The great American Fourth of July cookout is this weekend and I have been reading for several weeks about how to make the best hamburger. And I would agree there is nothing better than a good hamburger. As I have mentioned before I think the best burger I have had was at Husk in Charleston. I have the recipe for that and will give it to you. You need a meat grinder but the butcher can do the grinding for you if you do not have one. So this is my gift to you on the Fourth—you will have the best burger in town!!

From Sean Brock’s Heritage cookbook, 2014.

Husk Cheeseburger

Makes 10 cheeseburgers

Special sauce

1 ¾ cups mayonnaise, preferably Duke’s

1 ¼ cups, yellow mustard

5 tablespoons ketchup

½ cup Bread-and-Butter Pickles

Grated zest and juice of one lemon

1 tablespoon hot sauce

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons pepper vinegar, preferably Texas Pete Brand

 

Cheeseburgers

One 3-pound fresh boneless chuck roast

12 ounces fresh flank steak

3 ounces bacon, preferably Benton’s (I do believe Benton’s is the best. You can order it.)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

10 hamburger buns, preferably potato rolls

1 cup shaved white onion

20 slices American cheese

50 Bread-and-Butter Pickles

For the Sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a large container and stir together to blend well. Cover, and refrigerate. (Tightly covered sauce will keep for up to five days in the refrigerator.)

For the cheeseburgers: Grind the chuck, flank steak, and bacon through a meat grinder fitted with the large die into a bowl. Mix gently to combine. Then run half of the mixture through the small die. Mix the two together.

Portion the meat mixture into 20 3-ounce patties, about ½ inch thick (each burger gets two patties). If not cooking right away, arrange on a baking sheet, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. (The patties can be refrigerated for up to one day. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you’re ready to cook; it’s important that the patties are not ice-cold when they hit the hot pan.)

Generously butter the tops and bottoms of the buns. Toast on a griddle until nice and golden brown. Reserve.

Heat two 12-inch cast-iron skillets until hot as possible. (I like to grill my burgers.) Divide the patties between the two hot pans. When the patties are nice and charred, about 2 minutes, flip them over and cook for 2 minutes more for medium. Place the onion slices on 10 of the patties. Place a slice of the cheese on all of the patties and allow it to melt, about 30 seconds. Stack the non-onion patties on top of the onion patties. Remove from the heat.

Smear both sides of the buns with special sauce. Place five pickles on bottom half of each bun.

Add the burger patties and top with the top halves of the buns. Serve at once.

Happy 4th!