I have to give huge inspirational credit to Jordan Weiss, one of our Button Mash partners, for the simple suggestion of including a classic double cheeseburger on the menu . . . of an Asian restaurant bar arcade—which somehow makes sense to me! Taking a break from delicious Banh Mi sammies and switching to burgers ain’t such a bad thing to do.
We put about one year of research into our burger (food research is the best kind). The immediate influences: Whataburger (Texas FOREVER!); Bill & Hiroko’s Burgers, local to us in Van Nuys; the old-school Belcampo Burger at Grand Central Market; and the most influential burger of all of them, Pie ’n Burger in Pasadena.
2–4 SERVINGS
Butter, melted or softened to room temperature
4 Bimbo hamburger buns, or a similarly “enriched” squishy burger bun (no brioche—don’t do it!)
Kosher salt and pepper
2 pounds (8 patties) 80–20 ground Angus chuck or a custom blend with leaner cuts, shaped into thin 5- to 6-inch-wide ¼-pound patties
8 slices American cheese or medium cheddar cheese (American cheese is classic; cheddar gives a different, beefier kind of burger)
Yellow mustard
Red onion, sliced ⅛ to ¼ inch thick—thick enough to get that onion crunch with every bite!
Butter lettuce, cleaned and separated
Tomato, sliced ¼ inch thick—who needs ketchup when there’s a tomato?
BALLS OUT
40–80 SERVINGS
Butter, melted or softened to room temperature
80 Bimbo hamburger buns
Kosher salt and pepper
40 pounds (160 patties) 80–20 ground Angus chuck, or a custom blend with leaner cuts, shaped into thin 5- to 6-inch-wide ¼ pound patties
160 slices American cheese or medium cheddar
Yellow mustard
Red onion, sliced ⅛ to ¼ inch thick
Butter lettuce, cleaned and separated
Tomato, sliced ¼ inch thick
1. Heat a pan/griddle to medium-high heat. Spread top and bottom of buns with butter, lay open-face down in pan and cook for 1–2 minutes. Once the buns get a golden and almost crispy crust, remove from pan and set aside on a plate. In that same pan, add a tiny bit of cooking oil, and liberally sprinkle a layer of equal amounts of salt and pepper in the pan. Next, add beef patties and cook 3–4 minutes, while frequently smothering patties into pan. Don’t move patties until they get a nicely browned salt-and-pepper crust.
2. Once they’re encrusted with those tasty crunchy burger bits, temporarily remove patties from pan. Add another layer of equal amounts salt and pepper to the pan, then flip the uncooked side of the patties down into the pan. Let the smothering continue.
3. Note: cook the burgers close to well done to achieve that awesome salt-and-pepper crunchy crust. (I know, BLASPHEMY!)
4. Add a slice of cheese on top of each patty while still in the pan.
5. As the cheese melts, spread a thin layer of mustard on the open-side of the bottom buns, remove and stack two patties on the bottom bun, then layer the burger with pickles, onions, tomato, lettuce, and the top bun.
With all ingredient powers combined, “the power is YOURS” to enjoy the spoils of our extensive burger research for maximum burger consumption and pleasure.
A cook once gave me one of the most profound pieces of wisdom about burgers: Don’t grill burgers on a grill—cook them on a flat-top griddle or even a great cast iron. When you use a grill, most of the burger’s flavor drips into the fire. But when you sauté it, the flavor (aka fat juices) stays right there in the patty. On a related note, don’t use straight-up chuck, which shrinks significantly while cooking. We use a custom blend, though it’s predominantly ground chuck.