[0 - 0] - I'm Frank Proto,
[0 - 3] professional chef and culinary instructor,
[3 - 4] and today I'm gonna show you how to make
[4 - 9] the best burgers at home, Frank style. [uptempo music] [Frank laughs]
[9 - 10] We're gonna go over techniques the pros use
[10 - 13] to make perfect burgers at home.
[13 - 15] This is "Burgers 101."
[16 - 18] Making a burger is a simple task
[18 - 20] with a few techniques.
[20 - 21] You don't need to go crazy.
[21 - 23] For me, that makes the perfect burger.
[23 - 24] Most people think of grilling season,
[24 - 26] and that's when they make burgers,
[26 - 27] but I make them all year round.
[27 - 29] As long as you have a saute pan,
[29 - 31] you can make a delicious burger.
[31 - 33] If you only watch one video on how to make a burger,
[33 - 35] it's gonna be this one,
[35 - 40] and you will make a perfect burger every time. [mellow music]
[40 - 42] In front of me, I have some 80/20 ground beef.
[42 - 45] "Chef, what is 80/20 ground beef?"
[45 - 47] It's 80% meat, 20% fat,
[47 - 50] which is a really, really perfect ratio
[50 - 51] for a delicious burger.
[51 - 53] A lot of people are afraid of fat,
[53 - 57] but in the case of hamburgers, fat is key.
[57 - 58] If you get something that's too lean,
[58 - 61] your burger is a little crumbly and dry.
[61 - 62] If you get something with too much fat,
[62 - 64] you end up with a greasy burger.
[64 - 65] I do not buy pre-made patties
[65 - 67] 'cause I have no idea what's going in them.
[67 - 68] I have a pound of beef,
[68 - 70] and what I'm gonna do is quarter-pound patties.
[70 - 72] I think a quarter-pound patty
[72 - 75] for a regular grilled burger is the perfect amount.
[75 - 76] So all you really have to do
[76 - 78] is break this into four separate lumps.
[78 - 80] It doesn't have to be perfect.
[80 - 82] If you want to be more precise, grab yourself a scale.
[82 - 85] Get it into a ball, and I'm gonna just start working it.
[85 - 86] And basically I have a ball,
[86 - 88] and I'm slapping it into my hand.
[88 - 89] You don't have to go for a long time.
[89 - 91] It doesn't take a lot to kind of work this,
[91 - 94] but I'm just gonna kind of slap it together.
[94 - 96] And you can see that when I press down on it,
[96 - 98] it forms a nice patty.
[98 - 99] If I do this, look what happens.
[99 - 102] I'm not working it and I'm forming it into a patty,
[102 - 103] but once I put this on the grill,
[103 - 105] it's just gonna kind of fall apart.
[105 - 106] And then what I'm gonna do
[106 - 109] is I'm really gonna flatten it out into a nice patty.
[109 - 111] I like my patties to be fairly thin.
[111 - 112] It's gonna shrink a little,
[112 - 114] so I go a little bit bigger than I think I'm gonna need
[114 - 116] so that it fits on my bun.
[116 - 118] So I'm just gonna pat it out.
[118 - 119] What I like to do is work the meat,
[119 - 121] 'cause the meat fibers kind of mess with each other,
[121 - 124] and that mesh is gonna hold in your juices and your fat.
[124 - 126] The meat is cold, it should always be cold.
[126 - 128] It's not gonna stick to your hands if your meat is cold.
[128 - 130] I'm not seasoning my meat beforehand.
[130 - 132] I am not making meatloaf, I'm making burgers.
[132 - 134] The other thing is is that when you season
[134 - 137] ground beef like this, it tends to get a little rubbery.
[137 - 139] So I like to season right before I put it on the grill,
[139 - 140] and not before.
[140 - 143] Patties are formed, let's prep our toppings.
[143 - 146] [mellow music continues]
[146 - 147] Let's get into the toppings.
[147 - 149] The first thing I'm gonna talk about is an onion.
[149 - 151] You can do raw onion on burgers.
[151 - 153] I do like raw onion on hamburgers,
[153 - 156] but for this one, I'm going to put it on my burger
[156 - 157] and cook it with the burger.
[157 - 158] The onion cooks,
[158 - 160] and the meat juices gets a little caramelized.
[160 - 161] It's a little sweet.
[161 - 164] It just accents that beef so well.
[164 - 164] When I slice onions,
[164 - 166] I like to take the top and the bottom off.
[166 - 168] People are like, "Oh, why do you do that?"
