How to Grill a Great Hamburger

While there are dozens of varations--from chili burgers to pizza burgers--most start with a grilling a basic hamburger. In this article, I'll share the simple and easy recipe to a great grilled burger. This particular recipe serves 4 people.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• 1 1/3 lbs. ground chuck
• 4 hamburger buns
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• Toppings such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, pickles, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce

1. Prepare a hot fire for your grill. Make sure the grill set is oiled to avoid sticking.
2. Lightly mix ground beef, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Divide the mixture into four and form it into patties. These should be between 3/4 and 1 inch thick.
3. Four to five inches away from the coals, place the patties on the grill. To get a medium burger takes about 10-12 minutes, turning the burger once. Well-done takes about 12-14 minutes.
4. As the burgers are cooking, you can toast your buns on the sides of the grill until the're lightly browned. Serve off the grill, and let everyone pick their toppings.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to add cheese to the burger, place the slice on top of the burger about 30 seconds before you put it on the bun.
• Once you get good at this, you can experiment with different flavors and toppings. I like barbecue bacon cheeseburgers with mushrooms. One of the most surprising spices a friend of ours tried was a dash of cinnamon--it was actually really good and brought out the flavor of the burger!