- Ladies and gentlemen,
you thought we were gone,
but we're back.
We are back to You Can Do This,
and today, we're doing what I believe
is my favorite burger.
Now, burgers are subjective, I get that,
but there's gonna be a lot of techniques
all along the way.
We're gonna do the lettuce a little differently,
we're gonna do the meat a little differently,
we're gonna do the cheese a little differently,
we're gonna do the bun a little differently.
We're gonna just do all these little things
and you can just (popping)
pick and choose which ones you wanna do.
What do I think is the best cheese for in a burger?
American cheese,
but I don't think so because of the taste,
it's more about the texture,
it's about the meltability,
it's about the, it drapes across that patty
and you feel it in your mouth.
What if I could tell you,
you can take any cheese that you want
and make it into American cheese?
Well, that's what we're gonna do first.
This little technique is gonna allow you
to take any cheese that you want
and turn it into an American cheese texture.
There's a little thing called sodium phosphate.
This guy invented this technique
where he could just turn cheese
with sodium phosphate into this really meltable thing.
Well, we're gonna use sodium citrate,
which it does the same thing,
put it's also a lot easier to find.
I have 15 grams of sodium citrate,
115 grams of water.
All I'm gonna do now is I'm gonna put it in a pot,
I'm gonna hydrate it.
We're gonna turn this Gruyere
into the texture of American cheese.
I love the taste of Gruyere, has this nutty flavor.
Just to bring it up, we're gonna let that simmer
for a second.
Now, I'm gonna start adding my cheese in bit by bit
and I'm gonna buzz
after I incorporate it each time.
So, what happens when you heat cheese,
especially hard cheese, it has a tendency to break.
We're just making an emulsion, basically,
with sodium citrate and this water.
What that's just gonna do is,
it's just gonna loosen the texture.
I got a pan here
that's kept at the lowest temperature in my oven
and I'm just gonna drop this on the pan.
This is already setting.
That is our cheese for the American cheese,
you're gonna throw this in the fridge.
I have about a pound of burger meat here.
80/20 is ideal for me.
You know how to make your burger taste better?
Buy really good meat.
So, what are we gonna do to this burger meat?
I'm gonna work that meat a little bit.
Here's why.
Ketchup has a lot of umami in it.
When you put ketchup on a burger,
it makes the meat taste more like meat.
That's why ketchup on a burger is so beloved,
'cause of the high umami content.
Tomatoes have a high amount
of naturally-occurring umami/MSG in them.
Anything with umami, you put on a burger,
it makes the burger taste better.
The inside jelly part,
right there, is where you get the most amount of umami.
We're gonna take this jelly
and we're gonna work it into the burger meat.
Again, I'm not using a lot
'cause I don't want my burger to taste like tomato,
but I want a little boost.
Ladle, press it through.
This is to separate the juice from the seeds.
I'm trying to evenly distribute this
because I'm not trying to overwork the meat.
I just wanna incorporate it as fast as possible
without making it mush.
And that's it, done.
Put that in the fridge.
I like ketchup on my burger,
I like mustard on my burger,
I like mayonnaise on my burger,
I like a little bit of pickle on my burger.
Let's just throw all that in one,
and once I threw that all in one sauce one day,
I was like, "Wait a minute.
"This tastes a lot like special sauce.
"Hm."
Incorporated into one sauce,
you don't gotta worry about divvying it up later.
Little salt in there, and listen,
like, this is just loose measurements,
just taste it as you go.
I mean...
So, now I wanna tackle the lettuce.
I love iceberg lettuce just because it's crunchy.
Now, here's what happens.
When you get lettuce on a burger,
it's stacked like this.
You notice how when you bite into it,
the bun slides, everything slides out?
It's because when this gets wet and moist,
it's like a slip and slide.
Your burger turns into a waterpark.
We're gonna cut against the grain.
What does that mean?
That means taking a side of your iceberg lettuce,
taking a ring cutter that's about
the same size as your bun.
That, now, becomes your lettuce.
Now, you have a ring for your burger
that goes top-down, so all these little spots right here,
that all becomes grip on your burger.
We got to cook this thing.
Cast iron pan.
I'm not a fan of burgers on the grill,
just between the flare-up and the fat,
and then if you have really good fat in your burger,
it's just gonna (whooshing).
I don't like thick burgers, I kinda like the in between and,
like, kinda smashed out 'cause I like
the crispiness on the edge.
I have my burger meat here,
remember, I'm gonna make a patty
maybe a little bigger than a hockey puck.
Pepper on the outside, always pepper first on your burger
because if you salt it first,
then the pepper won't stick.
So, we're gonna drop this burger in.
Right away, I'm gonna smash it.
Craggly edges
are your friend here.
Get it flat as possible as quick as possible
because when those juices start running in the center,
then you don't wanna, like,
mash on the burger 'cause it's gonna shoot out everywhere.
I'm using the same ring cutter
that I used for my lettuce
that's about the size of the bun.
I'm cutting a piece of the cheese out,
just like so,
and that is your Gruyere, which is a hard cheese.
Look at that.
It's bendy, it's flexy.
Got some nice burny-burn, some chardy-char.
Lift that out, re-coat the pan
with the hot oil, and give it a little flip.
Little trick, what I do is I just draw it
through the fat a little bit to get it started,
and then I lay it on top.
Bam, that helps it start melting right away,
and we're gonna let that start to sit.
You can even cover it for a second
to help melt that cheese down.
Look at this, see that?
That's what we want.
I'm gonna let that rest.
I have this pan smoking.
There's a lot of leftover beefy flavor in there
and you wanna toast your buns.
One, two.
What bun do I like to use?
The shittiest bun possible.
I don't want a brioche bun,
I don't want super thick buns
that are gonna overwhelm the patty.
I wanna taste the meat, I want the bun to be secondary.
Potato buns, I really like.
Thin bottoms, just like so.
That griddle happens super fast.
Bottom here,
patty goes on top.
Little of the special sauce dripping off the side,
then we're gonna put this lettuce on.
And that, ladies and gentlemen,
is probably one of my favorite burgers.
Now, do I wanna eat this?
Yes, I do.
But, I have a surprise that's gonna eat this burger,
and he's gonna give you an honest review.
Hopefully he lies if he hates it.
From Primetime,
my buddy,
Brent, come on in.
Welcome, this is kind of what I think my ideal burger is.
- You got all the components.
- Yes. - It sounds awesome.
I'm very excited to eat it.
Alright, here we go.
That's a great fuckin' burger.
It's a small patty,
it's never gonna be perfectly medium-rare.
What you're looking for is that crust on the outside,
good sauce, the cheese,
hey man, smart moves, science.
- Science.
- Frying the bun in beef fat,
really frying anything in beef fat,
is always the right move.
- Truth.
- Okay, you want some? - Yeah, I'll take a bite.
- Okay. - Let's see.
- That's a great burger.
- Thank you for stopping by.
Primetime.
You Can Do This.
Together, as we, we should do a kneel,
like this. - Double Dragon style.
(laughing)
- Thanks for coming by, man,
thanks for eating this burger.
- Thank you. - Again,
if any of you guys like this,
use one component, use all, throw it all away,
but start with good meat.
You Can Do This is back.
More episodes coming soon.
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