[168 - 169] I'm a chef in restaurants,
[169 - 171] and I pretty much do everything for speed.
[171 - 173] The top and the bottom of the onion
[173 - 175] I can use for stock if I want to.
[175 - 179] I like to take my onion and cut it in half-moons. [knife thudding]
[179 - 182] I feel when you cut the onions in half-moons,
[182 - 184] you're basically cutting across the grain of the onion,
[184 - 187] and the onion kind of is a little easier to eat.
[187 - 189] It just kind of melts away when you bite into it.
[189 - 194] So I'm gonna slice my onions fairly thin. [knife thudding]
[195 - 196] And I do use American cheese.
[196 - 198] I have white American here,
[198 - 200] and you'll also notice that it's not wrapped in plastic.
[200 - 203] When I get white American cheese, I go to the deli section
[203 - 204] and I have them slice it for me.
[204 - 207] It melts really nice, it has good flavor,
[207 - 209] and it's a great accent to our burger.
[209 - 211] One thing I do agree with is lettuce on a burger.
[211 - 213] I like lettuce, I like the crunch.
[213 - 215] It adds a little contrast in temperature.
[215 - 217] Tomatoes are a whole other story for me.
[217 - 218] A lot of people might disagree with me,
[218 - 221] but I do not like tomatoes on my burger in this form.
[221 - 223] Tomatoes in ketchup form, good.
[223 - 226] Tomatoes in this form, too slippery,
[226 - 228] a little slimy, as far as I'm concerned.
[228 - 231] And when you take that bite, the bun tends to slip a lot.
[231 - 233] I also have ketchup and mayonnaise,
[233 - 235] and what I like to do with this actually
[235 - 237] is I get my ketchup and mayonnaise
[237 - 239] and I make a little sauce out of it.
[239 - 241] Equal amounts ketchup and mayo.
[241 - 244] To me, this is a really nice burger sauce.
[244 - 246] Straight ketchup is good, but I think ketchup and mayo,
[246 - 249] like, there's something about the combination of these two
[249 - 251] that just make it so much better.
[251 - 253] It's kind of like my secret sauce,
[253 - 254] but there's really not much secret there.
[254 - 256] If you like a little spice, put a little hot sauce
[256 - 258] or sriracha in there.
[258 - 260] One of the other toppings that I think are necessary
[260 - 261] on a burger are dill pickles.
[261 - 264] These, to me, are the perfect dill pickles for a burger.
[264 - 267] I do not like big slices of dill pickles.
[267 - 269] It kind of goes back to the whole tomato thing,
[269 - 271] they slip, they slide.
[271 - 272] I also think they're a little watery.
[272 - 275] So I buy these, and they are mini dill pickles.
[275 - 277] I want you to look at this, right?
[277 - 278] Look at that pickle.
[278 - 280] It's not only adorable,
[280 - 282] it's the perfect size pickle for my burger.
[282 - 283] So you take your pickles
[283 - 285] and you slice them into little coins.
[285 - 288] This way, when you take that bite of your burger,
[288 - 291] you're getting a little bite of pickle in every single bite.
[291 - 293] This is one of my favorite things to do.
[293 - 295] I do this whenever I do bacon on a burger,
[295 - 298] I cut it small so that I'm not biting my burger
[298 - 300] and everything's sliding out.
[300 - 301] With these little mini dills,
[301 - 303] it gives you a great pop of dill pickle flavor
[303 - 305] in every single bite.
[305 - 307] If you look at the center of these,
[307 - 309] there's not a lot of seeds in there.
[309 - 310] And that's the thing that always threw me off
[310 - 313] with dill pickles, is that the seeds are kind of mushy
[313 - 315] and slimy, and I don't like it.
[315 - 318] But these little pickles do not have those seeds in there,
[318 - 319] and I love it.
[319 - 321] [mellow music continues]
[321 - 322] It's time to cook our burger.
[322 - 325] Now, there's a couple of things I want to talk about
[325 - 325] before we start.
[325 - 327] I'm cooking in a stainless steel pan.
[327 - 329] You can use whatever pan you have.
[329 - 331] I feel like stainless steel is perfect for this.
[331 - 332] We get good caramelization,
[332 - 334] and it's a pan that most people will have.
[334 - 336] A couple of things you gotta think about
[336 - 338] is that if you're cooking in a pan,
[338 - 339] you want to have a good fan.
[339 - 341] Whether you have a vent hood,
[341 - 344] or what I used to do when I lived in a small apartment,
[344 - 346] I would open the window, put a fan in the window
[346 - 347] and exhaust it out.
