How to Make a Hamburger

Here are a few tips for making and storing homemade hamburger patties.

Get the finest minced meat you can find.

Decide on the flavours you want to bring to the plate – in this case, suya…

Making Hamburger Patties

I love it when I think up a recipe and don’t have to wait for ever to act on it. I can’t even remember how I came up with the idea but it pushed Lasagna off the dinner menu on Thursday night. So much so that my daughter – #1, who’d begged for the Italian bake said ‘Mama, I’m both angry and happy. You didn’t make the Lasagna but I love burgers’. End of story.

I had time to measure and note and watch what I did in the process of making so here are the tips:

Season the dough as well as you can.

For every 100g of meat, I  used a tablespoon of suya spice. And then, I added a tablespoon of fine sea salt for 1.2kg of minced beef.

Avoid overworking the dough so you don’t end up with tough, chewy burgers. Use table knives or forks to combine the ingredients – you can finish up with clean hands at the last minute.

Portion out the mix into balls and weigh them to get even-sized patties. I place greaseproof paper on the scale and measure each one. My patties each weighed 100g.

Gently flatten into patty – mine ended up about 4 inches in diameter.

Using your thumb, make a small depression in the centre of each patty – this prevents the patties from shrinking and curling up on themselves during cooking.

Allow the burgers chill for at least 10 minutes prior to cooking if using immediately. If freezing, read on. 

Storing Hamburger Patties
To store my patties, I cut up greaseproof paper squares and line the bottom of a freezer-safe container with it.

I place patties, separating each one with the squares to avoid them sticking together.

I cover the container, to avoid freezer burn and place in the freezer.

When I’m ready to use them, I set the container in the fridge overnight or for 4 – 6 hours to allow the patties thaw before I cook.

Coming up, a Nigerian Suya Burger Recipe. Wait for it, it’s delish.[wpurp-searchable-recipe]How to Make a Hamburger – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]