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Wednesday, August 14. 2019

Sauce for burgers: A Scientific Summer Maggie's Survey

I love cheeseburgers on the grill. Cheddar. Or even that American artificial cheese-like-substance. Lots of ketchup too, for the vegetable component. Health, etc.


I also love blue cheese on a burger - lots of it. Or bacon. Or blue cheese and bacon.


If you ever bothered to read the back of a John Kerry-Heinz ketchup bottle, they offer an alternative burger condiment. It is delicious, worth trying once:


1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup sweet relish
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tsp hot pepper flakes (I added that)


Let sauce marinate in fridge for a while.


So to our Survey: What do you like on your grilled burgers? 

Posted by The Barrister in Food and Drink at 14:49 | Comments (30) | Trackbacks (0)

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Datil-do-it datil pepper sauce.
#1 Juan Paxety (Link) on 2019-08-14 14:51 (Reply)
Sharp cheddar, vine ripe tomato and lettuce with a side of Merlot.
I'm a simple man.
#2 oolioo on 2019-08-14 14:52 (Reply)
My mouth! Yummmmm!
#3 Stargazer on 2019-08-14 15:04 (Reply)
I have wandered all over the menu when it comes to burger dressings/condiments. Right now I favor the simple.

From Burger House in Dallas:

http://02ff48c.netsolhost.com/WordPress/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Burger-House.jpg

I switch back and forth between the regular burger and sissy style.
#4 Mike (Link) on 2019-08-14 15:32 (Reply)
I'm the guy who'll order "plain" from that menu. (And also refuse any pickles on the side.)

I can never see the sense in taking a dinner salad and jamming it on top of a burger, all inside of a bun.

That's just plain nuts. Not only is it uneatable without making a huge mess, but if the meat is any good you've just completely buried its flavor.

On the other hand, if you're running a restaurant, piling on all that stuff is a great way to hide substandard meat and lower your supply costs. Great solution!

Your customers will think they're "gettin' all the fixin's," and you'll be pocketing the difference. And the rubes will never know the better.
#4.1 PubliusII on 2019-08-14 16:25 (Reply)
As a child, my younger brother wanted the "plain" one, also - but we didn't call it "plain" - it was a "Playboy Burger - nothing on it, just the meat and the buns."
#4.1.1 donb on 2019-08-14 19:31 (Reply)
And when we asked for a salad that had no tomato, onion, or anything extra, the waitress said, "So you want the honeymoon salad — lettuce alone."
#4.1.1.1 PubliusII on 2019-08-15 11:21 (Reply)
Just had two for lunch.

Onion, dill pickle, BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's)

If my wife is making it up for me I might get a slice of lettuce and tomato as well.

Bacon would be a nice addition, but one of the reasons for grilling is to keep the kitchen cool.
#5 feeblemind on 2019-08-14 15:46 (Reply)
Onions and mustard. That is all.

Although I would add that the finest onions are the sweet Vidalia onions grown right here in Georgia and "brown" mustard is surely some sort of communist plot - real American mustard is yellow and the All-American burger deserves American mustard. Even if it is called "French's".
#6 Jerryskids on 2019-08-14 16:01 (Reply)
Nothing tops the cheeseburger better than Mayo Tomato and lots of olives.
#7 Peter T Smith MD on 2019-08-14 16:52 (Reply)
I am surprised by the variety of responses.

But nobody mentioned the goop they put on Big Macs.
#8 BD on 2019-08-14 17:08 (Reply)
Big Crusty Kaiser rolls, scoop out some of the soft bread center (a-la Rodney Dangerfield's sandwich making in "Back to School") to make room for the extras, slightly toasted.

Bacon, ripe fresh tomato, any kind of cheeses (pepper jack a fave), "Devil's Spit" pickles, fresh white onion, Mayo & Ketchup

Best served with fried onion rings and potato salad and multiple frosties.
#9 Aggie on 2019-08-14 17:36 (Reply)
Mustard.
#10 Mark on 2019-08-14 18:06 (Reply)
Thousand Island Dressing, McDonald's Special Sauce, and the recipe you list are all very similar. Variations of that were my go-to for years - and I had the work cafeteria plain burger with that sauce, half the bun torn away, as my standard lunch for decades at the hsopital. Grab it already cooked, pay for it, put on the ketchup/mayo/relish, tear off some bun, and be headed back to the office in under five minutes.

I now differentiate between an elaborate restaurant burger that has sauces, spices, lettuce and tomato, and is thicker, rare in the middle vs. the diner burger: 4oz cooked flat and quick, any a little of any simple condiment. Both are good, but they are different. Hamburgers that are neither one nor the other I like less now.
#11 Assistant Village Idiot on 2019-08-14 18:46 (Reply)
Thousand Island Dressing, McDonald's Special Sauce...Wasn't Shoney's Big Boy the first with that sauce?
#11.1 mandrake on 2019-08-15 09:07 (Reply)
김치 (kimchi)!!
#12 Jim on 2019-08-14 18:49 (Reply)
I was eating kimchi the other day and thought "This would be great on a burger. " I haven't tried it yet.
#12.1 Jack Walter on 2019-08-15 07:31 (Reply)
Choice of two favorites:
1) Pickle, onion, just a little lettuce
2) Bacon , (real) blue cheese, onion, and a whisper of mayo.

