America's Test Kitchen

-Today on "America's Test Kitchen," Joe makes Julia grind-your-own sirloin burgers... Jack shares his favorite burger condiments... and Becky makes the ultimate veggie burgers.

It's all coming up right here on "America's Test Kitchen."

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-For an everyday burger, buying ground meat at the supermarket is just fine, but for a magnificent burger, you have to grind your own.

And today Joe's going to show us how it's done.

-That's right.

The main reason is taste.

And we are choosing a tasty cut.

We've got 2 pounds of flat meat.

-Right.

-So you can ask the butcher or check in the chiller cabinet at your supermarket.

-Right.

And it's from the lower part of the sirloin.

-That's right.

Exactly.

-Yeah.

-So the first thing you want to do is trim the meat because we don't want any of the excess gristle or fat that sometimes these cuts have on them.

So you just want to just pick it up and just use the knife.

-There's just not a lot on that, is there?

-Yeah, exactly.

You do want to check on both sides.

So that looks pretty good on that side.

-Nicely marbled, I might say.

-Flip it over.

Yeah, this is actually a pretty good one.

So we're going to pick it up there and slice it off.

You don't really want to take off too much of the meat because that's the good stuff.

So now we're going to cut this into 1/2-inch pieces.

-Mm-hmm.

-Slices down the middle.

There we go.

And we can just cut that down there.

-[ Chuckles ] My mouth is salivating just looking at the marbling on that beef.

-And now we can just slice them across into these little 1/2-inch cubes.

That's our first pound, already cubed.

And I did the second pound earlier.

-Okay.

So 2 pounds total.

-This is going to be for four burgers.

Four pretty hefty burgers, though.

-Yeah.

Nice.

-And we'll transfer all of the meat on a rimmed baking sheet.

When you grind meat, you really don't want it to be too warm.

Otherwise, it can turn to a paste.

-Mm-hmm.

-So we're going to freeze this.

And we want to freeze these until they're pretty firm but not fully frozen.

I'm going to wash my hands and put them in the freezer.

It's been about 40 minutes, and the meat is pretty firm, firm around the edges, but still pliable.

We're going to use not a meat grinder to grind our meat, but a food processor.

-Love it.

-And to be successful, you need to do it in batches.

This way, the meat doesn't over-process and turn to a paste.

I'm going to add 1/4 of the meat.

We'll have to pulse it maybe 20 times.

[ Whirring ] -Oh, you can see it just starting to come together at the end.

That is the clue.

-Yeah, exactly.

The more you process it, the more the sticky protein myosin is formed, and that will help the burgers stick together.

But we don't want too much because otherwise they'll turn into more like a sausage meat, which is great for sausages, but not good for a meaty, tender burger.

-Yeah, a little too rubbery.

-Exactly.

And we'll continue to do this until all the batches are done.

That's the fourth batch done.

Tip it out there.

Now we'll spread it out.

And any little bits of gristle or large pockets of fat that we don't want in our burgers, we can take out now.

When we developed this recipe, we just wanted to choose a single cut.

And sirloin steak tips was a great choice here for their amazing beefy flavor.

-Mm-hmm.

-The problem is they're a little lean -- only have a fat content of about 5% to 10%.

And for a juicy burger, you really want it 15% to 20%.

-Mmm!

-So we'll make up that difference using melted butter.

I'm going to just sprinkle these 4 tablespoons of butter on top.

And it congeals pretty much the moment it hits the cold meat.

-Oh!

Yeah!

-The meat's still pretty cold from the freezer.

And now we can just use a fork to toss it together so it becomes evenly coated.

-Very clever!

It forms little, tiny butter pockets.

-Exactly, and those pockets of fat, they're going to render out and just keep the meat juicy.

Almost like you're basting it with butter as you're cooking it.

Okay.

That looks pretty well-coated now.

-Mm-hmm!

-We're going to make four burgers -- four beefy burgers.

-Yeah!

-We're going to separate it into quarters.

So I'm just going to gently pack it into a lightly formed ball so we don't form too much of that myosin.

And we're going to gently pat it down into a 3/4-inch-thick patty.

-That's a thick burger!

-Yeah!

Well, we are going to make sure this meat really counts because we put a lot of care into the preparation of it and we're going to put a lot of care into how we cook it, too.

I'm just going to finish this off with a divot.

So you just want maybe a 1/2-inch indent.

And this is because, when you cook the burgers, the sides and the bottom of the meat will contract against the hot pan, and this will cause the top to bulge.

This way, they'll still bulge, but they'll bulge to flat instead of domed.

We'll finish these burgers off, and we can get cooking.

