I love to cook, but one thing I very rarely make are burgers. Maybe it's because I didn't have these awesome burger hacks in my life, though — so hey, it looks like I've got a BuzzFeed video to thank for what might be my latest culinary obsession. If you, like me, have mastered all manner of poultry pasta, pastries, and veggies, yet haven't mastered the art of making a good burger… this one's for you.
In recent months I've come to cherish BuzzFeed Blue's food-related videos; they either bring all sorts of delicious ideas to my nom-loving brain, or they give me food porn to drool over. This one is less drool-worthy than some of the others they've done (I still want to try every single one of those international coffee recipes, for example); however, it's also full of handy tips and tricks for constructing the perfect burger. I do love me a good burger.
Here are four of the hacks I think will probably end up being the most useful; scroll down to watch the full video for all seven. Warning: There are images of uncooked ground beef ahead, so if you find the idea of raw meat abhorrent, you might want to get out while you still can. If you're cool with squishy ground beef, though, full steam ahead!
1. To Keep The Meat From Sticking To Your Fingers, Dip Your Hands In Water
The toughest part of making a good round of burgers is arguably the actual formation of the patties. Does the meat keep getting stuck to your fingers, destroying your carefully-constructed patties before you get a chance to get them on the grill? Dunk your hands in cold water first. It's the heat from your hands that makes the raw meat stick to them; cooling them down will prevent it from happening.
2. To Stop Your Bun From Falling Apart, Stack It In Reverse
Putting the lettuce underneath your burger instead of on top will guard the bottom layer from the meat juices, this stopping it from turning into a huge, soggy mess. Of course, this doesn't really help you if you don't like lettuce on your burgers, but, well… don't say I didn't try.
3. To Change It Up, Put An Egg In It
I used to do this with bread; I called it “eggy in a basket,” but I've also heard it referred to as “Rocky Mountain toast.” Either way, though, I can tell that putting a fried egg in the middle of a burger is way more exciting than putting it in the middle of a piece of bread — especially if you melt cheese over the top of it, too. Note, though, that this trick should only be performed in a pan over a stove, not on a grill. That way disaster lies.
Aaaaaaaand now I know exactly what I'm making for dinner tonight.
4. To Stop Your Burger From Losing Its Innards, Optimize Your Eating Method
Did you know that there's actually a scientifically optimal way to eat a burger? Because I didn't until just now. Apparently a team of Japanese scientist spent four months developing the best way to eat a burger. Here's how you do it: First, put your pointer, middle, and ring fingers on the top of the burger; then clutch the bottom with your thumbs and pinkies. Is it uncomfortable? Sort of, but at least the insides of your burger won't fall out the back while you're chomping down on the front.
Watch the whole video for three more hacks below:
Images: ultrakml/Flickr; BuzzFeedBlue/YouTube (4)