Tomato on a burger is a crime. ;)

JWM
#13 jwm (Link) on 2019-08-14 18:53 (Reply)
Mustard, onion, lettuce, tomato, and one of the following (in order of preference, subject to availability): pickled jalapeno slices, grilled hatch pepper, or dill pickle slices.
#14 donb on 2019-08-14 19:28 (Reply)
My favorite burger toppings when eating out are: Monterrey Jack Cheese, Green Chiles, Onions. But since most places don't have that my second favorite is: American Cheese, Onions, Pickles, Tomato, Lettuce, Mustard. Although when we grill at home we often top with grilled onions and crumbled Feta cheese. All really yummy.
#15 Pod Hamp on 2019-08-14 19:37 (Reply)
Jimmy Buffet says:

I like mine with lettuce and tomato

Heinz 57 and french fried potato

Big Kosher pickle and a cold draft beer

Well good God almighty which way do I steer

for a cheeseburger in paradise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJi4bln-hHQ
#16 feeblemind on 2019-08-14 20:51 (Reply)
Mustard. The yellow kind, preferably the old version that you applied with a knife, rather than having to squeeze it from a bottle and have water always come out first. And ketchup, same condition applies.
#17 jdgalt on 2019-08-14 22:21 (Reply)
I have become a burger perfectionist now with smash-burgers. Best comparison is Shake Shack, but you really have to do them at home.

Heat griddle to 550-600 degrees F, put 2.5oz round balls down (I use bacon fat as grease) then press with burger press to about 1/2" to sear completely. Flip after about 30 seconds, cheese (something that melts well, like American, medium cheddar,) then pull. Total cook time less than 2 minutes

Condiments Heinz ketchup, onion (both raw and griddled), and tomato only if summer/perfect heirloom. Buttered grilled potato roll bun
#18 John L on 2019-08-14 22:23 (Reply)
Bleu cheese/feta, bacon.

If I have a wild hair, peanut butter & bacon.
#19 lordsomber (Link) on 2019-08-15 03:25 (Reply)
Lettuce works with pulled or thinly sliced meat, but not with ground beef. Do not like the mix of textures. No place in a burger for cold, mushy tomato. Serve it on the side.

As they grill i brush burgers with the same Jack-and-coke marinade i use for steak. That gives a nice not overpowering flavor. Serve with onions cooked down in a bit of the same marinade. I will put mustard on the bun.
#20 Ben David on 2019-08-15 04:32 (Reply)
Your recipe looks pretty good, but I'd drop the sweet relish and add a tablespoon or so of horseradish, maybe swap in lemon juice for the vinegar.
#21 Another guy named Dan on 2019-08-15 07:05 (Reply)
The standard is mayo, lots of pickles, hot peppers, American cheese. A bleu cheese burger is good sometimes, so is a swiss and mushroom, A1 can be good occasionally, too.

Ketchp on a burger is for children. BBQ sauce is just self-rightous ketchup. BTW, good bbq doesn't need that sugar sauce either. I don't dislike bacon, but it overwhelms the burger. Save the bacon for a blt.

Every once in a while I have a Big Mac Attack, but I would never put that sauce on a real burger.

In the end, burgers are like pizza, which is like sex. All burgers are good, but some are better than others.
#22 Jack Walter on 2019-08-15 07:28 (Reply)
At the time of this reading: 27 comments on burgers; 6 comments on Obama/Clinton Russia Hoax.

I'm glad to see that Maggie's readers have their priorities in proper order.

And I mean that, I'm not being snarky.
#23 Mike (Link) on 2019-08-15 11:37 (Reply)
My teeth!
#24 Sam L. on 2019-08-15 12:44 (Reply)
First of all don’t overcook the patties. If you make the patties too thick it’s hard to get the right done-ness. The sweet spot is just a tad more done than medium rare, a tad less than medium. So you have to pay attention. You can’t go inside for a minute to watch the football game, forget about the important work being done on the grill, and ruin everything.
Then:
Cheddar cheese. NOT American cheese. That shit is like plastic, or something.
Yellow mustard. Get your Grey Poupon the fuck outta here. This isn’t Belgium.
Bacon, if you got it. It’s not mandatory. And not too much. It’s not a bacon sandwich.
Onion. But just two or three thin sprigs. A big fat watery slice of onion drowns out everything else. Even if the onions are sautéed, still, just a little will do.
The bun should be good quality white bread. Buttered lightly and quickly toasted on the grill alongside those sizzling, fragrant patties. Oh, you’re gluten free? That’s so cool. Wow. Good for you. Now get the hell off my deck before I call the sheriff.
Other than that, homemade French fries, homemade cole slaw, ice cold beer from an actual cooler filled with actual ice, Allman Brothers on the stereo, good to see you, glad you could come over, grab a plate, let’s eat.
#25 Morphine2 on 2019-08-16 16:09 (Reply)

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