I love a good crust on a burger, and how you prep the pan really affects that.

-Mm-hmm!

-So I'm going to heat a teaspoon of vegetable oil in this pan over high heat until it's just smoking.

-Alright.

-We want a hot pan -- screaming hot.

Now, these burgers hold really well.

-Mm-hmm.

-I don't know about you, but I don't think I can manage more than one of these.

-[ Laughs ] Same.

-So we're going to cook two now, and the other two we can refrigerate for up to a day or you can freeze them for up to two weeks.

If you want to freeze them, just pop them in a zipper-lock bag and separate them with parchment paper so they don't stick together.

-Makes sense.

-We always like to season our meat just before cooking.

If you add salt to a burger, it will draw out some of its moisture, and that can make the burger a little bit tough.

And that's not what we want here.

Always a good idea to season from up high.

That way, you'll get an even distribution of salt and pepper.

And make sure you get them on both sides.

The pan is just starting to smoke, so we know it's really nice and hot.

-[ Sizzling ] -Oh, yeah.

-Ohh, yeah!

-We are cookin' now.

We want to cook these until they're well-browned on that first side.

You want a nice, even browning.

It's been about three minutes, and the burgers are ready to flip.

And you can see they've even started bulging up at the divots.

-Yeah.

-When I've got something big and awkward to flip... -Mm-hmm.

-...I like to use two spatulas.

You get much more control that way, and you minimize chance of grease splatters.

-Mm-hmm.

Oh, nicely done!

-Oh, yeah!

We want these browned on the second side as much as they were on the first side.

This will take another 2 to 4 minutes.

-Alright.

-It's been another 3 minutes, and the burgers are ready.

I'm going to transfer these to a rimmed baking sheet so they don't continue cooking.

These burgers look pretty cooked, but they're still raw on the inside.

This is the time to add the cheese.

-Ahh!

-So I've got two slices of deli cheese.

We'll just put it on top.

And that will melt as the burger cooks through in the oven.

To finish them off, we're going to cook them in a 300-degree oven on the middle rack.

It'll take about 3 to 5 minutes to get them to medium rare.

Okay.

These burgers look ready.

Let's verify that.

-Oh-ho-ho!

-Nice and juicy.

-They look beautiful!

-Let's see what they're at.

-For medium rare, you're looking for...?

-120 to 125.

And where are we at?

We are at 124.

Perfect!

-Nice!

-Okay.

We'll transfer these to a platter.

Pretty much all meat benefits from a rest.

That way, it'll better hold onto its juices.

We're looking for about a 5-minute rest.

-Okay.

-Whilst that happens, we've got these beautiful burgers.

Let's make a beautiful sauce.

-Mmm!

-I love a good burger sauce.

You call this chef's sauce, secret sauce, chef's secret special sauce.

Doesn't really matter.

The one thing you do need to remember is the golden ratio of burger sauces.

-Okay.

What is it?

-It's 2-to-1.

-Okay.

-Two parts mayo to one part ketchup.

-That's it?

-That's it.

I've got 2 tablespoons of mayo here.

-Mm-hmm.

-I've got 1 tablespoon of ketchup.

-Mm-hmm.

-And to that we're going to add 1/2 teaspoon of sweet pickle relish.

We're going to add more sweet in the form of 1/2 teaspoon of sugar... and more sour in the form of 1/2 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar.

-Oh, I'm glad you added the vinegar.

-Like, a little bit sweet, but that tang will take the edge off.

-Yeah.

-And to finish off, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.

I'm just going to mix it up.

That should turn into a beautiful Thousand Island-esque... -Ohh!

-...orange-y, green-y color.

Now we can start building our burgers!

-Alright!

-So, I've got some toasted brioche buns.

-Mm-hmm.

Mmm!

-I feel like a burger of this caliber really wants a bun of similar quality.

-I agree.

-I like to start with the lettuce -- protective layer from those extra juices.

Transfer our burgers over.

Top with -- I think just one tomato slice.

-Okay.

-Looks right to me.

Red onion.

Just give it a little bit of that extra allium bite.

And, of course, a good burger needs a good pickle.

Frankly, I like to just eat them on the side.

-Alright, Joe.

Let's see how this is.

Oh-ho!

It's juicy.

-It's juicy.

-Which I like.

[Chuckling] Mmm!

-Mm-hmm?

-Mmm.

Mmm!

-Juicy.

Meaty.

Nice crust on top.

Nice crust on bottom.

-You can't get flavor like this from store-bought ground meat.

I mean, it actually tastes like steak.

-That's right.

-I love that charred exterior, the flavor of it, but the inside is good and juicy and tender.

