Burger Toppings and Fixin's: The Topic

[Ovenfrenzy]

American cheese, sliced Bermuda onion(usually raw but sauteed if I have time), mayo, a dab of whatever mustard I grab first from the fridge. That's my standard for regular ground chuck burgers- but if I'm having veggie burgers they get dressed up more. Whole wheat buns, alfalfa sprouts, sliced tomato, red onion, avocado slivers, Montery Jack cheese. Sometimes, when I really want to indulge, I have a burger with bacon, cheddar, and loads of sauteed onions, mustard and mayo. My favorite buns are onion or poppy seed. I believe it is your civic duty to dress up the ground beef with some spices and worchestershire sauce...when I see someone forming plain patties with no seasoning I get a sinking feeling.

[srhcb]

Anyone make their own burger buns? I use the recipe from "City Cuisine". A good bun hides a multitude of sins.

Often when I'm making a 2 loaf bread recipe I just make 1 loaf and 6-8 buns.

Cheese, herb or tomato breads make interesting buns. For something really different try pumpernickel with a really rare burger and nothing else but raw onion!

[Alex]

Truffle oil mayonnaise.

Oh yeah! Add one item to my must-try list.

[Maison Rustique]

bleu cheese

mayo

red onion*

the bun must be lightly toasted

*Why do they call it red onion when it's actually purple?

[NulloModo]

Anyone make their own burger buns? I use the recipe from "City Cuisine". A good bun hides a multitude of sins.

But oftentimes the bun can be the sin in and off itself.

I find a lot of places put the burger on a bun that is simply the wrong size, either so big and crusty that all you taste is bread, and no beef, or small and then to the point where the juiciness of the beef renders it into oily shreds after a few bites.

[browniebaker]

sometimes pimiento cheese (a Southern thang), sometimes plain extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

ketchup, mustard, *and* mayo

grilled sliced onions

three dill pickle slices

on a warmed soft white bun

[Bicycle Lee]

lettuce (greenleaf), tomato (room temp slices), onion (red), pickles (the presliced sweet tangy ones).

I like cheese (cheddar, blue, swiss) but not 100% of the time. I like mayo and ketchup, and ketchup and mustard, but not mayo ketchup and mustard.

Sometimes bacon and barbecue sauce...and the one thing I always crave on a cheeseburger is a fried egg, but I restrain myself more often than not.

AND I LOVE FRY SAUCE!!!

there I said it.

[Jason Perlow]

one question: are turkey burgers sacrilege?

Only to the turkey ...

I actually think Turkey can make a decent burger, but not ground turkey breast. Has to be ground whole turkey, or combined with ground pork, because it needs substantial fat content.

Ground pork actually I think makes a better burger than turkey, and you can do some cool stuff with it, like make asian-flavor burgers.

This is a Pork/Turkey burger that I made Vietnamese/Thai style, using this seasoning recipe for "Larb Balls"

http://recipes.egullet.com/recipes/r563.html

[sashimi]

Wow, so many ketchup-haters. I actually love ketchup on a burger. In fact, it is one of the few toppings I enjoy.

Thus, for me, an ideal burger would be:

Aged cheddar

Ketchup

Quality pickles

Sweet onion

Dat's it.

[jbonne]

Truffle oil mayonnaise.

right on!

one local place makes truffle oil mini cheeseburgers, which are delectable!

besides that: dab of ketchup, spreading of dijon mustard, slice of green tomato. a bit of West Coast blue cheese (like a Rogue River or a Point Reyes) is ok now and then, as is a bit of very good bacon on an extremely occasional basis.

of course, the beef should be comparatively lean and flavorful enough to stand on its own.

then there's lamb burgers, which i find a bit preferable for their slightly more remarkable flavor.

[Pickles]

I actually think Turkey can make a decent burger, but not ground turkey breast. Has to be ground whole turkey

I don't like the crunch of the beaks. I always put mayo, Heinz catsup and dill pickle relish on my burger. Hold that mustard! I just doesn't go with ground beef for me.

[fifi]

Thin patty nicely browned on a griddle, onion, lettuce, cheddar cheese, bacon, mayo, toated bun with sesame seeds.

Then there is the bean burger that I get at Tookies in Seabrook TX... griddled patty, onion, cheddar cheese, refried beans, picante sauce and... FRITOS! I am not kidding. I have been eating these for about 25 years.

[slyaspie]

Thin, well-seasoned patty with a very nice grill flavor, a big smear of smushed up avocado and two slices tomato on the bottom, on the top: havarti cheese, pickle slices, and either dijon or sweet n' hot mustard, sprinkle on some pepper. The bun should be toasted.

never lettuce, never onions, never jalapenos.

I will however accept in other combinations, yellow mustard, ketchup, sauteed mushrooms, almost any kind of cheese, and bacon.

NO MAYO EVER

[daniellewiley]

My first post to eGullet!!

I'm so thrilled to be reading about these fabulous burgers. The agency I work at part time is having it's Fourth of July BBQ today, and I am dreading the fare. They are serving brats (I'm from NY, and just haven't gotten used to these) and "burgers." The "burgers" came in a box, frozen, and are called Value Burgers. They contain a lot of ingredients that aren't meat, and that should never be served with meat. I plan on eating the Tomato, Corn and Avocado salad that I brought in, and maybe some fruit. And I'll be thinking enviously of the great burgers you all are describing!!

My perfect burger - medium rare with bleu cheese, guacamole and bacon on an onion roll.

[Chef Shogun]

My burger universe is largely defined by the menu at Lindy's. Of 25 or so burger-toppings combos availible (In meat, veggie, and I think chicken breast forms), these make up the bulk of my regular rotation.

