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The Double Bubble Burger
If you had a night off lockdown and could eat out, what would you choose? If your answer is BURGER, you’re in the right place. This foolproof recipe is made with supermarket ingredients. Serve with homemade oven fries. Stay in your bubble!
If you had a night off lockdown and could eat out, what would you choose? If your answer is BURGER, you’re in the right place. This foolproof recipe is made with supermarket ingredients. Serve with homemade oven fries. Stay in your bubble!
Makes 4
600g beef mince (not prime mince and definitely not premium mince)
4 burger buns, halved through the middle (tip 1)
8 cheese slices
Iceberg lettuce, shredded (tip 2)
Pickles, sliced
Lockdown Sauce
¾ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup American mustard
1 tbs paprika
1½ tbs gherkin relish
Loosely form beef into 70g balls and set aside.
For the lockdown sauce, mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth and consistent in colour.
Heat pan or barbecue (flat surface) until smoking hot — you shouldn’t be able to hover your hand over the heat for more than 5 seconds. Resist the urge to apply oil.
Toast buns to your liking (tip 3). Season beef and place seasoned-side down on pan/barbecue. Take your smashing device and squash (tip 4) the two balls down onto pan (or as many as there is room, as long as they’re in pairs). Leave the patty until nearly cooked through and season again. Scrape smashed patty off the surface with whatever you have (tip 5), flip patty and immediately top with a cheese slice. Repeat with the second patty — by the time you’ve done this, the other side is probably cooked enough, depending on how smashed your patty is. Stack the patties on top of each other and leave until cheese is melted (tip 6).
To assemble, smother both the heel (bottom) and top of the bun with lockdown sauce. On the heel, add shredded lettuce, then on with the double double beef and cheese, hit it with pickles, then the top of the bun. Take the first bite with your eyes, then Gram that thing and tag me in it!
Big Tips for Extra Flex!
1. Buns add a lot to the overall look of the burger. The cleaner they’re cut, the more evenly they’ll grill and the better they’ll look. The sharper the blade, the better the result. Don’t be a blunt knife loser.
2. To remove a lettuce core, strike the core with your palm. Grab, push and twist to remove.
3. I find buttering buns can sometimes squash them too much, so I use mayonnaise. Lightly coat the cut sides and place on the hot surface. Also, supermarket buns aren’t great, but you can ‘pretty’ a bun by spreading mayo or butter on top, then adding a little heat. This gives a dry-looking bun some colour and shine.
4. A flat, solid steel surface, like a pot bottom, makes a good replacement for a burger spatula. Push down with lots of pressure and smear off the edges. If using a spatula, the end of a rolling pin can help to get a solid ‘smash’.
5. You can use a paint scraper, or barbecue or burger spatula. The edge needs to be firm and sharp, and ideally straight. The beef has most likely stuck to the cooking surface and the goal is to remove it without leaving anything behind.
6. Cheese must be melted. You can throw a small amount of water into the pan to create some steam, cover the patty with an upside-down pot or a lid, and cheese will melt perfectly.