[347 - 349] First thing I want to do is get my pan hot.
[349 - 351] So I'm gonna start on high heat,
[351 - 353] and I'm gonna preheat my pan.
[353 - 355] If I throw stuff in here now
[355 - 357] and it's not preheated, everything's gonna stick
[357 - 358] and it's gonna be a mess.
[358 - 360] My pan is getting hot.
[360 - 361] I'm using a neutral oil.
[361 - 363] You can use whatever oil you're comfortable with.
[363 - 365] I tend to use a neutral vegetable oil.
[365 - 368] If I have chicken fat or beef fat, even better.
[368 - 370] And I'm not gonna put a lot of oil in,
[370 - 371] 'cause my burgers have some fat.
[371 - 372] I'm just gonna coat.
[372 - 373] If you look at the pan,
[373 - 375] the pan is just coated on the bottom.
[375 - 376] The oil starts to get ripply
[376 - 378] when it's getting to the right temperature.
[378 - 380] And I'm gonna look for small wisps of smoke.
[380 - 382] I'm gonna season my burgers,
[382 - 384] and this pan will fit two burgers.
[384 - 387] Season up high so we get a good dispersion,
[387 - 388] because when you bite into the burger,
[388 - 390] you're gonna get that saltiness
[390 - 392] and then you're gonna get the tender meat inside.
[392 - 393] And when I put my burgers in,
[393 - 396] I'm gonna drop them away from me towards the camera
[396 - 398] so that if I get any oil splash,
[398 - 401] it's splashing away from me and not on me.
[402 - 404] So we're still on that medium-high heat,
[405 - 406] and I think we're good.
[406 - 408] We're getting a little smoky, it's okay.
[408 - 412] While my burgers are sitting there, I'm gonna take my onions
[412 - 415] and put them on top of my burger so they start to cook.
[415 - 417] When I flip them, they will start to caramelize,
[417 - 419] and that's where we're gonna get that nice,
[419 - 421] delicious oniony flavor.
[421 - 422] So don't be shy with those.
[422 - 425] And literally just a little pinch of salt
[425 - 427] on my onions so they're seasoned.
[427 - 429] Seasoning is so important,
[429 - 430] and I season throughout my process.
[430 - 432] Burgers need salt.
[432 - 435] That crust on the outside is super important,
[435 - 437] so don't be afraid to liberally season.
[437 - 439] One of the things that people tend to do here
[439 - 441] is start pressing down on things.
[441 - 442] Don't press down on things.
[442 - 443] All you're doing with the burgers
[443 - 444] when you press down on them
[444 - 446] is starting to squeeze the juices out.
[447 - 448] I have a metal spatula.
[448 - 449] I'm gonna get under my burger,
[449 - 452] and I'm gonna give it a nice flip.
[452 - 454] And all I'm gonna do is do a light press
[454 - 456] to make sure that my onions stay on the burger.
[456 - 458] I'm not squeezing it.
[458 - 461] A light press just to press my onions into my burger.
[461 - 463] How I assure that it's not overcooked
[463 - 464] and undercooked on the inside
[464 - 465] is that I start to see juice come out,
[465 - 467] which means my burger is cooking on the inside.
[467 - 469] You don't want all the juice to come out.
[469 - 471] They're not super red and bloody,
[471 - 473] they're gonna get a little more on the clear side,
[473 - 475] but for the most part, this burger should only take
[475 - 476] less than seven minutes.
[476 - 478] It should probably take about six to eight minutes.
[478 - 481] I'm gonna add my cheese right now on top of the burger.
[481 - 484] I want my cheese to melt, and I like two slices.
[486 - 487] My cheese goes on.
[487 - 489] And what I'm gonna do here
[489 - 491] is I'm gonna basically steam my bun at this time.
[492 - 494] I take the top bun and the bottom bun,
[494 - 496] and I put 'em on top of my burger.
[496 - 499] So I'm gonna get some of that steam heating my bun up.
[499 - 501] I think potato buns are the best.
[501 - 503] They're tender, they're slightly sweet,
[503 - 505] and they don't crumble under the pressure
[505 - 506] of eating the burger.
[506 - 508] My wife is a big toasted bun person.
[508 - 509] I don't like toasted buns.
[509 - 511] I do kind of like them a little steamy and warm,
[511 - 513] so this is gonna do that.
[513 - 515] If you've ever been to a place called White Castle,
[515 - 517] this is what they do, and that's where I got the idea.
