I often make my own ground beef, and different cuts sure do make for different flavors...perhaps you should try getting your ground beef from a different store or butcher?

To add a bit of exciting flavor, try working some crumbled blue cheese into your burgers...just be sure and poke any cheese that ends up on the outside in & cover it over with meat, otherwise it just drips out.

A little tip I read, and have used ever since for making them cook evenly, is to poke a hole with your finger through the center of the burger patty. It's not too noticeable once the meat shrinks during cooking.

If you are using an open fire, use regular size (1/2-inch) burgers. If you make "whoppers" (3/4-1-inch thick) and include other ingredients in the burger, then cook them in a covered cooker. What you have then is more like a meatloaf and may require more heat to surround the burger to bring that internal temperature up to a safe temperature, rather than a flame or hot coals sizzling one side at a time.

-Grainlady

Ground chuck with salt and pepper. Slowly grilled over low heat. (Charcoal is best, gas is easier.)

ML

I do something similar to what Grainlady described, except I just make an indentation with my finger in the middle of the patty, rather than poking a hole all the way through. Got the tip from Cook's Illustrated. It won't affect the flavor, but it makes them stay flatter and cook more evenly instead of getting sort of mounded over and thicker in the center as they shrink.

As far as seasoning the patties goes, a great little trick is to dissolve your seasonings in water first instead of sprinkling directly onto the meat. For every pound of ground beef, use about 2 tablespoons of ice-cold water. Add s&p and stir to mix before pouring over meat. Then add a couple of crushed ice cubes and gently mix everything by hand and form into patties.

You can certainly add other seasonings, of course. Try using spicy Montreal seasoning blend in place of regular pepper. Or onion flakes, garlic, steak sauce, etc. Mixing in water gets the flavors distributed evenly, and the ice really does make the meat moister.

sm

I just season with salt, pepper and a little garlic powder. I think ther biggest thing is the Traeger pellet bbq I have the pleasure of owning. It smokes as it cooks, so everything tastes wonderful from first bite to last. You could try adding hardwood chips to a charcoal grill to do the same thing.

I've started grinding my own burger like Rachelellen. So easy in the Cuisinart. When sirloin is on sale it costs less than regular ground beef here. And I KNOW what goes into it. Nothing better than a good sirloin burger :)

DH is a flipper on the grill, I only flip once when I make burgers in the house on the stove. I splash burgers with worchestershire and adobo and cracked pepper. Flash on each side, no complaints.

Make sure you've got enough fat in the grind. Low fat burgers taste like cardboard on the grill.

Yes. If I am going to eat a hamburger, I want one that tastes good. People who buy the lean hamburger thinking to save calories end up putting those calories back in anyway with mayo or something because the burger's too dry to eat.

I agree that you need a little fat for flavor. My secret is Head Country seasoning. Just a light sprinkle on both side and rub it in. No flipping back and forth and don't you dare push down on them the spatula. I cook them until the juices come to the top and then flip and do the same again. We like them with a little pink left in the center.

David

Tests (done in past years by the Washington Post Food Section) have shown that after grilling there's surprisingly little difference in fat content of burgers made from regular versus lean ground beef. The leaner burgers lose more water. The fattier burgers lose more fat -- and they taste much better.

A regular 6 oz. burger--salt, pepper and garlic powder at room temp. Heat grill on high for 15 minutes. Sear burgers for one minute on each side. Turn gas to just above medium. Cook 7 minutes on one side--five on the other. Pink, but warm in the middle. We love it. However, all grills are different--just know your own.

Gloria

I add some bacon fat into the mix and it really adds a lot -- you can't taste the bacon fat per se, but it seems to just make them tastier in some hard-to-describe way...

Emily

We have our own beef processed and I have my ground beef made very lean and it doesn't make good hamburgers. I take a clove of garlic and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and make a paste and add that to my ground beef. It makes the best burgers. I don't press on my pattie when grilling either that just makes them dry.

I wish I had some ground beef thawed and we would have hamburgers tonight, that sounds so good.

This is the best "recipe" I have ever had for burgers, but I quite often will just wing it and toss in Worcestershire, ketchup, Montreal seasoning (they make one specifically for Hamburgers too) or whatever.

Hamburgers
Copyright, Ina Garten, All rights reserved

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 10 to 12 hamburgers
2 pounds ground chuck
1 pound ground sirloin
3 tablespoons steak sauce (recommended: Crosse & Blackwell)
6 extra-large egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
12 hamburger buns

Carefully mix the meats, steak sauce, egg yolks, salt, and pepper with the tines of a fork, but do not mash it. Lightly form each hamburger and lightly press into a patty shape. Make an indentation and put a thin slice of butter inside each hamburger, making sure the butter is entirely encased in the meat.
Heat a grill, broiler, or saute pan and cook the hamburgers for 3 to 5 minutes on each side until almost done. Remove to a plate and cover with aluminum foil. Allow the hamburgers to rest for 5 minutes and serve immediately on buns.

We rarely eat hamburgers, as we are partial to veal burgers.

We cook prosciutto or pancetta until crisp, and remove to paper towels to drain. When cool, crumble. (Actually, I normally dice it when it is partially frozen.)

Dice the following very fine:

red bell pepper
yellow bell pepper
orange bell pepper
(or whatever is available, but not green)
sweet onion
garlic

Saute, until soft, in the left over oil from pancetta. Adding olive oil if needed. Add seasonings that you prefer.

Mix all together with the veal (or in this case, hamburger). Avoid over mixing. Shape into patties and grill on the Traeger. YUM!

I worked in a restaurant down in baltimore. I worked in the "pit" section...pit beef, ham, turkey, chicken and burgers. The burgers were made with salt, pepper, onions and mushrooms. Ever since...I love making burgers with onions ad mushrooms. I also am partial to the flavor of ground sirloin.