to make a good burger at home.

I think it's important all parts of the recipe fit together

and complement each other.

Because of this, I think it can be helpful

to put burgers into two main categories:

thick-patty burgers and thin-patty ones.

They call for different techniques and even ingredients.

To illustrate this,

I'm gonna go through two different cheeseburger recipes,

one thin, one thick, both pretty basic.

Let's start with thin.

For the thin patty burger, I'm making a slider

with just a few less expensive ingredients.

First thing, I'm slicing up some white onion pretty thin.

For the bread, I'm using Hawaiian rolls.

They're very sweet and very soft.

I use two rolls, still stuck together,

and slice that in half.

For me, I'm just using regular ground beef that is 80/20,

so 80% lean beef and 20% fat.

You want a good amount of fat,

so you don't end up with a dry, flavorless burger.

I'm using an eighth of a pound, which is about 55 grams.

It's probably best to grind your own meat,

but we'll get to that later.

For now, I'm just using standard stuff

from the grocery store.

A really popular technique for making thin patty burgers

is to smash them, making it a Smashburger.

When done right, like this one from Burgers Never Say Die,

they're great,

but really doing them well at home can be difficult.

You need the right tools, and if you're using a spatula,

the edges of the pan can get in the way,

and even with two metal spatulas,

it can be tough to apply enough force

to get it to smash down quickly and form that special crust.

So when I cook at home,

I just flatten the meat before I cook,

using some wax paper and my hands.

Then salt and pepper.

Since the patty is so thin,

you really only need to do one side.

I'm using cast iron because it retains heat well,

which is good for getting a nice crust.

I start with the pan preheated.

I put some butter down and placed the sliced onions on top

because we want them to caramelize a little.

And then put on the patty.

It doesn't take very long to cook, only a minute or so.

Once flipped, I have the cheese.

I use American cheese because it melts really fast,

which is great for this, and I think it tastes good.

Then you have the buns.

I kind of mop up some of the fat from the burger

to help toast them up.

Adding water and covering helps melt the cheese faster

and it steams the bun.

I usually do this for about 30 seconds.

Then I kind of shove the onions on top of the melted cheese

so I can just pull it off all in one thing.

That's all there is to it: really just four ingredients,

plus salt, pepper, and butter.

Mustard or pickles would be a good addition,

but I don't think they're necessary,

and it really doesn't need ketchup

since the bun and the onions are both sweet.

You can definitely use a different cheese,

but it can be tough to melt it fast enough

not to overcook the burger.

Next up is the thick patty.

For the bread, I wouldn't use Hawaiian rolls,

since they're so soft

and don't really hold up to the weight of the thick patty.

Even most grocery store bonds like this potato one

are a bit too soft for this.

So I'm using this fancy bun I got at this place

that makes them specifically for their own burgers.

It has the structure I'm looking for

and holds up to everything else.

For cheese, I'm using cheddar.

This is a regular cheddar, but really sharp cheddar as well.

You want a good, thick slice to balance things out,

and since the burger is going to cook longer,

you can have a cheese that takes longer to melt

and use a larger amount of it, too.

This slice is about 40 grams.

We're gonna do onions on this burger as well,

this time, a red onion,

making thicker slices to get these rings,

which will go on raw for some crunch.

Now for this burger,

a sauce is really gonna help balance everything out

with the extra bread and meat.

This is your standard burger sauce,

mainly ketchup and mayo,

except I'm going to make the mayonnaise from scratch.

I'm gonna use one or two cloves of garlic.

This one's pretty big, so I'm just doing one.

Next, some pickles.

I like cutting up whole pickles

because I find relish is usually too sweet,

and since I'm adding ketchup to the sauce,

it really doesn't need that.

Plus, I can control the size of the chunks

and I like to leave them a bit bigger.

So in a large bowl, I do one egg yolk, the garlic I minced,

a bit of whatever mustard you want, and some lemon juice,

but just a little because we're going to add more later,

I whisk this and then start adding a little bit of olive oil

at a time.

I'm going really slow

to make sure to not add too much and break the mixture.

I like to start with olive oil for flavor,

but then after a bit,

I switch to a more neutral oil, like this vegetable oil.

I keep going little by little

and making sure the oil is fully incorporated

before adding more.

This can definitely go wrong.

If you add too much oil at once,

it will break apart or just stay thin and never thicken.

If it does go right, it should get thick like this.

Now I'll add some more lemon juice for flavor,

which also thins it out a bit.

I'll even add a bit of water if it's still too thick,

but don't want more of the lemon.

You can salt to taste and stop right here,

and you just have a nice garlic mail.

I like using this for BLTs or to dip potato wedges in it.

But since this is going to be a burger sauce,

in go the pickles I cut up and some ketchup.

You can do as much as you want.

I don't like adding too much.

This is about a tablespoon.

This adds a bit of sweetness, umami and some color.

I like to make the sauce first

and then keep it in the fridge

because it tastes better after sitting awhile.

For me, the whole point of having a thick patty

is to be able to achieve a good crust on the outside

while still maintaining a medium rare center

where you can really taste the flavor

and texture of the beef.

Since I want a medium rare center,

I really want good high-quality ground beef.

I'm using this freshly ground stuff from my local butcher

that specializes in Australian Wagyu and dry-aged steaks,

but you can always grind your own.

Buy some chunks of beef.

Chuck works.

Tasty and others recommend a mixture of chuck,

sirloin and short rib.

Cut it into small cubes.

Put that in the freezer for about 20 minutes

to get it cold and firm.

This helps the meat grind properly

and not turn into a paste.

Then you use a grinder that you also kept in the freezer,

so that's cold as well, and you just grind it all up.

And then this trick weighing and forming the patties

like this,

from how they do it at Gramercy Tavern for their burger,

it makes it really easy

and it gives the burger straight sides and sharp edges,

which I think looks nice, but if you're not into that,

you can just form the patty by hand.

Salt and pepper both sides.

I'm toasting the buns with some butter

before I cook the burger,

so they're ready to go once the burger is done.

I put the sauce just on the top bun.

Some people are really intense about putting something

under the patty to protect the bottom bun

from getting soggy, but I haven't had any issues with that.

I think if you're gonna eat it straight away,

it shouldn't be an issue.

I want medium high for the patty,

about three or four minutes, and then flip.

Add the cheese.

I'm doing a bit of water and covering it again

to help melt the cheese.

I go another three or four minutes on this side,

aiming for medium rare.

You could definitely add something green

or some tomatoes if you like.

I do think with such a large burger,

it can get unwieldy if you have too much additional stuff.

Even with just these onions and the sauce,

it's a little precarious.

It does really help to have some things

to balance out the beef.

An egg on top can be a nice addition.

Kiano founder of Jikoni, has a spicy tomato jam recipe

that's great on burgers.

You could do entirely different ingredients sets too

like a chili cheeseburger or a combo of blue cheese,

caramelized onions, and arugala.

So, thick patty versus thin patty.

Both are great,

but you really get something quite different with each,

and as long as you're aiming for what makes each best,

you should be good.

(upbeat music)