How to use a burger press
Few things beat the Great British burger. Whether you use pork, beef or lamb; stack your patties single, double (or even triple); add cheese, leave out lettuce, keep your sauce on the side – they’re a firm family favourite. And with good reason. Summertime would hardly be the same without that BBQ smell wafting through back gardens and in windows.
But burgers are hard to get right. We’ve all looked on forlornly as our seemingly perfect patty crumbled on the grill, or stuck stubbornly to the bottom of the pan. Or worse - ended up with a golf ball-shaped wad of meat that just won’t cook in the middle. To get the best results every time, you need a Zyliss burger press. Good BBQ days are just too rare and too special to risk getting it wrong.
Sure, you could opt for shop-bought. But where’s the fun in that? Burgers are a quick and easy way to get creative with your cooking – and you can get the kids involved, too. Making burgers at home gives you more control over the quality of ingredients you feed your family, and means you can tailor things exactly to their tastes.
Do you need to use a burger press?
For perfectly round, perfectly even, perfectly cooked burgers, a burger press is your best friend. Using a burger press makes it much easier to create uniform shapes with evenly distributed ingredients. As anyone who’s tried it will attest, getting that classic patty shape is harder than it looks. Though you might start off strong, you soon find yourself with six lop-sided lumps, each with slightly too little mince, or too much onion (or both).
Not only does it not look appetising, it won’t cook well, either. Hand-pressed burgers tend to contain more air pockets, which is why they often fall apart as soon as they’re in the pan. A burger press squeezes out all the excess air so you avoid that unpredictability – and the potential disappointment that comes with it.
They cut a lot of the mess out of cooking, too. No more rolling raw meat with your bare hands, breadcrumbs scattered all over the surfaces. A burger press lets you cleanly create the shape you want, and transfer it directly to the grill or pan hands-free. For anyone cooking with kids, it’s a godsend.
How to use a burger press
Using a burger press is quick and easy. The only tricky part will be convincing your guests that they’re not shop-bought.
For the best results, there’s no substitute for good ingredients. Start with your mince: ideally, it should have a fat content of at least 20% or higher to make sure it holds together well. It helps if it’s really cold, so keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to start building your burger.
Then, mix in whatever other ingredients you like. Onion, garlic and lots of seasoning are a must, but you can experiment here. Perhaps you like a mix of meats for the best flavour profile, or have a secret stash of spices in the cupboard you’ve been waiting to try out. Whatever you choose to chuck in, make sure it’s as finely chopped as possible. Breadcrumbs and a beaten egg will help hold it all together.
Once you’ve got your perfect combination, it’s time to transfer the mixture to the burger press. Spoon it into the base (how much you use will depend on how hungry you are), press down lightly with the lid, and twist. Hey presto! You’ve got the perfect patty. Pull out the base to transfer the burger to the pan or grill, and cook as usual.
How to stop the burgers from sticking to the burger press
To get your burgers from press to pan in one piece, it’s important to use a non-stick burger press. A lightly textured surface will keep your mixture from clinging and you can add a little water to the base to give it a helping hand, too.
If you’re really worried, you can pop a piece of greaseproof paper into your burger press – but with the right tools, you shouldn’t need it. And remember to be gentle! Making burgers is a work of love – you only need to press down lightly.
So, there you have it. Ready to win the neighbourhood battle of the BBQs this summer? A Zyliss burger press could be your secret weapon.
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