here are some screen shots from the burger shoot last night. they turned out REALLY good.
1 pound 85/15 grass fed beef
1/4 pound Italian sausage
1/4 pound ground pork
to blend the meat:
Worcestershire sauce
sea salt
cayenne pepper
black pepper
1 beaten egg
make into thick patties and rest them for 30 minutes with another sprinkle of the sea salt cayenne & pepper. while they are resting make your simple thousand island sauce, equal parts ketchup and mayo but add a nice amount of cayenne to it.
sear them in a hot cast iron skillet in bacon drippings for 1 minute on each side to firm up the burger surface before putting them on the roasting rack. After you remove your burgers throw some sliced onion into the cast iron with all of the drippings from the burers as well as the bacon drippings and saute until nice and soft and translucent. Place burgers on wire rack not touching each other and put in convection oven for 12 minutes on 550 degrees. If you dont have convection oven then put them on bake at 550 but flip them after 6 minutes and check the firmness. At 10 minutes add your slices of cheese. I prefer Munster or Gouda or something smoky and sharp.
remove and rest for at least 10 minutes to allow the juices in the meat to redistribute. Toast your quality bun. Can't stress this enough. Buy your bread from a place that specializes in bread not from some conglomerate that uses the cheapest shit possible. A nice kaiser roll to me is the best. I like sesame or poppy seed burger buns. Once toasted, you're ready! On the base of the bun spread your thousand island with a kick, be generous with it! then the burger, then a nice slice of ripe tomato. Another thing I can't stress enough. The tomato needs to be ripe or it hurts the burger, not helps it. Then some sauteed onion, then a nice garlic pickle and a sprinkle of black pepper. top it and step back and admire your work!
here's the result of my efforts last night: