Hamburgers have become one of the world’s most popular foods. Nothing beats a juicy flavorful burger topped with melted cheese, lettuce tomato and almost any other fillings you can think of. All over the world, countries have turned the simple burger into a creation unlike any other. Australians put beetroot and egg atop a burger, in India they use chicken or vegetables, in Japan, you can order a rice burger, and for those wanting to walk on the wild side when visiting Hebei China, why not try the donkey burger.
For many families, a regular meal is burger night. But why head out and line up in drive-throughs and stand in lines to eat generic flavorless burgers from fast food outlets. Burgers full of salt, sugar, questionable meats and oversized portions, when you can create savory, juicy melt in your mouth burgers right in your home kitchen using your air fryer.
Not only does is this recipe combine healthy ingredients to create mouth-watering burgers, but it is easy, simple, affordable, low in fat, salt and sugar. Cooking these burger patties from scratch will have your family asking when is burger night next?
The BEST Homemade Hamburger Recipe
Course: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: MediumIngredients
- Burgers
1kg of ground beef chuck
200g of ground fatty pork mince (makes the hamburgers extra juicy)
4 cloves of garlic finely minced
1/2 cup of onion finely minced
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of Ketchup
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons of Hot English Mustard
1 cup of breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
1tsp pepper
- Toppings
6 slices of Honey smoked bacon
6 Slices of Sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
4 Tomatoes thinly sliced into 18 slices
6 Sesame-seed hamburger buns
- Caramelized Onions
1 whole Red Onion, Sliced
50g butter.
2 tbsp. Brown Sugar
3 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- Secret Sauce
1/2 cup mayo
4 tablespoons Ketchup
4 teaspoons Dill Pickle Relish
2 tsp Mustard
Directions
- Secret Sauce
- Add all ingredients to a bowl, and mix well. Wrap bowl with cling wrap, and place in the fridge until required.
- Caramelized Onions
- In a small pot over medium heat, melt butter and add the onions. Cook onions until translucent. Then add the sugar and balsamic vinegar. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the onion has browned and become caramelized. Place in a small bowl covered until ready to use.
- Hamburgers
- Combine minced onion and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Add minced beef and pork, mixing by hand combine the meat, garlic and onion.
- Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, Ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and Hot English Mustard. Mix well by hand and combine all ingredients evenly.
- Cover bowl with cling wrap, and refrigerate for 3-6 hours to infuse the flavors.
- Remove the hamburger meat from the fridge and add the 2 eggs to the meat using your hands and mix well to combine.
- Add breadcrumbs to the burger mixture, 3 tbsp at a time, mixing well between each addition, to ensure an even mixture that’s not wet.
- Split the mixture into six even piles, weighing with scales will ensure that your patties are even in weight and shape and will cook uniformly.
- Form the hamburger meat into round balls about a tennis ball size.
- Using a round lid 4-inch diameter with a 1/4-inch depth to form your burger. (small deli takeaway container lids work well). Cover each ball with waxed paper, and press down with the lid. This will form evenly uniformed shaped burgers, as well as keeping the meat cool (maintains the protein structure of the beef). Place in fridge for at least 15 – 20 minutes before cooking.
- Preheat Air Fryer to 180.C
- Place bacon into the basket of air fryer. Cook for 5 minutes, then turn the bacon. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Then remove bacon from the air fryer and place on a paper towel to drain any excess fat. Keep covered with aluminum foil to keep warm before using.
- Drain fat out of air fryer and clean before using to cook burgers.
- Place the burger patties on a baking tray that can fit into your air fryer, line the baking tray with a perforated baking sheet, arrange the burger patties so that they barely touch. Depending on the size of the fryer you may need to cook in two batches.
- Place a baking tray into the basket of the air fryer and close the lid. Cook burgers for 5 minutes then flip burgers over and cook for another 5 minutes, this will ensure medium-cooked burgers. Once burgers are cooked, remove from air fryer and place burger patties on a wire grill to drain.
- Whilst your burgers are cooking, split burger buns in half and lightly toast.
- Assemble the burger
- Butter each half of burger bun with the special sauce, place the burger patty on the base of the burger bun, top with cheese, then the tomato ( This will stick to the cheese), top with bacon, caramelized onion, and finish with lettuce. Top the burger with its lid and serve with French fries.
Tips and tricks
- Use freshly ground beef, buy the best meat your budget allows for and grind it yourself. Store-bought minced meat is often made from offcuts and can be high in fat and additives.
- A great burger tastes better if it contains some fat. Usually, a mix of 80/20 lean meat to fatty meat, creates a tasty, and juicy burger. I like to use fatty pork mince, not only does it give you a juicy tasty burger, it creates a bolder deeper flavor.
- If you don’t have breadcrumbs in your kitchen, use cracker biscuits. Just place them in a Ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.
- Use scales to weigh and divide into six even patties. , Weighing with scales will ensure that your patties are even in weight and shape and will cook uniformly.
- When forming the burgers into patties, leave the waxed paper in place. This will help stack the burgers if storing in the fridge and makes freezing burgers.
- When cooking, make sure to flip the burgers once after 4 more minutes. This will ensure a crust on the tops and bottom of the burger.
- If freezing, place burgers in a Ziplock bag with waxed paper between each burger to prevent burger patties from sticking. Burgers can be kept frozen for up to two months before use.