Homemade Beef Burgers with Cheese

Ingredients

• 600 g beef mince, 15–20% fat
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4 burger buns, sliced
• 4 slices cheddar
• 4 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 4 leaves little gem lettuce
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• Skin-on fries, to serve
• Coleslaw, to serve
• Dill pickles, to serve

Method

1. Tip the mince into a bowl with the garlic powder, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce and a generous pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper. Mix briefly with your hands — just until combined, no more. Overworked mince goes tough and bouncy; you want it loose and craggy.
2. Divide into 4 and shape into patties slightly wider than your buns, with a shallow dimple pressed into the centre of each. The dimple stops them doming as they cook. Season the outsides with another pinch of salt right before they hit the pan — salt on the surface builds the crust.
3. Get a heavy frying pan or griddle ripping hot over a high heat — you want it almost smoking, the kind of heat that makes you step back. Lay the patties in with space between each one; cook in two batches if your pan is small. Crowd the pan and the meat steams in its own juices instead of searing.
4. Leave them well alone for 4 minutes, until a deep mahogany crust has formed on the underside. No prodding, no lifting to peek — the crust is what you came for.
5. Flip once. Cook for another 3–4 minutes, then lay a slice of cheddar over each patty, drop a tablespoon of water into the pan and clamp on a lid for the final minute. The steam melts the cheese over the edges in a proper molten slump.
6. While the cheese melts, split the buns and toast cut-side down in a dry pan for about 30 seconds, until golden and lightly crisp. A toasted bun holds up to the juices; an untoasted one turns to mush.
7. Taste a corner of one patty before you build — adjust with a final pinch of salt if it needs it. Season now, not at the table.
8. Smear ketchup on the bun bases and mustard on the lids. Stack on lettuce, then tomato, then the cheesy patty. Crown with the lid and press gently so everything settles. Plate up with a heap of skin-on fries, a spoonful of coleslaw and a few dill pickles alongside.