One of the best things to know how to make is a good burger. Luckily, it's surprisingly easy.
First, you'll need to get a skillet. The size isn't really all that important as long as it fits and if you have a choice, pick the smaller one so you're not heating up all that surface area for no reason.
Then I like to put a bit of butter into the center of the pan. This makes it taste great and also helps it not stick to the pan. This, of course, is not the healthiest choice so you could also you cooking spray or olive oil to help it not stick. Butter is the tastiest option though.
Then put the ground beef on top of the butter. When it comes to the beef and the shape it's basically just squishing it into a patty shape. The burger will shrink a bit when it cooks so you can go a little bigger than what you think is the right size. I like my burgers thick, but remember the thicker you go, the longer it will take to cook.
One of the great things about this is it's another meal you can buy and keep in the freezer. Ground beef freezes well and you can thaw it and be good to go. Don't thaw it in the microwave if you're planning to make burgers, it makes the meat not taste as good. You can set it out ahead of time or just use a freshly bought package.
So back to the cooking. After squishing the meat into a patty and placing it on the butter, sprinkle some salt and pepper onto the burger. Less is more. Do not over season. I then put a little more
butter on top so when I flip it it's even.
Next step is to actually cook it. Set the stove to med heat and put a lid on the skillet. Pick one that seals well. If you don't have one that came with it or has a poor seal, you can use a lid a little smaller than the skillet. They tend to nestle right in there and create a nice seal to lock the heat in and help cook the meat thoroughly.
I tend to cook it about 10 min total. I usually am cooking frozen french fries to go with it. They take about 20 min. so I put them in before any of this. I set the timer for 10 min, put the burger on when the alarm rings, and set the timer again for the remaining 10 min. I cook it about 5 min. a side. I do tend to let my burgers be pretty pink in the middle, so if you like it well done then you should spend most of your time on the first side. Let the meat become brown up the side of the burger and then flip to finish.
Be careful of the grease spatter. It can burn and make a mess. I've heard that if you sprinkle salt in the pan before cooking, it will keep it from spattering. I always forget to try it out so I can't say one way or another.
While the burger is cooking, you can get the rest ready. A great tip
is to toast your buns. It makes it taste more like a restaurant, and helps keep the bun from getting really soggy. You could do this in the oven, but I have a more clever way to do it without needing to heat up the whole oven. Toaster. I mean it's obvious, but at the same time you don't really think of this for other than, well, toast. It only takes the lowest setting which is about 1 min. so you can do it toward when the burger is about to be finished.
Am I the only one that took longer than they'd like to admit to realize that these numbers were minute's and not a range of toasty?
Be really careful with the toaster. It's probably the easiest kitchen device to hurt yourself with, even though it's so simple. Don't leave it unattended because it could catch fire. Don't ever stick anything metal in the toaster, actually, don't stick anything in the toaster. Since the buns are too short to grab easily, I tip the toaster on it's side so they'll fall out.
I eat my burgers plain with ketchup so I'd be basically done at this point. However, now would be a great time to start dressing the buns with whatever else you'll want on your burger while it's finishing up. That way you'll be ready to plop that fresh burger on it and it'll still be hot when you're ready to eat.
Once the remaining time is up, you're burger is probably done. If it's too pink for your liking, you can always put it back on for a bit.
Like I said, mine tends to be a bit pink, but as long as the center is warm it's good.
You can adjust to taste because these are more like guidelines anyway.