Burger Seasoning

​​If you’re using good meat for your burger, there’s no need to season it beyond kosher salt and black pepper. Maybe, however, you’re using the only supermarket beef you could find and want to jazz it up a bit. A simple burger seasoning can do wonders. The key is to keep it simple — we’re still cooking burgers here, not meatballs — and enhance the meaty flavor, not mask it. 

Whether you’re grilling burgers or cooking them in a pan, make sure they’re well-seasoned. The easiest way is to sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning on each side of the patty. You can mix seasonings directly into the meat before shaping (there’s enough for 1 1/2 pounds of beef), but omit the salt and add it to the outside of the patties right before cooking. That’s because salt draws out moisture and tends to make the patty less tender when it’s worked into ground meat.

The staple seasonings for a hamburger are generous amounts of kosher salt, ground black pepper, and garlic powder, but a hamburger is the perfect canvas for exploring flavor combinations. Our burger blend is the perfect mix for beef, but great for pork, poultry, and veggies, too. In addition to black pepper, salt, and garlic powder, this seasoning contains the following:

• Sugar
• Dried onions or shallots 
• Red pepper flakes
• Dried parsley

Make sure your ground beef is well-chilled. This prevents it from sticking to your hands as you work them into patties and prevents them from falling apart when transporting them to the grill or pan. Roll the beef into a tight ball first, removing any creases, then gently squash the beef between your palms and roll the edges along a flat surface to form a puck shape.