Who doesn’t love a good, juicy cheeseburger grilled to perfection on a summer day? I certainly do! So I am offering my tips for the perfect cheeseburger to help kick off the grilling season.
When I make a burger, I usually start with 80/20 ground chuck, which is 80% lean to 20% fat. It is the perfect blend that offers a meaty bite, while also having enough fat to add flavor and juice. Any leaner blend of ground beef will work, but you will really want to watch them as they cook so they don’t dry out. In addition to that, a fattier ground beef blend, like 73/27, will be juicy, but you need to consider weight loss because there is more fat to render, which could cause your burgers to shrink as they cook.
One trick that I can really offer is to add mayonnaise to your beef blend. My rule of thumb is 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise per pound of meat. This allows for added moisture and acts as a binder to help hold the meat together as well. Don’t worry, for you non-mayo people out there, you don’t taste the mayo at all. I take the ground beef, add it to a large bowl, add the mayo, and mix it all up with my hands until the beef is all coated with mayo.
I have a burger patty press that I make mine with, which helps a lot with making sure that you have a uniform size with every patty that you make. I typically will make a 1/3 pound patty, which I find to be the perfect size that can easily fill you up, and isn’t too much if you decide to go back for more. Once I have the patties formed, I put them on a sheet tray, and this brings on my next tip: using a finger or your thumb, press an indent into the center of each burger. What this does is prevent the burger from puffing up while it cooks, and leaving you with some strange-looking meatball-burger hybrids. In other words, while the burgers cook, they stay flat. Once the indents are made, I then give a nice layer of our Lovely Jubbly BBQ’s The Everything all-purpose BBQ rub on both sides of the burgers and leave it sit while the charcoal lights.
I use my trusty Weber 22″ Kettle when I’m making burgers, and some Royal Oak Lump Charcoal, which adds great charcoal and wood fire flavor. I set my Weber Kettle up for 2-zone cooking, which means that the charcoal gets dumped out on one side of the grill, leaving the other side as the “cool” side for indirect cooking and warming. I place the burgers on the cool side to start so they can start coming up to temp inside without the outside burning. After about 5 minutes, I’ll use my insulated grill gloves and turn the cooking rack over to the hot side and start searing the burgers to get some color on the outside. At this point, there’s a lot of juice dripping on the coals, which will help add some flavor to the fire, but it will also cause flare-ups, so make sure that you are keeping an eye on them so they don’t burn. Once I get good color on each side of the burgers, I’ll move them back to the cool side, and then I’ll start placing the desired cheese slices, and close the lid for 2-3 minutes to help melt the cheese.
It doesn’t hurt to take your instant-read thermometer and check the internal temperature of the burgers throughout the cook to track how fast they are cooking. It is recommended to cook ground beef to at least 160 degrees for food safety, but after about 10 minutes of cooking, it usually gets there. However, it depends on the temperature of the grill as well. Once the cheese is melted, the burgers are done, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to let them rest for 5-10 minutes so the juices can redistribute throughout the meat and not run out as soon as you take the first bite. Top the burgers with anything you like, and enjoy!
Don’t forget to check out http://www.lovelyjubblybbq.com for our signature rubs and even more great BBQ products and accessories! Our rubs are also exclusively in store at Ava’s a posh boutique in Watertown, WI, if you just can’t wait for shipping!
If you are looking for a Pit Boss pellet grill or other Pit Boss accessories for yourself or someone you love, follow the link below to the Pit Boss website, where they have some fantastic deals on some even more fantastic products! As an avid Pit Boss user, I couldn’t be more proud to be an affiliate of Pit Boss Grills, and I look forward to growing this partnership over time. We have also become affiliated with Weber Grills as well, which is my favorite grill of choice for cooking everyday meals. We have the Weber Grills link below as well for your convenience!
Pit Boss Grills- https://pitbossgrills.77jaha.net/zxx49x
Weber Grills- https://weberinc.sjv.io/e1kGrZ
As always, keep cookin’ and Lovely Jubbly!
Lovely Jubbly BBQ 