Grilling Hamburgers One of the Things I

Grilling Hamburgers

One of the things I pride myself on is my ability to grill. Whether it is steak, fish, ribs, or whatever else, I feel that I am an experienced griller and that my abilities are top-notch. When grilling food, I never use propane gas but always use Kingsford charcoal. I find that this particular charcoal is long lasting, provides an aromatic smoke which translates into a savory, smokey flavor in the food. I start off by lighting the grill, using lighter fluid to soak the charcoal until I can smell that it has been saturated. Then I light the charcoal and stand back, allowing it to burn. For this essay I will describe in detail how I like to grill hamburgers, using as many sensory descriptions as possible.

First off I always like to have fresh ground beef and can always tell by the color of the meat. Good ground beef will be a nice red color, without any darker, brown spots which indicate a growth of bacteria. I like to use black angus beef as it provides a suitable amount of fat within, which looks like small white articles. ("American Angus Association") The larger the particles of white fat, the more fat in the ground beef, so I like to use a 80/20 mix which provides a medium sized fat particles.

Taking about a baseball sized amount of ground beef I form it into a ball, lighting tossing it from hand to hand, spinning the meat slightly each time until it forms a solid ball. On can tell that it has formed solid when the heat from my hand begins to make the outer surface of the meat ball sticky, leaving my hand sticky as well. At this point I want to make the ball into a patty, so I begin by placing the ball between my palms and slowly pushing it together. Always make certain to apply the pressure to the center. Once the meat begins to form a patty, the outer edges of the patty with begin to break apart, I reform the edges into a smooth surface.

When the meat is prepared into patties, the charcoal must be check to see if it is ready to cook the meat. When first lighting the charcoal, I form a pyramid shape out of the charcoal, this will aid in the even lighting of it. Once the pyramid of charcoal has begun to turn from its natural black color to a grey, ashy color, the charcoal is ready to be used for cooking. ("Kingsford") I spread out the charcoal over an area sufficient to cook the amount of food that I have decided to cook. The heat must be distributed evenly over the bottom of the grill so that when I run my hand quickly over the grill, I can feel the heat is even all over.

Now come the time to actually place the meat onto the grill. Make certain to have enough space between the hamburgers, at least one half of an inch, but preferably an inch if possible. Once on the grill it is important to immediately cover the grill, but leaving open the vents, and allow the hamburgers to be completely surrounded by the heat generated from the charcoal. This will also help in allowing the food to become surrounded by the smoke generated from the charcoal and thus absorb the smokey flavor. When the hamburgers begin to cook, they will naturally begin to secrete juices containing flammable substances, causing the charcoal to sometimes flame up. When this happens, and it will, you will notice it by hearing the sounds of the flame flashing, and the grease burning, as well as the smell of the smoke and grease. In order to minimize the flame-ups scorching the hamburgers, simply close the vents for a period of time to restrict the amount of oxygen. One will almost immediately begin to hear a decrease in the sizzling sounds coming from inside the grill.

It is important to only flip the hamburgers once during their cooking, as this will maintain the integrity of the outer surface of the meat and avoid any unnecessary loss of juices from inside the hamburger. After about ten minutes on the grill, with the vents periodically open and shut when the flame-ups threaten to scorch the meat, it is time to flip the hamburgers. I know it is time when the surface of the hamburger that was facing the charcoal has become a nice dark brown, with darker lines from the grill marking the meat. The surface of the hamburger that was not facing the flame should also be a nice light brown color, indicating that the meat is properly cooked. When the hamburger is flipped, do not push down on the patty with a spatula, this will cause the hamburger to become squeezed into the grill. Simply allow the meat to cook lightly on the grill.