Alex Rotherham, owner of the Bay Tree Café in Bury Sty Edmunds, gives some tips on how to make your perfect burger
I’ve heard many talk about their hunt for the perfect burger. I admit that I was once such an individual. And I have been lucky enough to have many customers at different establishments rave about my burgers, often stating that they’re the best they have ever had. I, however, was never satisfied. I have long since concluded that there is no such thing as the perfect burger. I have made so many different variations over the years, and to be honest, I cannot say one is better than all others.
I’ve decided to share my thoughts on how to make a better burger, seeing as at the café, it is not currently feasible to offer burgers - it would cost thousands of pounds to do all the necessary kitchen upgrades to allow me to serve burgers without smoking out the entire building. I won’t say this is as much as a recipe, as rather suggestions; I want to keep it as open as possible for you to create your version of the perfect burger, and not mine.
At one point, I was known for my ‘Create Your Own Burger’ menu where I had created a pad where customers could choose what meat, salad, cheeses, buns and sides they would like with their burger. The custom creations were awesome and was certainly the best way to let people have the closest thing to the perfect burger for them. Though, on the executions side, it’s extremely difficult, as I noticed when a few different places tried to copy it, then quickly stopped when their kitchens crashed trying to execute the offering.
So, I’ve previously said I’d offer a song recommendation each month to fit with what I’m talking about, well at least fits from my point of view. This month, I have chosen Working Class Hero, written by John Lennon. Now there are many great versions of this song, John Lennon’s original, Tin Machine, Green Day, and Ozzy Osbourne; but my all-time favourite version is by Marianne Faithful. A truly great and passionate performance, and her voice is perfect for the feel of this song. And despite the many ridiculously expensive elitist burgers out there, I feel a burger is properly a working class food. And my go to choice whenever I dine out. Warning, there are some explicit lyrics in this song.
So, now, back to the burger. The first item of discussion is the patty itself. Many people, especially chefs, will give you a long list of ingredients to add to the mince. Don’t! That’s the sure way to ruin the burger before you even begin. Of course, the classic burger is pure beef, but lamb and buffalo, if you can get your hands on it, both make for great burgers.
Many people go for chicken or turkey burgers, which usually have a whole chicken breast or a slice of turkey breast. That’s all fine, but if the meant isn’t minced or ground then it isn’t truly a burger. Also, a good chicken or turkey ground, with the dark meat and fat in, makes for a much nicer burger.
But I shall focus primarily on beef here. Now, you can use all sorts of different cuts; chuck, brisket or short rib are all what I would consider the best choices for a burger. It’s important to use pure muscle, though. What is labeled as minced beef often has lots of offal mixed in with it, and is not what we want here. You don’t want it too lean either - the fat provides both moisture and flavour. The often recommended ratio is 80:20 lean to fat and some larger butchers will provide fairly accurate blends. Now, it’s very important that it is fresh. If it’s been frozen, the burger will not hold without adding extra binders, such as egg, to it. This brings us back to where adding things to the mince originates. If your meat isn’t fresh, it needs help. But we want to make a great burger here, and you need to start with great quality and pure fresh mince. If you really want to go crazy, you can get your own grinder, buy whole cuts of meat and grind it yourself - I can honestly say that outside of culinary school, I’ve never gone that far with my mince.
So, now you have the perfect meat, I would form the patties by hand, wearing gloves. It’s important to wear gloves, not for yourself, but for the meat, as contact with your skin will cause the burgers to degrade rapidly, and it will be noticeable within just a few hours. I never learnt specifically why, whether it’s the bacteria on our hands, our skin, or other contaminates, the fact is that the contamination is bad for our burgers.
The size we make our patties is dependent on our bun, and we will come back to that. This is the next most important factor in our burger - the bun. So many people just go for the cheapest or anything labeled burger bun. Then there is the brioche bun trend, which I suppose works, but I find that a true brioche is just plain wrong for a burger, it’s almost like using a doughnut for a burger bun; and yes there are people, and even restaurants, that do that as well.
I have used several different types of buns for my burgers over the years. At one point, I went with a ciabatta, as the heartiness seemed appropriate, but I find it also detracted from the burger as it is too tough. So you want a bun that is hearty, but also soft and delicate. Well no, that’s a challenge. I have been lucky over the years to have worked with a number of bakers that loved the challenge I set them to make the buns I wanted instead of what they made for everyone else.
There are a few that have hit home really well. The most successful one is a potato bun. This version is very similar to a white bap, but a third of the flour is replaced with potato flour. The other one that I had great fondness for is an egg bun, which is very similar to a brioche, but doesn’t have the sweetness or the butter, and also contains a lot of extra egg yolk. It has a heartier structure, while still very soft and moist.
Another that I liked is a focaccia-based bun. It’s not quite as stellar as the other two, but the herbs and olive oil give a Mediterranean feel to the burgers.
