Burger Genius Chris Kronner’s Tips for Making the Best Burger
If anyone could create a hamburger-centric cult, it was chef Chris Kronner of KronnerBurger . His obsession is our reward, and he has put years of experimentation and professional experience into The Burger You Can Trust, a veritable opus of hamburger-centric recipes and tips.
Welcome to Burger Week! Grilling season is in full swing and we’re like hamburgers. Whether it’s picking the perfect patty, filling those patties with melted cheese, or making a vegetable proposition that doesn’t suck, we’ve got the tips, recipes and advice you need to create your best burger.
Hamburger lovers should definitely grab a book, but Chef Kronner was generous enough to call and share some delicious tips on how to best make burgers at home:
- Grind your beef: For the best burger, improve the meats and avoid pre-minced and prepackaged foods. “Most commercial ground beef has water added to prevent weight loss due to moisture loss,” explained Kronner. This means you pay for water, not meat. You can grind it yourself – if you don’t have a coffee grinder, Kronner’s book has a recipe for a hand-cut flatbread, but it needs to be cooked in a pan, or you can ask the butcher to grind it for you. Ask for “20-30% fat meats such as fatty chicken,” but you can also use seasoned ribs, ribs, brisket, or steak from New York. “Have them leave the greasy cap in place” and grind it with a medium-sized meat grinder plate (sometimes called a 3/16 plate).
- Use more salt: “We season quite heavily and we only season the outside of the pie with salt.” Use more than you think you need; a scant teaspoon per pie is what you need for a delicious, salty crust.
- Prepare steamed buns: Kronner colors rolls solid oil and roasts them in a pan or on a hot frying pan. Residual moisture will make the buns steam. If you are working with less fresh bread, add a little water to the skillet or skillet, cover the buns and let the steam soften and revitalize them, giving them a texture close to freshly baked.
- Don’t Sleep on Cheese Mayonnaise : The Kronnenburger is designed to optimize every aspect of the burger – from scones to pickles – but my favorite detail is the white cheddar cheese mayonnaise ( which you can learn how to make here ). If you don’t have the time – or just don’t want to – make your own mayonnaise, you can turn the cheese into store-bought mayonnaise using a food processor. “Store-bought mayonnaise is stable enough that you can add cheese without breaking it.”
Use these tips and you might be able to create your own burger cult, just remember to hang a photo of Kronner in your home; it is important to do justice where it is needed.