Burgers and Hotdogs
The Classic American Dinner
You can't have grilling without burgers and hot dogs. At any summer party or barbeque, you are destined to see these two foods. So lets learn how to make them.
Buying:
Burgers and hot dogs are pretty simple foods, so the key for a quality meal is to get quality ingredients. Make sure to get the meat from butchers you trust.
When purchasing the burger meat look for ground beef that is 80/20 or 80% meat and 20% fat. This will give you juicy meat, without it being too greasy.
For the hotdogs, I recommend not getting hotdogs. This may seem counterintuitive, but this is the best choice for avoiding the questionable process associated with many hotdog brands. Instead, I recommend buying mild Italian sausages as it captures the spirit of the dish, but tastes much better.
For toppings, it's your choice. I choose to keep it classic with lettuce and tomato for the burgers and sauerkraut and mustard for the sausage.
Lastly, when purchasing buns I get brioche burgers and hot dog buns. This provides buttery bread to put the meat on.
Prepping:
Before starting to cook, a little bit of prep is needed.
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First, the hotdogs are already good to go. Just let them come to room temp, which will most likely mean taking them out as you start to prep.
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Second, weigh out quarter-pound balls of the ground beef and place them on individually cut pieces of parchment paper. Then, flatten them so they become a little bit bigger than the diameter of the buns you are using. Then, salt and pepper one side of the meat. Don’t worry we will season the other side once its on the grill. The reason I do this is that it makes the transport and transfer of the meat much easier.
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Third, prep the vegetables. Wash and dry the tomatoes, and cut them perpendicular to the stem. This helps keep the tomato intact. Also, use a cerated (bread) knife for a much cleaner and smoother cut.
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Lastly, spread some softened butter onto the face of the bread to help it crisp.
Grilling:
Alright time to grillight the charcoal and let them get hot. I aim for around 450 degrees or higher but leave 1/4 of the grill not lit which will create an off-heat zone for the sausages.
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First, place the hot dogs on the indirect heat zone and leave them untouched for 4-5 minutes.
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Second, flip the sausages and put the patties onto the grill. Salt and pepper on the other side of the patties. Leave to cook for 2-3 minutes.
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Third, flip the burgers, and put the hot dog buns on the grill. Watch them carefully as they will heat up quickly. Leave the burgers for another 1-2 minutes.
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Fourth, take the sausages, and buns off. Add the chees to the burgers, and put the burger buns on the grill. Let the cheese melt, and then assemble.
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Fifth, enjoy!
Ingredients:
Ground beef
Mild Italian sausages
Lettuce
Tomato
Salt
Pepper
Ketchup
Mustard
Sauerkraut