Homemade Hamburger buns and Burgers

It has been a L-O-N-G Winter here in Canada. I feel like we have waited patiently (okay, more like, not-so-patiently) for BBQ season, but here we finally are. I decided we needed to kick off BBQ season with homemade hamburger buns and burgers.

Confession: I just recently started making my own burgers. Which seems crazy to me because I make so many things from scratch. I make bread, and baked goods, and almond milk, and kimchi, and whatever else I can think of. But for some reason, homemade burgers seemed overwhelming to me. I thought I might need a burger press which I didn’t own. And was it cheaper anyways to make them this way?

Truth be told, I haven’t worked out whether it’s cheaper or not. But sometimes cheaper is not the point. I know, I know. This is a blog about frugality. I am all about frugality. But when it comes to food, I like a balance. I try to keep food costs down, but I also want higher quality food. A homemade burger doesn’t have all that added junk that isn’t so good for you. And they taste amazing! If we are going to be frugal, let’s be frugal AND happy. And good food makes me VERY HAPPY.

You will notice these burgers don’t have the typical fillers of breadcrumbs and eggs. You only need the egg if you use the breadcrumbs, and it is actually possible to keep your burger sticking together without the breadcrumbs. You want to really pack them together, but also refrigerate them for at least an hour before you try to grill them up. Also, we use medium ground beef. I am not sure if lean ground beef would hold as well. I prefer burgers with some fat anyways, they taste better. 🙂

So let’s walk through making homemade hamburger buns and burgers. Printable recipes are at the end of this post.

Homemade Hamburger Buns

First you want to dissolve your yeast into the warm water. Let it sit there for 10 minutes until it proofs.

While your yeast is proofing, in separate bowl mix the egg, oil, sugar, and salt. Add the yeast mixture.

Add your flour. Mix well.

Knead for about 5 minutes.

Roll into a ball, rub oil all over it, put it in a bowl, cover it and let it sit in a warm spot until it is doubled in size, usually about an hour.

After the hour, divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll into balls, and place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise again for 45 minutes.

Once it has risen for the second time, brush a beaten egg yolk all over the tops and sides of the buns. Be sure you don’t miss any spots.

Place in a preheated oven of 375 degrees Farenheit, and bake for 16-18 minutes.

Homemade Hamburgers

Place 2 lbs of medium ground beef into a bowl. Set aside. In Separate bowl, mix garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and dried parsley. Add to the ground beef. Add Worcestershire sauce.

Using your hands, mix the spices into the ground beef. Make sure to mix well.

Time to form the patties. I use a small bowl with a rim a little larger than a glass for this, but you could use a glass as well, or a burger press if you have one.

I squish the meat into the bowl as tightly as I can.

Then I scoop it out and put it on a baking sheet.

Once it is on the baking sheet I like to squish the patties down. I made 8 patties with this recipe, but mine were on the smaller size. They were perfect for myself and my kids, but if you like really big burgers you may want to double the recipe. The burgers will shrink while cooking.

After you have formed your patties,put them in the fridge for at least an hour. This is really important – don’t skip this step! This will help prevent the burgers from falling apart.

After the hour, grill them on the BBQ on medium heat until completely cooked through.

Add the burgers to your homemade buns and you have a meal that will make your family very, very happy. My children have decided they don’y want me to buy store bought burgers ever again after eating homemade burgers. I have turned them into burger snobs. 😉 Homemade hamburger buns and burgers are now a regular occurrence in this house.

Homemade hamburger buns and burgers are definitely the type of food you want to serve to guests this BBQ season.