Beef burgers with homemade ketchup

For my burgers, I really like to use chuck. it doesn’t shrink up on the grill and it loves flavor. When it hits the barbeque, it is so tasty. You just need to season it with salt and pepper. No filler, no egg, no bread crumb, just good seasoning. And the sauce is easiest homemade ketchup ever.

Credit: Watts on the Grill

• serves

  8

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg (2 ½ lbs) beef mince (medium ground beef)
• Salt and ground black pepper
• ¼ cup (60 ml) soft blue cheese
• 3 tsp (15 ml) olive oil + more for grill
• 8 large sesame buns, to serve
• Other toppings, as desired, to serve

Homemade ketchup

• 3 tsp (15 ml) olive oil
• 3 tsp (15 ml) crushed (minced) garlic
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 500 ml can or 2 cups (500 ml) diced in puree plum tomatoes
• 1 tsp (5 ml) tomato paste
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup (125 ml) apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp (0.5 ml) cloves
• Salt and ground black pepper

Garlic butter

• ¼ cup (60 ml) butter, room temperature
• 1 tsp (5 ml) crushed (minced) garlic
• 3 tsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp chopped chives
• 1 tsp chopped thyme leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper

Instructions

1. To prepare the ketchup, place a saucepan over medium heat and add olive oil. Heat oil for 30 seconds, add garlic and onion. Sauté until translucent.

2. Add the plum tomatoes, tomato paste, brown sugar, cider vinegar, allspice, cloves, salt, and ground black pepper. Cook for 30-40 minutes until slightly thickened and desired taste is achieved. Remove from heat and cool. Puree until smooth if desired (or serve chunky). Chill in refrigerator.

3. For the garlic butter, cream together butter, garlic, chopped parsley, chives, thyme, salt, and ground black pepper. Chill in refrigerator.

4. In a bowl combine the ground beef with salt and ground black pepper. Using your hands, form into 8 balls. Using a finger, press a hole into the middle of each ball of beef.

5. Fill half the balls with tablespoon of chilled garlic butter each and the other half with a tablespoon of blue cheese each. Roll each ball to enclose filling in the middle and form into patties. Chill patties in refrigerator before grilling to firm up.

6. Prepare the barbeque for direct grilling at high heat, 205-260°C (400-500°F). You need to start with the hottest grill possible to cook hamburgers without the filling oozing out.

7. Season the hamburgers with salt and ground black pepper and drizzle evenly with oil. Brush the grill with oil. Place the burgers on the grill. Turn the heat down to medium-high 190-205°C (375-400°F). Cook for approximately 6 minutes or until dark golden char marks appear. Don’t press down with a spatula, you will only squeeze out the juice and flavor.

8. Make sure the patties can be easily lifted off the grill before flipping to cook for another 6 –7 minutes.

9. Remove from grill and tent under foil for 5 minutes before serving on buns with ketchup and other desired toppings.

Note

• Cooking times and temperatures will vary depending on the size and type of your barbeque.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.