Now back to the size of the patty. It needs to be the right size for the bun. If you’re going the extra mile to make your own buns, the math is easy - whatever the raw weight of the bun is, that shall be the weight of your patty. The challenge is if purchasing a pre-cooked bun, as they lose a fair bit of weight in baking. But if using a pre-made bun, I would estimate about 30 per cent more weight for the patty. For example, if your bun weighs 100g, then a 130g patty would suit. Again, this is merely my guide, if you want a higher ratio of meat to bun, then feel free. As many places boast about larger patties on tiny buns, it seems many of my peers disagree with me on this point. I just feel that you lost the balance of the burger when overloading it with meat. I also feel anything over 160g (5.5 ounces) is too much. I know lots of places boast an eight ounce patty. I find it’s simply too much and a waste. Balance is important. So if you’re going for that big a patty, then you need a much larger than normal bun.
Now, to the form of the patty. Many ways to do this, most traditionally leave it thick. And the modern craze are smash burgers, which if done properly are quite nice -but again most places mess this up. A proper smash burger involves forming the meat essentially into a meatball. Then when time comes to cook it, place it on a preheated griddle, and smash it immediately until it’s quite flat. This needs to be done in the first few seconds of cooking, and absolutely no more pressure is to be applied. If you press on the meat later in cooking, it pushes both the fat and the liquid out of it, making for a dried, less flavourful product.
Then when time comes to flip the patty, you need to carefully scrape it off the griddle, as the meat that is now stuck to it has gained extra flavor and texture.
I have avoided using this technique in my career, as it makes it harder to train chefs not to press on the burgers since they press on it at the beginning. Instead, I pre-form them into very flat patties to begin with. Many other chefs stand by a thick patty and slow cooked. I disagree. Do a thin patty. Preheated extra hot griddle, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Done. (Food safety note: minced beef should be prepared to a minimum of 70ºC and held for 2 minutes before consuming.)
Another side note. Prepared on a nice charcoal or mesquite barbecue also can be very nice. There will be a completely different flavor. Overall, I prefer the griddle method, but the smokiness from barbecuing can also be really nice.
You will notice that I have not mentioned anything about seasoning yet. That’s because you should not season the burgers before cooking as the salt will pull both moisture and flavor out of the meat. After flipping the patty, then season it. I make my own blend of a dozen spices that I season with, and sorry, I am not going to tell you what they are. Suffice it to say that sea salt and black pepper are key ones.
Now back to the buns; and the salad. How to prepare the buns. Some celebrity chefs will tell you to toast the buns on a griddle, some say with oil, some with butter. These are fine techniques, but the one I most fell in love with is much different.
I will partially dress my bun, and then toast it in the oven. I developed a remoulade recipe, which I will include here, for dressing my buns. I would apply a generous amount of the remoulade on both sides of the bun. This is all before going into the oven. I add tomato and red onion to the base of the bun and any cheese to the top. Again, here’s one of the other great places to really personalise your burger - mature Cheddar, emmental and blue cheese are all fabulous choices.
I would now place the entire bun in a 250ºC oven for about 4-5 minutes. Enough time for the ingredients to all get hot, and the outsides of the bun to get a little crusty.
Now it’s time for the finishing touches. Lettuce. This is crucial to the finished burger, and while many chefs will recommend all forms of lettuce, I feel there is only one true burger lettuce, and that is iceberg. Sure, there are others with more flavour, but we already have more than enough of that. There are others with higher nutritional value, again, with all our other ingredients, we’re not doing too badly already. But what iceberg gives is the perfect crunchy texture, and is a perfect foil to all that flavour we have just brought. I find shredding the lettuce as fine as possible provides the best texture to our finished product.
Place the iceberg on our tomatoes and onions, then our patty on top of the lettuce. This has a couple of benefits - the iceberg helps protect the base from becoming too soggy from the juices of the meat, and those same juices now mingle with the lettuce, enhancing the flavour. I also add barbecue sauce to my burger here. I make my own secret recipe, but there are dozens of sauces available on the market to choose from.
We then bring the top of our bun onto our meat, and we enjoy.
This is about as close as we will get to what I consider to be the perfect burger. You can also vary it up even more, adding bacon, fried onions, jalapenos, etc. The variations are literally endless.
Sadly, I can’t imagine we will be able to provide a burger at the café anytime soon, so have a go at making your perfect burger at home. As for dining out, I am very picky, especially with my burgers, so I haven’t many experiences that I would recommend. I will, however, say that I have had a few burgers at Meat & Greet on Whiting Street and found them, while not exactly as I would prepare them, quite enjoyable.
And now for that recipe.
RECIPE: My remoulade
Ingredients:
1 egg yolk
¼ teaspoon lemon juice
½ tablespoon Coleman’s Mustard
Pinch of cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon turmeric
150ml extra virgin rapeseed oil
1 anchovy, finely minced
1 cornichons, finely minced
Pinch of finely chopped fresh rosemary
Pinch of finely chopped fresh oregano
Method:
Combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, mustard and spices and whisk vigorously. Continue whisking and very slowly add the rapeseed oil. Once fully incorporated, gently fold in all remaining ingredients. It’s very important to add the oil very slowly while whisking as it will form a nice thick emulsion. The anchovies are the surprise ingredient here. Even if you’re not a fan, the flavour they add is subtle and brilliant, especially with a beef burger. Enjoy.
Alex Rotherham is co-owner and head chef of the Bay Tree Café, in St John’s Street, Bury St Edmunds
Tel: 01284 700607
Facebook: baytreecafebury
