DJ BBQ Burger
This burger is a blend of different cuts of beef, so if you can’t source them from a butcher just go for a decent fatty ground beef.
Ingredients
For the beef patties
- 800 grams (1lb 12oz) ground beef Ask your butcher to prepare the following mix of cuts (preferably 21–28-day dry-aged beef). You can do it yourself if you prefer – follow the weights and/or percentages below and simply put it all through a coarse grain mincer (meat grinder)
- 240 grams (8 1/2 oz) chuck (30%)
- 160 grams (5 1/2 oz) short rib (20%)
- 120 grams (4 1/2 oz) brisket (15%)
- 120 grams (4 1/2 oz) flank (15%)
- 160 grams (5 1/2 oz) suet or bone marrow (20%)
- Sea salt and black pepper
For the aioli (Optional, you can also use mayonnaise)
- 1 whole garlic bulb
- 75 ml (2 1/2 fl oz/scant 1/3 cup) olive oil
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon water
- Sea salt
For the onions
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Knob of butter
- 2 red onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
For serving
- 4 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 4 slices Monterey Jack cheese
- 8 dry-cured streaky bacon rashers (slices)
- 4 demi-brioche seeded burger buns
- 4 lettuce leaves
- 1 beef tomato, sliced
Instructions
- First off, let’s get the garlic for the aioli roasted. Get a load of coals rocking on your grill or preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF/gas mark 4). Loosely wrap the garlic bulb in foil and chuck it in the oven or nestle it in the coals. Leave it there for an hour. Remove and let it cool.
- When it has cooled, peel four of the cloves – or you can just squeeze the oozy garlic into a bowl. Smash the garlic until super smooth. Add the rest of the aioli ingredients, and blend together well until smooth and gooey.
- Season with salt and stir in the lemon juice. There’s your condiment – aioli. It’s enough for this recipe – but you might as well use up all your oozy cloves and make loads cos it’s phenomenal on everything apart from breakfast cereal. Although I’ve never tried that, so maybe it’s great!
- Now, let’s get the onions going. Place a small frying pan over indirect heat on the grill, or on a low to medium heat on the hob. Pour in the olive oil, then chuck in the knob of butter. When the butter has melted, add in the sliced onions and brown sugar. Slow-cook and stir until soft and golden – it should take around 20 minutes. Once golden, stir in the Worcestershire sauce, then keep this on a super-low heat until you are ready to serve.
- Divide the beef mince into four meaty balls and flatten them into patties a little bit larger than the buns, as you will get shrinkage as the fats render. Season with salt and pepper.
- Have your yellow mustard ready in a bowl with a basting brush. This is an awesome hack for making killer burgers – loads of top chefs use this mustard-basting technique.
- Get your grill nice and hot, or set your griddle pan over a high heat on the hob, then slap your patties on. If you’re cooking outdoors, the meat might stick to the grill – don’t worry, the grill will release the meat when it’s ready. You want to sear the bottom of the patties and get a nice crust (around 1–2 minutes), then flip them over and brush on some of the mustard.
- When the other side has developed a crust (after another 1–2 minutes), flip the burger again and brush on more mustard. Now it’s all about cooking that sweet, sharp, tangy goodness into the meat until it’s where you want it. Give the burger a couple of flips until the mustard is pretty much cooked into the patty.
- When they’re almost cooked – after about 8 minutes – add the cheese slices on top of each burger and cover with a cloche or big old metal bowl to speed up the melt on the cheese (it’ll take max 30 seconds). Use a temperature probe to make sure the burgers are perfectly cooked – check the internal meat temperatures below – then remove and keep warm.
- Slam your bacon onto the grill or griddle until crispy. Remove onto paper towels to drain. Now toast your buns and lay them out for the build. Spread the bottom bun with the aioli, then add the lettuce and cheesy burger. Top with the bacon, tomato, sautéed onions, and finally the lid. You’ll probably need a carjack to open up your jaw for this one – I should call it the lockjaw burger! Enjoy.
Notes
Recipe and image used with permission from The Burger Book by Christian Stevenson (DJ BBQ), published by Quadrille, May 2019. Photos by David Loftus.