The real king of burgers has arrived. Homemade Buns, perfect patties with that smokey char. This is the ultimate homemade burger.

INGREDIENTS:

Buns (original bun recipe in my cookbook):

• ½ cup (125ml) whole milk

• ½ cup + 3 tbsp (170ml) water

• 10g bread machine yeast

• 1 large egg

• 1 large egg yolk

• 3 ½ cups (525g) unbleached bread flour, plus more for dusting

• ⅓ cup (60g) sugar

• 4g amylase

• 2 teaspoons (7g) fine sea salt

• 3 ½ tbsp (50g) unsalted softened butter

• Melted butter for brushing

• Sesame seeds, for sprinkling

• Flakey salt *optional*

Dill Pickles:

• 1 english cucumber, cut into rounds

• 2 cups (416g) water

• 1.5 cups (306g) vinegar

• 2 tablespoons (19g) kosher salt

• 3 bay leaves crumbled

• Sachet of: 1 tablespoon (9g) peppercorns, 1 tablespoon (10g) mustard seeds, 2 tablespoons (8g) coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon (8g) dill seed

• 1 tsp (2gr) turmeric spice

• 1 large bunch dill

• 5 cloves garlic

Mayo:

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 tablespoon (23g) dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon (5g) sugar

• 1 clove garlic grated

• salt to taste

• Juice of one lemon

• 1 cup or more (191g) vegetable oil

Spicy Ketchup:

• 3/4 cup (215g) ketchup

• 1 tablespoon (8g) allepo powder

• 1/2 teaspoon(2g) cayenne powder

• 1 teaspoon (4g) garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon (5g)Worcestershire sauce

Beef:

• 1lb ground beef (454g)

  • 1/2 beef chuck

  • 1/2 short rib

• 4 slices American cheese

• 4 slices medium cheddar

INSTRUCTIONS:

Buns (original bun recipe in my cookbook):

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Combine water and milk in a small bowl, whisk in yeast to dissolve, place in a stand mixer bowl along with the whole egg and egg yolk; mix on low speed, until combined. In a separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, and amylase. While your stand mixer is running, add in your flour mixture, ¼ cup at a time, until all of your flour has been added.

3. Once it begins to form a rough dough, allow to knead for 2 minutes or until it begins to turn smooth. Then add your butter, allow to mix until fully incorporated, and knead for 5-10 more minutes or till your dough is very smooth and begins to pull from the sides of the bowl.

4. The dough may be a little sticky, which is okay. Roll your dough into a light ball, and place in a medium-sized greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and rise for 45 minutes at room temperature. Then place in the fridge for 1.5 hours and up to overnight.

5. Punch dough down to degass, remove from the bowl, and place on a lightly floured work surface. Separate dough into 90g pieces (about ten total pieces), spray two baking sheets with cooking spray, and lay down a sheet of parchment on each. Line each baking sheet with six metal 3.5-inch English muffin ring molds evenly spaced apart.

6. Roll all your pieces of dough into taught balls, and place them in the center of each ring mold. Spray the tops of your dough with cooking spray, lightly press each of them with a flat bottomed cup or container to get a thick disc. Cover each baking sheet with plastic wrap and proof for 1 hour at room temperature.

7. In a small bowl, whisk together one egg and a splash of water for your egg wash and place in a spray bottle (if you have one). Spray the tops of your proofed dough with the egg wash, or brush them if you don’t have a spray bottle. Sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds optionally. Bake in the oven for 14 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through

8. Remove from the oven, immediately brush with melted butter, and optionally top with flakey salt. Cool completely on a wire rack and enjoy.

Dill Pickles:

1. Place the cucumber rounds in a large one and a half quart jar or larger. In a medium-sized pot, add water, vinegar, salt, and bay leaf.

2. In a piece of cheesecloth, add peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, and dill. Gather up the sides, twist it to make a little sack, tie off the top with kitchen twine, and you should have a completely enclosed parcel of spices. Then place your parcel in the liquid along with the turmeric powder.

3. Place your pot on the stove over medium-high heat. As soon as it comes to a boil, take it off the heat and pour your hot liquid over the cucumbers. Next, add your dill and garlic. Allow to sit until that comes completely to room temperature and you have pickles. Store in the fridge with a tight lid.

Mayo:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, add the egg yolk, mustard, sugar, garlic, salt, and lemon juice, whisk together.

2. While constantly whisking, add the oil slowly, starting drop by drop, and then once it starts to emulsify, increase the speed to a nice drizzle while constantly whisking until all the vegetable oil has been added. It should be significantly thickened and look like a creamy mayonnaise. If it’s lumpy, then the mixture has broken.

3. Store in a closed container in the fridge.

Spicy Ketchup:

1. Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl until thoroughly combined.

Beef:

1. Form ground beef into one third-pound patty, slightly wider than your buns to account for shrinking.

2. Light up a charcoal grill and have one hot side and one cold side; once it is hot, spray with cooking oil and season your patties with salt and pepper. Next, place your patty on the hot side, press a small divot in the center of the patty, then grill that for about two minutes, flip it, season with salt and pepper, grill on the other side for two or three more minutes, move it to the cold side of the grill and repeat with all your patties.

Assembly:

• bottom bun toasted

• mayo

• burger

• cheese

• Burger in a medium-sized bowled

• cheese

• pickles (act as a barrier for ketchup and keep the bun from sliding

• ketchup

• Julienne raw white onion washed

• tomatoes, sliced and cured in salt, garlic, and olive oil

• shaved iceberg

• Mayo for spreading

• top toasted bun

1. Add a generous spreading of your mayo to the bottom bun, add one beef patty, one slice of American cheese, one slice of sharp cheddar cheese, melt the cheese with a torch or under a broiler.

2. Add your pickles, covering the whole patty, a generous dollop of your spicy ketchup, a decent stack of onion, one slice of tomato on top of that, a layer of shredded lettuce; then mayo on the top bun.