This burger is magnificent, Joe.

Thank you.

-Yeah, it's worthy of a special occasion.

-It is!

So, if you want to give this special-occasion burger a try, grind sirloin flap meat in the food processor... then drizzle with melted butter... and brown the burgers in a skillet before finishing them in the oven.

From "America's Test Kitchen," a spectacular grind-your-own sirloin burger.

This is definitely party-worthy.

-Well, we've got two more in the fridge.

-Yes!

-Should we do it again tomorrow?

-Yes, please.

Same time?

-Sounds good.

-[ Chuckles ] -Is there anything sadder than a burger on a plain bun?

I don't think so.

And I have news for you.

Lettuce and tomato -- they're not going to make things better.

They're just going to slide off.

What you want is a punchy condiment, something with acidity to cut through all the fat in the meat and something with a lot of umami to make the meat even meatier.

So let me take you through my favorite choices and the Test Kitchen's top-rated brands.

Now, where are we going to start?

You guessed it.

Ketchup.

Heinz Organic was actually the Test Kitchen's number-one choice.

Regular Heinz came in number two.

This one has a little bit more salt than regular Heinz, which is why we think it did well.

It's sweet.

It's acidic.

It's got all of the umami from those tomatoes.

Next up, an unexpected choice and actually one I prefer to ketchup, which is coarse ground mustard.

Now, a lot of coarse ground mustard is really coarse.

And what I love about the Grey Poupon, which is the Test Kitchen winner, is it has those little pops of those mustard seeds, but it's bound in a creamy sauce, and so it will stick to the patty.

Mayonnaise.

If you want a "special sauce" like you get in a fast-food restaurant, it's ketchup, relish, and mayonnaise.

And Blue Plate, available in the South, is our number-one choice.

Hellmann's is number two.

My favorite special sauce starts with mayonnaise but then adds Sriracha.

I love the Kikkoman, the Test Kitchen winner.

It's got garlic, a little bit of sweetness, and it's nice and thick, unlike a lot of other hot sauces, so it's going to make a very thick special sauce for your favorite burger.

You want something smoky?

You want to bring out the grill notes, let's say?

Or maybe you're indoors and you can't grill?

Barbecue sauce.

It's like ketchup, but it's got that smoke element and a little bit of heat.

The Bull's-Eye is our number-one choice.

Finally, I'm going to end with two unexpected choices.

Chili crisp.

And you can make this yourself.

Or you can buy this.

What I love about chili crisp is it's got so much complexity.

There's so much going on.

There's shallots, garlic, chili powder, Sichuan peppercorns, peanuts.

It is amazing on top of a burger.

Lastly, compound butter.

Now, I always have compound butter in the freezer.

And I especially love this one with anchovies.

Remember -- umami.

Lemon zest.

Remember -- acidity.

Parsley and garlic.

And a burger -- more butter is going to make it better, right?

The fat.

Put this on not only the patty, but on the bun, and you've got an amazing burger made even more delicious with my favorite condiment.

There you have it.

Condiments.

So there are no sad burgers in your future.

-The first commercial VegeBurger was developed by an Englishman named Gregory Sams, and it debuted back in 1982.

Now, fast-forward to today, and you'll find vegetable-based burgers everywhere, from your local supermarket to a fast-food chain.

And they vary dramatically in terms of taste and texture, don't they, Becky?

-They really do.

But today we're going to make the ultimate veggie burger.

So get ready.

-Ooh!

What does that mean?

-It means this is going to be the best one you ever tasted.

I promise.

Alright?

-Okay.

I see some lentils in front of you.

-Yeah.

It's based on some nice, complex, savory flavors.

It has a really satisfying texture.

Lentils.

They have a nice earthy taste.

And bulgur -- that's a little bit nutty.

And you can make them in advance and freeze them so then you have a quick weeknight dinner whenever you want.

Let's get going.

We'll cook the lentils first.

So I have 3/4 cup of brown lentils.

And I picked through them already and made sure there were no little stones in here.

-Have you ever found a stone?

-Oh, yeah!

-You have?

-Oh, definitely.

-Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

-Have you started skipping that step?

-I have actually.

I've never found a stone, so I just...

Okay.

I'll start.

-Oh, def-- Yeah.

You put them on a white plate or a baking sheet, pick through them very carefully, and you'll start finding stuff.

-I wonder what I've been eating all these years!

-Okay.

-[ Laughter ] -That's 3/4 cup of brown lentils -- nice and clean and picked over.

And a teaspoon of salt.

And I'll turn that on high heat.

Alright.

And we'll bring that up to a boil.

