Meat the expert: the perfect hamburger

The raw ingredients: There’s a saying, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. We learned that to make a great hamburger patty you need top-quality ingredients. We followed UK chef Heston Blumenthal’s recipe, using a ratio of approximately 75% lean meat and 25% fat from prime 150-day grain-fed Angus cuts. This included roughly 50% chuck, 25% brisket and 25% short rib.

Aligning the fibres: The final mouthfeel, juiciness and bite of the patty depend on how the muscle fibres form the patty. If they’re all mixed up, it becomes spongy and chewy. However, when the fibres all run in the same direction, you get a patty that’s juicy and succulent. We achieved this by carefully taking the stream of mince coming out of the mincer and ensuring all the fibres run lengthwise in the log so that once cut into patties, the fibres stand upright like columns. By carefully cutting and freezing the patties immediately, we preserved this alignment to ensure the fibres pull apart nicely when bitten. By not pressing or blending the fibres and keeping them intact, we avoided bonding the protein and creating a sticky texture like that in sausage rolls, rissoles and terrines.

Bindings and seasoning: We also experimented with binders and concluded that our patty didn’t need them. Some manufacturers use binders to add more water to the raw product, thus increasing the weight. However, we realised that if we wanted to showcase the prime beef, we didn’t want to mask its flavour. The same reasoning applied to seasoning. We didn’t add salt or pepper to the patties as we wanted the beef to speak for itself. Salt, in particular, draws moisture out of the beef, which could make the mix tougher. Ultimately, we wanted the chef to be in control of the seasoning, adding just the right amount to suit their taste and cooking style.

Cooking techniques: We spent a lot of time experimenting with different cooking methods and discovered that the grill/broiler was the best option for preserving juiciness. There are various schools of thought about pressing the patty down onto the grill to flatten it. While this does increase the patty’s diameter, it also releases a lot of moisture, which can dry it out. There’s also Heston Blumenthal’s method, where the patty is flipped every 30 seconds or so. Yes, it’s time-consuming, but the result is a juicy patty with a deep golden crust.

Toasting the bun: One small but crucial detail that stood out in our year of research was the importance of toasting the bun on both sides. By splitting open the bun and cooking it in a little of the fat on the flat grill or running it under a salamander for a minute or so, you create the Maillard reaction and achieve a delightful crunch. That’s the satisfying snap of grilled bread and the deep bite of a juicy patty that results in perfect textural contrast.

Less is more: Finally, after all the burgers were assembled, we concluded that less is more. Sure, you can add pineapple, beetroot or whatever you like, but the burgers that scored highest in our taste tests were those that focused on the hero – the beef patty. We added some cheese for richness, lettuce for crunch, tomato for acidity and just enough condiments (mayo, ketchup and a touch of mustard) to provide moisture, tang and textural richness to the whole burger.

At the end of a year of development and experimentation, the team and I were thrilled to have created the truly excellent, Bounty Premium Angus burger patties.