The Southwestern: chili, chedddar, and onions.

Au Poive: black pepper and bacon.

Yogurt: Tzaziki sauce, and the L and T.

Manhattan: Sour cream and onion.

The Robert: BBQ sauce and mushrooms

One of the above will be lunch today (How could I not, after this thread?) Tune in next week to find out the answer to this, and other questions.

As far as my own burger-craftings go, I like stuffed. Mushroom and balsamic-glazed onion stuffed burger w/ a good cheddar on top, for example, and roasted new potato wedges.

"Hi, I'd like to place an order for pickup" --Me, to Lindy's

"Ok, hurry!" --Lady on other end

Only at Lindy's would that be totally worth it. T'was wholly unexpected (Service is generally pretty good, I think), but hey...for a #3 and fries, I can deal with a harried phone-picker-upper.

[enrevanche]

Thick slice raw sweet onion (Vidalia, Texas Sweet, etc.)

Sliced tomato, lightly salted and peppered

Crisp lettuce

Dijon mustard

[Alex]

My first post to eGullet!! 

I'm so thrilled to be reading about these fabulous burgers. The agency I work at part time is having it's Fourth of July BBQ today, and I am dreading the fare. They are serving brats (I'm from NY, and just haven't gotten used to these) and "burgers." The "burgers" came in a box, frozen, and are called Value Burgers. They contain a lot of ingredients that aren't meat, and that should never be served with meat. I plan on eating the Tomato, Corn and Avocado salad that I brought in, and maybe some fruit.    And I'll be thinking enviously of the great burgers you all are describing!!

My perfect burger - medium rare with bleu cheese, guacamole and bacon on an onion roll.

Welcome to eGullet, Danielle!

I just read your web site journal. It looks like you're in or near Toledo, fortunately and conveniently located near all those cool Heartland gatherings.

I'm originally from NYC as well but have lived most of my adult life in Michigan. Brats are great, but imho only if you get them freshly made from butchers who know what they're doing.

Is there any way you could bring your own hamburger patties?

------------------

Having started this thread, maybe I should talk about MY burger:

> lightly seasoned, freshly ground, organic local chuck

> thin slice(s) of onion

> medium slice(s) of tomato, but only in season or decent hydroponic

Pretty minimalist, but I like the taste of meat to predominate. Yellow truffle's truffle oil mayo sounds pretty darn good, though.

[chow guy]

A Juicy rare burger with swiss or white cheddar cheese melted on top with shards of fresh roasted green chile, caramalized onions and catsup. Heaven!

[Lawdawg]

On my burger,

Mayo. No not the real stuff, we're talking Miracle Whip here.

Lettuce

pickles

thinly sliced onion (preferably red)

Pickled Jalapenos

Plain old American cheese

MMM. MMM. good.

[Carlovski]

Am I strange in liking a combination of mustard and ketchup? Something about the two together with the heat of the burger (And thinly sliced raw onion). Don't think they would work actually mixed together (And would look really nasty!).

Oh, and when I say mustard I normally mean both fiery english mustard, and a more gentle dijon (Or even that bright yellow american stuff).

It's the only time I ever use ketchup actually, and even having a burger is a couple of times a year event.

[Ms Neato]

If I'm having a takeout burger (like tonight.. Mmmmm.).. I usually have chicken with apricot sauce, cream cheese, garlic mayo, onion, tomato and lettuce.

If I'm making burgers at home; usually it's a nice piece of beef or pork fillet with camembert, proscuitto and tomato chutney. When spring rolls around again (I'm in New Zealand, so the seasons are all backwards); I'm looking forward to throwing lamb into the mix (:

[Marco_Polo]

Jeez, what's going on? Has no one here yet mentioned 'russian dressing' - or at least that's what I've always called it. This is absolutely indepensable to any good burger: simply Hellman's mayo (no other will do), Heinz ketchup (no other will do), chopped pickled gherkins, a spoon or so Dijon mustard (any will do), a squeeze of lemon juice, a splash of Tabasco. All mixed together. Dollop and spread this liberally on the toasted sesame bottom bun first, then add slice of romaine lettuce (no other will do), then the burger (fat, juicy and rare), then slice of tomato (no onions, thank you very much), then more russian dressing - lots - on the top toasted bun...There should be enough so that when you take a two-fisted bite of the burger, a mixture of rare hamburger juices mixes with the tomato and russian dressing to dribble down your chin and possibly down your hands and arms. But it tastes so damn good that you just don't even care. A burger without that dribble of flavours, well, it's hardly worth eating, is it?

MP

[FistFullaRoux]

There was an extensive discussion of this earlier in the Heartland board, but let's throw one out for the general population.

Describe the perfect burger - condiments, cooking methods, choice of meat, type of bun, preferred wrapping, stuff on the side, perfect beverage...

[=Mark]

1/3 pound ground chuck with at least 15% fat, pressed into a pattie with slight indentation in center (so it cooks evenly), grilled over coals until medium. Served on a toasted sesame seed bun with a slice of onion, a splash of worcestershire sauce and a dollop of Hienz Catsup (Unless you make your own). Serve with a chilled Pilsner Urquell. Thick sliced, batter dipped onion rings on the side.

[SobaAddict70]

Flaky brioche or a giant toasted sesame seed bun

Ground chuck, broiled, with salt/pepper; a decent sized patty that's neither too small or too large and cooked to medium rare throughout.

Slice of beefsteak tomato

Some romaine or butter lettuce

Maybe a slice of avocado or some melted jack or cheddar.

hand cut fries, or beer-battered onion rings.

a mound of coleslaw on the side with a thick kosher dill pickle.

*sigh*

Soba