Juicy beef burgers, oozing cheese and crisp bacon is a match made in heaven.
Ingredients
Serves: 6
Timing: 40 mins
- 1 kg of minced beef-for the juiciest, tastiest burger use 15%-20% fat
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 12 streaky bacon rashers
- Drizzle of olive oil
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 onion
For the caramelised onion:
- 2 large onions
- 100g butter
- Salt & pepper
For the burger sauce:
- 1 bulb garlic
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3 medium sized gherkins, finely diced
- 1-2 tbsp of pickle juice from the jar
- Salt & pepper
To serve:
- 6 slices of American cheese
- 6 burger buns
- Unsalted butter, melted, for brushing
- ½ iceberg lettuce, shredded
Method
- Mix the beef, egg, Worcestershire sauce, baking powder and paprika together in a bowl. Shape into six evenly sized patties of between 150-170 grams.
- Make a slight indent in the middle of each patty to stop the burgers curling up on the grill. Lay two streaky rashers on a board and lay two others across them in the opposite direction forming a hashtag shape.
- Lay the patty on top and wrap the bacon around it. Repeat this process with three of the 6 burgers. Leave all the burgers in the fridge for 30-45 minutes.
- Light one side of your gas BBQ or set up your charcoal BBQ with a direct/indirect side. (For charcoal, fill one side with charcoal and leave til the charcoal is covered in grey ash. For gas, preheat the entire grill and turn off the burners on one side).
- If you're cooking on charcoal, place a half water bath on the indirect side of the BBQ to catch the fat and avoid flare ups, giving your food a singed flavour.
- Wrap a garlic bulb, for the burger sauce, in tin foil and place on the indirect side of the grill or the roasting rack for 30 minutes.
- Make your caramelised onions. Add the olive oil to a skillet over the indirect side of your grill, or use your hob.
- Add the sliced onion to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes until caramelised. About half way through the cook time, add the butter. You may want to move your skillet to the direct side of your BBQ / turn up the heat on your hob, for the last few minutes. Keep warm.
- Cook the burgers on the indirect side of the grill and close the lid. Cook for 10 mins each side. Check with a meat thermometer-you’re looking for a temperature of over 60 C.
For the sauce:
- Squeeze the roasted garlic into a bowl.
- Add the ketchup, mayo, Dijon mustard, pickles and pickle juice to the roasted garlic.
- Stir together (you can blitz with a stick blender if you like the sauce really smooth).
To assemble:
- For the last five minutes of cook time, spoon some of the caramelised onion and two layers of American cheese on top of each patty.Leave to melt with the lid on.
- Leave to rest for five minutes before serving.
- Brush with a little of the butter then toast on the grill. Smear a layer of burger sauce on both burger buns.
- Place some iceberg lettuce on the bottom bun, followed by the bacon wrapped patty and then the patty topped with onion and cheese.
- Serve with grilled wedges.