[517 - 518] But I want the cheese to melt
[518 - 520] and my buns to get nice and warm.
[520 - 522] I'm aiming for a medium burger.
[522 - 523] I do not like rare burgers.
[523 - 525] I feel like they're like steak tartar,
[525 - 527] and I don't really want that.
[527 - 528] So I'm aiming for a medium.
[528 - 529] I think we're good.
[529 - 530] I'm gonna take it off.
[530 - 532] I kind of feel this is medium.
[532 - 534] I'm using timing, I'm using my senses.
[534 - 535] If you're really nervous
[535 - 536] about your burger being the right temperature,
[536 - 537] get a thermometer.
[537 - 540] But for the most part, I'm just going on pure instinct.
[540 - 543] I'm gonna take my burgers out, flip it over.
[543 - 545] I'm gonna just put it on this over here to rest
[545 - 547] while we get things to plate this up.
[549 - 550] Our onions are nice and caramelized,
[550 - 554] our buns got nice and steamy, and now we can plate it up.
[554 - 556] [mellow music continues]
[556 - 557] Time to assemble the burger.
[557 - 560] And as with everything, as a chef, you think things through.
[560 - 563] And I always think about how is my guest,
[563 - 564] or the people I'm serving,
[564 - 566] how are they going to eat this burger,
[566 - 568] and how is it gonna be the best experience for them?
[568 - 570] At home, normally everyone makes their own toppings.
[570 - 573] But if I'm cooking for you, I'm putting the toppings on.
[573 - 574] So basically I don't want anything sliding around.
[574 - 578] So when I open my burger, I want to put the ketchup
[578 - 580] and mayonnaise mixture onto the bun.
[580 - 583] Not only will this mixture kind of protect the bun a little
[583 - 584] from getting soggy,
[584 - 586] it's also gonna kinda hold things together.
[586 - 587] If I put that ketchup
[587 - 588] and mayonnaise mixture here,
[588 - 590] it makes everything slick and slidey.
[590 - 591] And I don't want that.
[591 - 593] And I'm gonna use my pickles as anchors too.
[593 - 594] If I put my pickles on here,
[594 - 596] it's almost like little speed bumps
[596 - 598] that are gonna hold my burger together.
[598 - 599] I'm gonna use lettuce.
[599 - 600] Usually with lettuce.
[600 - 603] I try and use one really nice leaf just to add some crunch.
[603 - 606] Throw that on top, and then we can put this all together.
[606 - 609] If you like tomatoes, that's totally up to you,
[609 - 610] put it on your burger.
[610 - 612] I usually put 'em on the table
[612 - 614] because I know there's a lot of people that like them,
[614 - 615] but I keep them aside.
[615 - 617] What I would actually probably do is put some salt on 'em
[617 - 619] and eat 'em [laughs] just like that,
[619 - 620] and not eat 'em on my burger.
[620 - 622] And this is how I make the perfect burger at home.
[622 - 625] After all this talk and all this cooking,
[625 - 626] it is time to taste.
[626 - 628] I like to get a good stance on this, right?
[628 - 629] You don't want to get it all over you,
[629 - 632] so I like to kinda, like, get in there, get the burger.
[632 - 634] You're gonna have to squeeze it together just a little,
[634 - 635] and get a good bite in there.
[635 - 638] [mellow music continues]
[638 - 641] Hmm, the thing I love about this burger
[641 - 644] is you get a little bit of everything in every bite. It's delicious.
[644 - 645] You get a little bit of the burger,
[645 - 648] you get the cheese, you get it all over your face. [laughs]
[648 - 650] And you get some of those pickles, the lettuce,
[650 - 651] and it's gonna be probably one of the most
[651 - 653] enjoyable burgers you've ever had.
[653 - 655] You'll notice that when I took that big bite,
[655 - 656] it didn't fall apart.
[656 - 657] It held together.
[657 - 659] This burger is definitely better than a restaurant burger
[659 - 661] because not only did you make it
[661 - 663] with your own hands with love,
[663 - 665] you had control over the ingredients.
[665 - 667] You chose the ingredients,
[667 - 669] all the best ingredients, and you put a little love in it.
[669 - 671] You had it in your pocket here, you sprinkle a little on,
[671 - 674] it makes it that much better. [uptempo music]
[674 - 675] [camera beeps] Today I'm gonna show you
[675 - 678] how to make the best burgers at home, Frank style.
[679 - 684] Oh, Frank's style. [camera beeps] [all laugh]