And then I'm going to turn that down to medium-low and let that simmer until the lentils are tender.

That'll take about 25 minutes.

So now I have 3/4 cup of bulgur.

-Mm-hmm.

-And this is going to form the other part of our burger base.

-Alright.

-So I'm adding the bulgur to 2 cups of boiling water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

And then I'm going to kill the heat.

This just needs to absorb that water.

It's going to absorb most of it, not all of it.

So I'm going to cover that and let that sit for 15 to 20 minutes, and it will have absorbed most of the water by then.

Okay.

It's been 20 minutes.

And our bulgur has absorbed almost all that water.

-Yeah.

It really fluffed up.

-Yeah, it looks great.

So I'm going to take it over here and just drain off any extra water that might be in there.

Just want to press on it a little bit -- because we don't want soggy veggie burgers.

-No!

-These are the ultimate.

They can't be soggy.

-[ Chuckles ] Yeah.

-Okay.

So that looks good.

We've drained out all the water.

And I'm just going to put this into a bowl.

Want this to cool down to room temperature.

Now I'm going to grab our lentils.

Let's drain those, as well.

These cooked for 25 minutes.

So I'll just give those a little shake, get rid of any extra water.

Now we'll put these guys on a baking sheet with a paper towel to get them nice and dry.

I'm just going to spread them out.

And these will take about 20 minutes to cool down.

Alright.

So while those cool, let's prep some savory veggies to give these burgers a lot of nice flavor.

.-Okay.

-So we're going to start with a leek.

This is one small leak.

I just want to use the white and pale-green parts.

-Mm-hmm.

-I'm just going to trim off the base, as well, because we don't need that.

And then I'm going to cut this in half.

So I'm just going to cut this into strips like this.

And then I'll turn them like this.

And this will create a nice fine chop there.

Alright.

Now, these leeks weren't too dirty.

They can be super-dirty.

-Yeah.

-But, of course, we want to clean them because we don't want any dirt in our burgers.

So I'm just going to put them into a little water bath here.

-Yeah.

Most leeks are grown in really sandy soil.

And that soil can work its way up into the layers, and you can't get rid of it until after you chop it.

-Okay.

Like I said, those weren't too dirty, but that'll be good.

I'm just gonna let them drain there for a second.

Alright.

Let's saut these vegetables.

I have a tablespoon of vegetable oil.

I'm just going to heat that to medium-high.

Let's put in one celery stock that's been minced up.

I have two onions.

-That's a lot of onion!

-Yeah!

Two cloves of garlic minced up.

And then here's that leek that I chopped up and cleaned.

Alright.

So I'm going to cook this over medium-high heat.

I want the veggies to soften and just start to get a little brown around the edges.

That's going to take about 10 minutes.

So, I have a pound of cremini mushrooms.

You could also use white mushrooms.

And I just want to slice them up.

I'm going to do the last couple here.

I'm just slicing these 1/4-inch thick.

If they had some really tough stems on the bottom, I would trim those away, as well, but these seem fine.

Alright, Julia, it's been 10 minutes, and you can see we're getting some nice browning.

-Yeah, they've really cooked down.

-Yeah, they have.

They're nice and soft and a little bit brown, and they smell amazing.

So let's just put these on a tray to cool.

Remember, we have to shape these into burgers, so we can't have this stuff piping-hot.

We have to let it cool down to room temperature.

-Oh, that makes sense.

-Yeah.

Spread that out a little bit.

Now I have another tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Still over medium-high heat.

And we'll cook our mushrooms that we sliced.

We're going to cook these for about 12 minutes until they get nice and brown.

And these are going to shrink down quite a bit, as well.

Alright.

Look at these beauties.

It's been 12 minutes.

-Those are gorgeous!

-They are.

Nice and brown.

They shrank quite a bit.

-Mm-hmm!

-Those look really good.

Alright.

Turn off the heat.

And I'm going to put these to cool, as well.

It's going to take about 20 minutes for those mushrooms to come down to room temperature.

Alright.

Our veggies are all cooled down to room temperature.

It's been about 20 minutes.

The lentils.

The bulgur.

We got everything ready to go.

-Alright!

-So I'm going to just add one more element -- raw cashews.

And they have that nice sort of texture.

It's hard to describe.

-Creamy.

-Yes, that's it!

A cup of those into the food processor.

And I'm going to pulse that 15 times.

Alright.

15 times.

And you see how they're mostly broken up, but not completely?

-Mm-hmm.

-That's exactly what we want.

Just to give a little bit of texture.

And I have that bulgur that we cooked earlier.

I put it into a nice big bowl so we can add all of our ingredients.

