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Recipes

All-American Burgers

We love burgers loaded with a lot of flavorful toppings, but a “Dagwood” style burger can be nearly impossible to eat. The toppings slide out from beneath the bun and end up covering everything but the burger itself. Is there way of putting the toppings inside the burger where they can’t fall out? Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

Add the ingredients straight into the burger mix. Fine-chopped, cooked bacon, shredded cheese, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce can all be mixed directly into the ground beef.
Use firm cheese like sharp cheddar so that the burger doesn’t become mushy.
To prevent the cheese-infused burger from being too greasy, use relatively lean 85 percent lean ground beef.
Combine the ground beef and flavorings gently; otherwise the burgers may be tough.
Because of the ingredients mixed into the meat, we found it best to cook the burgers to well-done. The cheese keeps them from being dry or tough.

All-American Burgers

Serves 4

Although we usually enjoy our burgers medium-rare, with extra ingredients added, tasters found that the burgers were too soft unless cooked through (basically, well-done).

1 1/2	pounds 85 percent lean ground chuck
1	cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
8	strips cooked bacon , chopped fine
4	teaspoons yellow mustard
2	teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2	teaspoon table salt
1/2	teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Break beef into small pieces in medium bowl. Add cheese, bacon, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Using fork, toss until evenly distributed. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions and lightly pack into 1-inch-thick patties.

2. When coals are ready and grate is hot, dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil and use tongs to rub oil over grate. Grill burgers over very hot fire, without pressing down on them, until well seared on both sides and cooked through, 8 to 12 minutes. Transfer to plate, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve.