to leave the cheese on the meat, so that it melts slowly.
Ok, to compose the cheeseburger, take the bread and immediately put the slice of bacon that impregnates the bread, the meat, the Cheddar cheese, if you really like the cheese a thin slice of Asiago, mayonnaise and cover with the other half of the sandwich.
Serve your royal cheeseburger and watch the look of awe and bliss on the faces of your diners.
If you prefer a more elaborate cheeseburger, but also less monolithic in taste, add 1 slice of red onion, 1 slice of tomato and 2 lettuce leaves, all raw.