So let's put the cashews in.

And I also have 1/3 cup of mayonnaise.

And that's going to give some nice fat to the veggie burgers.

It's going to help bind everything together.

Alright.

So I'm just going to give that a stir.

That is nicely mixed up.

Now let's add our mushrooms and our leeks, onions, and garlic.

Yum!

-[ Chuckles ] -Put all those in.

Alright.

Here come the mushrooms.

-Oh, those mushrooms are beautiful.

-Yeah.

So there's a lot here.

We're going to make 12.

Alright.

So here's those lentils.

-Mm-hmm.

-Nice and dry.

They're not sticking to each other.

And, that way, they won't add any extra moisture.

So I'm giving this a pretty good mix.

-Those are some pretty big pieces of vegetables still in those burgers.

-Well, don't worry.

I'm about to put this back in the food processor.

-A-ha!

That'll give it a nice cohesive texture.

-Yeah.

We want to chop this up.

These mushrooms are way too big to use as is.

So let's do this half and half.

Alright.

That looks about right.

And now I'm going to pulse this 15 times.

-Okay, so there's still distinct pieces of mushroom, and you can make out the leeks.

-Yep.

-But it is much more cohesive and sticky.

-Yes.

Alright.

In goes the second half.

Alright.

And you can see how sticky it is.

But we have two cups of panko, which seems like a lot, but that's going to soak up all the moisture.

-Okay.

-And you're not going to be able to identify the panko in the finished burger.

And then a teaspoon of salt.

I'm just mixing it in so that that panko can absorb any moisture.

Okay.

I think we're ready to start making some burgers.

Want to help me do this?

-Sure.

-Okay.

We're going to use some 1/2-cup measuring cups to make life simple.

-Mm-hmm.

-This is going to make 12.

Just scoop right in there.

-Okay.

-And then we want to make these 4 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.

-Okay.

-Those can be our prototypes.

-I see you have a ruler.

-[ Laughs ] I'm going to be checking!

-Are you?

Let's see how I did.

Ha ha!

-Oh!

Nailed it.

-On the money!

-You could make burgers with me any day.

[ Laughter ] -Alright.

Four down, eight to go.

-Okay.

[ Laughs ] So, are you ready for some veggie burgers?

-I am.

-Alright.

We're going to cook these up.

I have 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil heating in a nonstick skillet here over medium-high heat.

So let's get these guys in the pan.

So we're going to cook them 4 minutes.

We'll flip them over and cook them 4 minutes on the other side.

-Alright.

-Okay.

It's been 4 minutes.

Let's take a look here.

-I can see them getting golden right around the edges.

-I know.

You can see those edges peeking out.

I'm going to use two spatulas.

It's going to help me give these... -Catch and release.

-Yeah.

Just so they don't break.

Ooh!

-Ohh-ho-ho-ho!

-I like how that looks.

-That just made my mouth start to water!

-Ooh!

-Those look beautiful.

-Yeah, that looks great, doesn't it?

Let's give these another 4 minutes so they get nice and crusty on the other side.

And remember, everything is already cooked inside the burgers.

So we just want to get that nice crust, and then we'll be good to go.

-Okay.

-It's been another 4 minutes, and they're nice and brown on the other side.

-Mm-hmm!

-Alright.

Let's get these on the buns.

We have some nice toasted buns here.

I don't know about you.

I love mayonnaise on every burger.

-Piece of lettuce?

-Yeah.

-Two pieces of lettuce.

This lettuce is gorgeous.

Nice, thick slice of tomato.

And then...pickled onions!

-Hmm!

Buckle up.

[ Laughter ] -Alright.

-Okay.

Here we go.

-Mmm!

-Mmm!

-Becky, that's delicious!

-Mm-hmm.

-It has such a hearty, meaty flavor.

You can't taste the lentils or the bulgur individually.

-Yeah.

-Altogether it just tastes hearty, but also it tastes healthy.

-Yeah, but in a good way.

-Yeah.

-You've got, like, some nuttiness in there.

It's so savory from all those vegetables that we sauted.

-Becky, this is indeed the ultimate.

Thank you.

-My pleasure.

-If you want to make a killer veggie burger, start by cooking the bulgur, lentils, and mushrooms separately.

Chop the ingredients together in a food processor and add panko just before shaping the patties.

From "America's Test Kitchen," the ultimate veggie burger.

You can find this recipe and all the recipes from this season, along with our product reviews and select episodes at our website -- americastestkitchen.com.

[Chuckling] Yeah!

-[ Chuckles ] Mmm!

-Let us help you with dinner tonight.

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