Making burgers on the barbecue grill already gives a special flavor and touch to the dish. But if you want to go the extra mile, you can prepare your own meat blend instead of buying it ready from the market. It will taste fresh and you can pick your favorite blend to make your recipe unique.

What kind of meat to use?

    The blend is the mixture of different meat cuts that make up the burger. An ideal barbecue mix is made with two or three different types of meat. Therefore, it is important to consider the color, the amount of fat and the flavor. It is possible to use:

•  a redder and more flavorful meat, such as chuck steak;
• a meat with more fat, such as beef brisket or rib steak;
• a well-textured cut, such as outside flat steak or knuckle

     You can make your blend with various types of meat and try out the flavor you like best. A good blend is made by mixing about 20 to 22% of fat and the rest of meat. To obtain 1 kg of meat with the cuts suggested above, for example, mix 260g of beef, 260g of ribs, 260g of knuckle and 220g of fat from the rib itself.

What should the meat mold look like?

   Ask the butcher to grind the meat twice with the fat. It is important that the blend is prepared on the same day you are making the burgers. That's because the fresher the meat, the better.

  Also, you should try to avoid using frozen meat or freeze the burger meat. This is because ice crystals form during the freezing process. Therefore, when defrosted, the preparation releases a lot of juice from the meat, and this makes it lose both texture and flavor.

  For each burger, separate about 120 to 180g of blend. Before shaping them, handle the mixture a little bit in order to merge and remove some air from within. This prevents the meat from falling apart on the barbecue.

  Finally, mold the blends on a board with a rim of about 10 cm or with your hands. To finish the shape, press from above until reaching a height of about 2 cm.

How long should you leave the burger on the coals?

    The ideal point of the burger on the barbecue depends on everyone's taste. So, here are the timing tips for each point:

•  Rare meat: 2 min and 30 sec to 3 min on each side;
• To the point: 3 min and 30 sec on each side;
• Well-done: 4 min to 4 min and 30 sec on each side.

   The temperature of your grill needs to be really hot. Otherwise, the burger will cook, turn dry and with a gray look. What you want is a golden, juicy and delicious burger.

It is also important to let the burger rest after grilling, so that the meat juices are distributed and remain inside of it and do not drip onto the bread.