How do you build the perfect cheeseburger? We asked 3 burger-obsessed Dallas folks

Lettuce, tomato and onion don’t make a cheeseburger higher. There, I mentioned it.

I wasn’t prepared to confess that I like a veggie-free burger like my 5-year-old daughter eats, however y’all nailed me on Twitter. I used to be having fun with my first P. Terry’s fast-food burger on a roadtrip again from Austin, when a couple of of you took offense to the structure.

“Did you really get that without any veggies? No onions, pickles? No lettuce or tomatoes??” someone asked.

I actually did.

And I liked it.

But, see, I’m simply the scribe, not the chef. So I spent all week serious about what makes the perfect cheeseburger. Some issues that plagued me: Does anybody actually like shredded lettuce, that watery excuse for greens that lands in your lap with each chew? If we’re permitting onions, can’t we agree that caramelized ones provide a lot extra depth and character than uncooked onions do? And it’s true {that a} double-double — that’s double meat, double cheese — is the final burger build, proper?

I turned to 3 Dallas consultants to information us towards the perfect burger.

Former Top Chef contestant Danyele McPherson, who runs the culinary program for HG Sply Co., Standard Service, Hero and Leela’s Wine Bar, likes a easy flat-top burger. She goes for skinny patties, double stacked.

So far so good.

McPherson is the perfect individual to opine on the building of the perfect burger, as a result of she’s studied the appropriate placement of every merchandise for years. Put the tomato in the mistaken spot and it shoots out the again with the first chew. Smear the sauce in an unlucky place, and the burger landslides.

McPherson says the meat must be 80/20 or Wagyu, floor extra finely to create a “melt in your mouth consistency.” She likes beef from 44 Farms and he or she seasons it with Kosher salt and recent floor black pepper.

Onto cheese: “There is only one cheese for burgers and it is American,” she says.

Yes, chef!

“It’s not about the flavor, it’s about the melt. The flavor should be coming from the beef,” she notes. That’s a smokin’ scorching tip.

“The bread is just as important as the burger patty itself,” she continues.

“You want something squishy-soft but with enough heft to withstand all the meat juices and condiments without eroding it into oblivion. Toasting the bun in an obnoxious amount of salted butter is a must. I prefer to put the butter directly on the flat top and griddle the bun in the melted pool until it is golden brown, edge to edge. From there, the bun should sit on a rack to cool for a couple minutes before topping with a burger. This gives it a chance to achieve maximum crunch. I love a good potato or brioche bun.”

Do you really feel that?

You really feel it, proper? We’re empowered. And now we’re making burgers tonight.

Read on.

Chef Danyele McPherson’s perfect burger

Starting from the backside:

• A salted butter griddled potato bun from Signature Baking
• Two 44 Farms beef patties, cooked medium. Each patty will get topped with American cheese “and stacked into a double threat,” she says.
• Paper-thin shaved candy onions — not chopped. They fall off in the event that they’re chopped.
• Dill pickles from Hunn’s (they’ve acquired ‘em at Sam’s, or at any of McPherson’s eating places)
• Swipe of mayo-ketchup mix on the high bun. Or, a “giant pool of ketchup” on the aspect she says.

Why the ketchup on the aspect?

“I always feel like the spread interferes with the toasted bread crunch, so I have a pool of ketchup on the side and dip before each bite,” McPherson says.

And extra about that sauce on the underside of the high burger bun: Our chef says it helps maintain the burger collectively: “The toppings tend to stick to the cheese, which keeps them from falling into your lap.”

Before you graduate from this Burger 101 class, take some recommendation from two different burger meisters.

Landon Amis, director of operations for all Rodeo Goat eating places, has been experimenting with burgers for 10 years. He hits us with the reality actual fast:

“The perfect burger is a myth. Let’s be honest here, it’s not an attainable thing. Wrapping your hands around the perfect burger is about as far-fetched an idea as listening to the perfect song. Even if you found something close to perfection, its awesomeness would fade with time, like any hit song that’s gotten overplayed on the radio,” he says.

But we asked the query, and he gave a righteous reply.

“The pursuit of perfection is worth the effort.”

Here we go.

Landon Amis’ almost-perfect burger

These are ideas, not a bottom-to-top building.

1. Go recent: Fresh minimize veggies. Made-from-scratch spreads. And the freshest, highest-quality floor beef you can get your palms on. If capable of grind your individual, even higher.
2. Elevate these spreads. Mustard fan? How a couple of beer-infused, whole-grain? Mayo your factor? It’s acquired to be garlic & herb aioli. Little candy, little warmth? Treat your self to a jalapeño and pickle chutney.
3. Season each side of the patty proper earlier than cooking it. Kosher salt and coarse black pepper do wonders. Don’t skimp.
4. Use a flat griddle. Respect that beef and don’t overcook it. It wants a contact of pink.
5. Butter these buns and toast them up actual good. That crunch wants to carry up towards any unfold.
6. If cheese and/or bacon is your factor, use them. Try a whiskey cheddar or a candied bacon.
7. Build it artfully. Make it Instagram-worthy. Don’t let all the effort put in prior thus far be for nothing!
8. Bring napkins. If you worry it would full aside if you put it down, then you did it proper. It must be so good, you wouldn’t wish to put it down anyway!

OK, don’t get cooking simply but. Our closing ideas come from Brian Luscher, whose burger at The Grape (could it relaxation in peace) was named considered one of the finest in Texas. That burger was a marvel, boasting horseradish pickles, Vermont white cheddar and slabs of bacon. Luscher now works at 33 Restaurant Group, which incorporates Suburban Yacht Club in Plano, Cadillac Pizza Pub in McKinney and extra.

There’s one burger rule for Luscher: “Don’t get cute,” he says.

Chef Brian Luscher’s finest burger

His fast ideas:

• Season it with a “light snow” of kosher salt and loads of recent positive floor black pepper.
• Grill or sear it on excessive warmth. Luscher prefers a medium-rare/medium burger.
• Use salted butter to toast the bun. A kaiser bun is his pref.
• Squeeze on “plenty” of yellow mustard, with “maybe a swipe of mayo.”
• “Don’t get cheap or guilty with the amount of American cheese,” he notes.
• And he doesn’t give a choice on extras, like pickles, lettuce, tomato, onions or bacon. Do it, don’t do it, that’s as much as you.
• And a closing phrase, he says: “Did I already say don’t get cute?”

So: How do you build the perfect burger?

Tell us on Twitter or Facebook.

For extra meals news, comply with Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.