A Better Burger

Not long ago a friend of mine from high school raved about a burger he had grilled.  He shared the recipe but I couldn't remember the whole thing.  Then I saw a recipe for a "Best Burger Ever with a Special Sauce" on Pinterest. As I read it I realized it was very similar to the recipe my high school friend had shared.  And it just sounded good, so I thought, "Why not try it?"

I am not a risk taker in my regular life but for whatever reason in the kitchen, I am not afraid to try new things.  Sometimes it is with success.  Those are typically the recipes I share here. Other times, not so successful...I usually just leave those behind me. :)

Since I am sharing this, I think you can easily conclude it was a success.

I followed the recipe for the most part, just making some minor changes based upon comments I had read about it.

Oh, I will admit, I was a little nervous.  My husband is typically the burger maker in the house.  So I had high standards to uphold.

Anyway, this is nothing major but it was a nice change from just a plain old burger.

Oh, the reason I call it a Better Burger is simply because next time I will change it up just slightly and I did not make the special sauce since my family is so very picky...

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground beef (I made 8 hamburger patties with that...and I did NOT use the leanest beef.  This needs a little fat to it)

1/4 cup Sweet Ray's barbecue sauce (that was our favorite part...I am sure any barbecue sauce would work but I highly recommend Sweet Ray's)

about 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese (I used Cheddar Jack, and while it was okay, I don't know that the burger truly needed it IN the burger unless it is what holds it all together)

seasoned salt (to taste)

onion salt (to taste)

freshly ground peppercorn (to taste)

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients in a big bowl. Add barbecue sauce sparingly.  Though it is good and gives good flavor to the beef, too much and your burger will NOT stay together.

If I had had more time, I would have let it sit in the fridge for a while to really get that barbecue sauce mixed in with the beef.

Shape into patties (about 1 inch thick).

Make about 1/2 inch indention in the center of the patty.  I had a hard time doing that for some reason.

Cook on a grill, skillet, or griddle.  I had read several comments that this burger tended to fall apart, so I cooked it on our pancake griddle (electric) since we have had success with burgers on it.  It took a little while longer than a typical grill but nothing fell apart.  Cook until it is to the desired doneness, flipping at least once.

Serve on a bun.

Enjoy.

Like I said, nothing fancy.  But I will say the Sweet Ray's barbecue (nope, not getting paid to advertise) makes this burger.

Yum.

Reba