Anne Morgan This is Delia Smith’s beef burgers recipe, her All-American Half-pounders for 4 people. You chop steak in a food processor and press it into 4 thick burgers, then chargrill them over very hot coals. Hands-on time is about 15 minutes, but the coals need 20-30 minutes to get hot, and the burgers wait in the fridge until then.
Delia put them in her Summer Collection in 1993, in a chapter on cooking outdoors. To her, a real hamburger is good steak, chopped at home and grilled over charcoal. Thickness is the secret, so the outside chars while the middle stays juicy. A 110g burger suits a bun, but these weigh 225g each, her grown-up version. She even prefers one to a plain grilled steak.
Fat matters more than anything here. “If you’re on a diet, don’t eat a hamburger”, she writes, because 20 per cent fat keeps the meat moist on the grill. Her Complete Cookery Course has an older, smaller burger too, called American Hamburgers, with the salt mixed in before cooking.
On the side, Delia serves a Mexican tomato salsa, oven-roasted potatoes, or a crisp salad with her blue cheese dressing.
Delia Smith’s All-American Half-Pounders
Course: DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes40
minutes580
kcalFour thick burgers of chopped rump, chuck or blade steak with 20 per cent fat, seasoned with pepper only and chargrilled. The salt goes on after cooking.
Ingredients
- For the burgers:
900g (2lb) best beef with 20 per cent fat: rump, or chuck or blade steak
salt and freshly milled black pepper
a little oil
Directions
- Trim: If you use chuck steak, cut away any gristle and sinew, but keep the fat. Cut the beef into chunks.
- Chop: Blend the chunks in a food processor until the beef looks like fine mince. Stop there, because over-processed meat makes a bouncy burger.
- Season: Tip the meat into a bowl and season it with black pepper only. Leave the salt until after cooking, as it draws out the juices.
- Shape: Divide the meat into 4 and press each piece firmly into a thick round. Pressed hard enough, it holds together with no egg.
- Chill: Put the burgers on a plate, cover them with clingfilm and keep them in the fridge until you cook them.
- Heat: Light the barbecue and let it get really hot, 20-30 minutes for self-lighting charcoal. Or turn the grill to its highest setting.
- Grill: Brush the grill bars with a little oil, then give the burgers a light coat of oil. Grill them for 4-6 minutes on each side, depending on how you like them.
- Serve: Sprinkle the burgers with salt now and serve them hot, with Mexican tomato salsa and oven-roasted potatoes.
Notes
- Without a food processor, pass the steak through the fine blade of a mincer, Delia says.
- For burgers in a bun, she finds 110g of meat each is right, so this amount makes 8.
- The calories are for one burger only, with no bun or sides.
FAQs
Can I use bought mince instead of steak?
Yes, but choose it with care. Delia starts from steak because she wants 20 per cent fat and a texture like fine mince, never a paste.
Ask the butcher to mince chuck steak for you, as her older recipe suggests. Avoid lean mince, because the fat is what keeps the burgers moist.
Why is there no egg or salt in the mix?
There is no egg because the meat holds together on its own when you press it firmly. The salt waits until after cooking, since it draws the juices out of raw beef, the same rule she uses for a fried steak.
Her older American Hamburgers do it the other way round. There, the salt is mixed into the beef before shaping.
Can I cook the half-pounders under the grill?
Yes. Delia gives the same timing for a kitchen grill turned to its highest setting, so allow 4-6 minutes per side.
Brush the burgers with a little oil first, as you would for the barbecue. The shorter time leaves the middle pink, and the longer one cooks it further through.
What is her American Hamburgers recipe?
Her Complete Cookery Course prints it in the chapter on barbecues and picnics. The 1992 edition serves 2-3, with four 110g burgers for large buns or three bigger ones.
Mince 450g chuck steak, about 80 per cent lean and 20 per cent fat, twice through a fine blade to make it tender. A food processor works too. Mix in 2 level teaspoons of salt and plenty of coarse black pepper, then shape 4 balls and press each to about 2cm thick.
Then oil them very lightly and cook them under a hot grill or over charcoal, giving each side 4-6 minutes. Serve them in bap rolls toasted on the cut side only, with raw or fried onion and relish or ketchup. A jacket potato with soured cream and chives is her side, and the first edition, from 1983, serves 2.
What did she serve them with at her Fourth of July barbecue?
Her Summer Collection has a Fourth of July barbecue menu for 8, with the half-pounders doubled. It starts with cos, Webb’s lettuce and rocket in her American blue cheese dressing, with Parmesan croûtons. Next come the burgers with oven-roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary, the salsa and barbecued sweetcorn, then hot fudge sundaes.
For the Mexican tomato salsa, skin and deseed 4 large firm tomatoes and dice them small. Mix in half a red onion, 2 heaped tablespoons of coriander, a mild green chilli and the juice of a lime. Season it, cover it and leave it for about an hour before serving.
For chicken on the same barbecue, her apricot BBQ sauce is one she says suits any meat.
