When I think about grilling out, I think about burgers.  Burgers are easily my favorite summertime meal.  The keys to a great burger are good beef, good seasoning, and a good bun.  My trick to making the burgers have great flavor is seasoning them with a little chili powder and cumin, this makes the burgers nice and smoky.  Our go-to summertime meal has recently been improved, thanks to the pretzel bun.  Don’t be intimidated by the bun recipe, it’s really not too difficult.  I like working with pretzel dough because it’s more elastic and easy to work with than other doughs.  Please try making them, you’ll be smitten!

Hamburgers                      Print Recipe Here

From: Spoonful of Sugar
Yields: 4

Ingredients

Ground Hamburger (90/10 or 85/15)
Kosher Salt & Pepper (about 1/2 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper)
Chili Powder (about a teaspoon)
Cumin (about 3/4 teaspoon)

Desired toppings (I prefer cheese, a ketchup/mayo mix, mustard, diced onions, pickles, and bacon)

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients.  Form (relatively) equal patties with the centers of the patties thinner than the outsides.  Grill on medium-high heat, about 4-5 minutes on each side.  When the hamburgers are almost done, turn off the heat and add cheese, close the lid and let sit for about a minute.  Place burger on your pretzel bun (see recipe below) and add your desired toppings.  Enjoy!

Pretzel Rolls

From: baking glory
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Yield: 16 rolls

Ingredients

4½ cups Flour, all purpose
2 cups Water, lukewarm
1 tbsp Yeast
4 tbsp (60g) Butter, melted
2 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Salt
1 Egg, for brushing
¼ cup Baking Soda

Directions

Fill a large bowl with 2 cups of warm water and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Sprinkle in the yeast and allow to activate for a few minutes (you’ll know it is activated when the yeast starts to foam).

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, salt, melted butter, and activated yeast. Mix for 2-3 minutes. Add more flour or liquid if needed. The dough should come together and won’t be overly sticky. Remove dough from mixing bowl and knead by hand for a minute. Form a ball and rub with oil. Place in a large bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until dough has doubled in size.

Cut dough into 16 even pieces and roll into balls. Make sure the ball is as smooth as possible and place seam side down on a clean wooden surface. Cover and rise for another 30 minutes.

In a large saucepan, fill with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add in the baking soda (careful, it will boil over if you do this too fast). Carefully drop the rolls into the boiling water, seam side down, and poach for 30 seconds. Flip and poach for another 30 seconds. Remove from water and place back on wooden surface. Brush with a lightly beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt. Slice the top of the roll with a knife.

Bake in a 425 degree preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until buns have started turning dark brown. Best served the same day.

Pretzel Rolls

Add 2 teaspoons of sugar to a small bowl.

Add 2 cups of warm water.

Add 1 tablespoon of yeast. Let this sit for a few minutes, until the yeast starts foaming.

In a mixing bowl, add 4 1/2 cups of flour,

2 teaspoons of salt,

and 4 tablespoons of melted butter.

The yeast has activated!

Add the yeast to the mixing bowl.

Mix for a few minutes.  Add more flour or water if needed.

Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray and turn the ball of dough into it.

Cover and put in a warm place for about an hour.

After an hour it should have doubled in size.

Quarter the dough (this looks uneven…)

Quarter each quarter so you end up with 16 pieces.

16!

Form a ball with each, place the seam side down.

Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes.

Boil 2 quarts of water into a large saucepan…

but remember to turn the heat down before pouring in your baking soda or you’ll end up with a massive boil over like I did!! Yikes!

In batches of 4, add the buns into the water, seam side down. Let them poach for 30 seconds and then flip them and poach for another 30 seconds.

When the rolls are done, brush them with butter.

Sprinkle with salt. I would recommend not salting all of them, just the ones you will be eating that night. The leftover salted ones will shrivel up a bit on the top and not look as pretty. Now’s the time to make a slit on the top of each roll…I forgot this step!  Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes.

After about 17 minutes. Look at those pretty things!

Burger Time

Get good quality beef. This is important! We’re lucky to have beef from Josh’s parents’ farm.

Add salt & pepper.

I like to add about a teaspoon of chili powder and cumin. It’s the secret to our burgers! Well, I guess it’s not a secret anymore…

Mix it all together.

Quarter the hamburger.

Form your patties. Keep the center of the burger smaller than the outsides, this will plump up when you grill them.

Patties are formed.

Get your burgers on the grill. We only cooked up two & wrapped the other two in plastic wrap for the next night. The peppers are our side dish. 🙂

Get your buns ready for the burger. I like a mix of ketchup/mayo, mustard, diced onions, and pickles.

Let the burgers cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side. When they are about done, turn off the grill & slap some cheese on the burgers. Close the lid for about a minute for the perfect melted cheese.

Place your burgers on the buns. Throw some bacon on for good measure.

Ready to consume!

That’s a nice looking bun. I tell you, good buns are important. 😉

Enjoy!

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