How To Make Really Juicy Hamburgers

All I wanted for dinner last night was a juicy hamburger like you can really only get by going out, but we’re trying to stick to a budget so I spent the afternoon researching how to make a really good burger.  In the end, I combined a few tips and went with:

• Using 80/20 ground chuck.
• Keeping it really cold and not preparing until just before I was ready to cook.
• Mixing a couple tablespoons of crushed ice into the meat.
• Handling the meat as little as possible to form into patties.  I just tossed the meat with the ice and a little Worcestershire and made the discs.
• Putting an indent in the middle of each patty.
• Cooking the patties in a couple tablespoons of melted butter over medium high heat in a cast iron skillet. You don’t get the pretty lines in the burger, but you’re going to stick it in a bun anyway, so it doesn’t matter.  I put the skillet on the grill outside to avoid the grease and smell in my house.
• Not salting the meat until it was on the grill.
• Cooking four minutes per side, then removing from heat and letting stand for another four minutes.

The result?  

I had really good, juicy burgers.  Seriously good.  Served on toasted buns of course because that increased the yumminess.

I want another one right now.