Dumbest question ever re: hamburger recipe

[Andrepartthree]

Hi guys - brand new to the forum so apologies if I've made any mistakes in posting here.. in addition to that I'm just plain brand new to cooking really .. at the most I can manage chili as in " I'm going to buy a premixed chili powder packet from the store and follow the directions on it while frying up ground meat" , not the truly impressive do your own chili from scratch kind of thing.

Having said that , if it's okay I'm going to copy and paste a recipe (ingredients) here I could use some help with.. apparently it's like the most viewed burger recipe on pininterest.. the problem is the part where it lists " season salt to taste , cracked black pepper, onion powder " ... I know you're supposed to add as much as you feel would make the burger taste good and it varies from person to person.. but remember I'm brand new at this sort of thing .. based on the recipe below can anyone make any suggestions as to how many teaspoons or tablespoons or one fourth measures of each or whatever as a starting point for your "average burger eater"? I do have measuring spoons at least in the 1/4th teaspoon and up range so at least I have some tools if not the knowledge

Thanks to anyone who reads this and responds

(copy of recipe from pininterest.. )

Author: Ashley Stock - Little Miss Momma

Recipe type: Entree

Ingredients

Burger
2 lbs ground beef 85/15
sesame seed buns
½ cup of grated Monterrey jack cheese
¼ cup BBQ sauce
season salt to taste
cracked black pepper
onion powder

Secret Sauce

¾ cup of mayo
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup relish
2 tablespoons worcestershire
seasoned salt

(me again , the original poster- just read the email in my inbox about not copying and pasting an entire recipe aside from ingredients so I deleted the how she cooks the burger part I originally posted... but basically I plan on frying the burgers in a frying pan)

 

[WhateverYouWant]

For seasoning meat I recommend using course kosher salt. Put a bunch in a ramekin and just grab a generous pinch between thumb and index and ring fingers and sprinkle it from about a foot above the burger for a nice even coating.

Course kosher salt is about half the density of table salt, so if you're not used to using it it will look like a lot but it really isn't.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I suspect the author is talking about something like Lawry's Seasoned Salt. For 2 lbs of ground beef I would use 1 tablespoon of the seasoned salt, 1 teaspoon of the pepper and 2 teaspoons of the onion powder.

Once mixed in, take a small test piece of the burger mix and fry it, taste and see if it is to your taste. From there, you can decide if it needs more salt, pepper and/or onion.

 

[Andrepartthree]

Thank you both so much that was exactly what I needed to know greatly appreciated - your quick replies (heck I just posted this today and you guys responded the same day you're awesome ) are gratefully appreciated as well ..

 

[taxlady]

Welcome to the forum Andrepartthree. Please let us know how the burgers turn out and how easy or hard it was to cook them.

 

[Andrepartthree]

Welcome to the forum Andrepartthree. Please let us know how the burgers turn out and how easy or hard it was to cook them.

aww thanks taxlady I greatly appreciate that .. of course my wife (who is the real chef in the family) just cooked a whole bunch of food so if I make anything now she'll yell at me :P .. but I'm waiting for the food to clear out in the fridge again will definitely let you guys know how it went .. thanks again everyone

 

[PrincessFiona60]

aww thanks taxlady I greatly appreciate that .. of course my wife (who is the real chef in the family) just cooked a whole bunch of food so if I make anything now she'll yell at me :P .. but I'm waiting for the food to clear out in the fridge again will definitely let you guys know how it went .. thanks again everyone

AND as you can see, we don't think your question is dumb. We enjoy helping and passing on our knowledge. Welcome Andre!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Burger tips:
Crumbing some a quarter cup of Gorgonzola cheese into the burger will make it better still.

When making the patty, take a snowball sized chunk of your ground beef mixture and shape it into a ball with your hands. Press it flat between hands, turning a quarter turn each time you press it. At the same time, use your thumb to smooth the edges of the patty. Make the edges a little thicker than the center, and the whole thing should be about 1/4 inch thick. The reason for the skinnier center is that as the burger cooks, the proteins will tighten toward the cnter, causing it to expand. If making the burger completely lfat, after cooking, it will have a thicker middle that takes longer to cook. But the time thte middle is done, the outer edges are overcooked and dried out.

Often, salt is not worked into the burger before cooking, but is sprinkled on top. And yes, a pinch of Kosher salt is the wway to go.Adding an egg to the ground beef mis will keep it from shrinking, and hold in more of the natural beef juices, giving you a more juicy burger. You won't even know the egg is in there.

Salsa is as good as, or better than many common condiments on a burger.

Enjoy.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Cheryl J]

Welcome, andrepartthree. Stick around and you'll find a lot of links and good suggestions. Looking forward to seeing more of your posts here.

 

[Josie1945]

Hi Andre
Welcome to DC Ask Wife
to join us Also.

Josie

 

[Andrepartthree]

Thanks everyone and (slaps head) thanks for the good advice Chief Longwind which I totally did not see until it was too late ! ... for some strange reason my gmail decided to stop notifying me when someone made a new post on here I'm sure it's a problem on my end... Chief Longwind I have copied and pasted your extremely helpful suggestions into the text document copy I have of this recipe on my PC and will be incorporating your advice the next time I make this burger ... fool that I was I went with this link here

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-burgers-on-the-stovetop-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-217722

had I known of Chief Longwind's post of course I would have done that instead ... I only became aware of all the posts after my last one on January 15th because I came back here today to thank everyone .. yep, about half a year after starting this thread July 2020 (almost August !) I actually got around to cooking the burgers, talk about poor management skills .. the cooked burgers are not as cohesive as I would like and will absolutely going to fall apart unless one lifts them up with a spatula and puts them onto the bun that way BUT my family enjoyed the taste of the burgers so thanks so much to everyone who helped (Princess Fiona without you I would have had no idea how much seasoned salt/cracked pepper/onion powder to add so you really saved the day there ) ...

I will try to make these burgers once per month for my family and hopefully learn from experience each time .. the last time I made burgers was... cripes over 10 years ago for the very first time and I somehow got insanely lucky the burgers turned out fine... right now for attempt two I'm just grateful my family likes the way they taste even if they aren't sticking together nearly as much as I would like (Chief Longwind I'm definitely doing that egg thing and shaping the burgers the way you said to I probably messed up there too).

Thanks again everyone !

 

[Kathleen]

Welcome to DC!