Ultimate Chili Cheeseburger

4 Servings
100% would make this recipe for Ultimate Chili Cheeseburger again.

3 RECIPES IN ONE! Why eat fast food burgers when you can eat this? It's tender, fresh, juicy, and delicious. Better than anything fast food you'll ever taste. Where I live in NC, if you order them all-the-way, this is how they come. Good ones are getting extremely hard to find, though, so after years of searching and experimenting, this is as good as it gets! Adding a panade (a paste of bread and milk) to the ground beef creates burgers that are juicy and tender even when well-done.

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Ultimate Chili Cheeseburger Ingredients

1 large slice high-quality white sandwich bread	1 pound ground beef
(crust removed and discarded, bread chopped into 1/4-inch pieces, about 1/2 cup)	1/3 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons whole milk	1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt	2/3 tablespoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper	1 1/3 tablespoon Celery salt
1 medium clove garlic minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)	2 ounces tomato puree
2 teaspoons steak sauce such as A-1	1 1/3 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons Bacon grease	1 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 pounds 80 percent lean ground chuck	CREAMY COLESLAW
Vegetable oil for cooking grate	1 pound green cabbage (about 1/2 medium head), thinly shredded
6 ounces cheese sliced, American or cheddar	1 large carrot peeled and grated
4 hamburger buns or rolls	2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt
A&W Chili (recipe follows)	1 tablespoon Sugar
Creamy Coleslaw (recipe follows)	1/2 small onion minced
Diced onions	1/2 cup mayonnaise
Mustard	2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
A&W CHILI	Ground Black Pepper
2/3 cup finely chopped onion

Instructions for Ultimate Chili Cheeseburger

1. Turn all burners to high, close lid, and heat until very hot, about 15 minutes. Use grill brush to scrape cooking grate clean. Lightly dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate. Leave primary burner on high, turn other burner(s) to low.

2. Meanwhile, mash bread and milk in large bowl with fork until homogeneous (you should have about 1/4 cup). Stir in salt, pepper, garlic, steak sauce, and reserved bacon fat; mix until thoroughly blended.

3. Break up beef into small pieces over bread mixture. Using fork or hands, lightly mix together until mixture forms cohesive mass. Divide meat into 4 equal portions. Gently toss one portion of meat back and forth between hands to form loose ball. Gently flatten into 3/4-inch-thick patty that measures about 4 1/2 inches in diameter. Press center of patty down with fingertips until it is about 1/2 inch thick, creating a slight depression in each patty. Repeat with remaining portions of meat.

4. Lightly dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate. Grill burgers on hot side of grill, covered, until well seared on first side, 2 to 4 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, flip burgers and continue grilling, about 3 minutes for medium-well or 4 minutes for well-done. Distribute equal portions of cheese on burgers about 2 minutes before they reach desired doneness, covering burgers with disposable aluminum pan to melt cheese. While burgers grill, toast buns on cooler side of grill, rotating buns as necessary to toast evenly. Serve burgers on toasted buns. Build your burger in the following order:

Bottom of Bun
Cheeseburger
Diced Onions
A&W Chili
Creamy Coleslaw
Mustard
Top of Bun

-= Instructions for A&W Chili =-
Add 1 tablespoon canola/vegetable oil to a saucepan, add the onion and saute' 3-4 minutes over medium heat until translucent, then add the hamburger and cook until well done. Drain grease from saucepan, then add remaining ingredients and simmer, stirring often, until desired consistency.

-= Instructions for Creamy Coleslaw =-
1. Toss cabbage and carrots with salt in colander set over medium bowl. Let stand until cabbage wilts, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

2. Dump wilted cabbage and carrots into the bowl. Rinse thoroughly in cold water (ice water if serving slaw immediately). Pour vegetables back into colander, pressing, but not squeezing on them to drain. Pat dry with paper towels. (Can be stored in a zipper-lock bag and refrigerated overnight.)

3. Pour cabbage and carrots back again into bowl. Add onions, mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar; toss to coat. Season with pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Main Ingredient: Ground BeefCuisine: American

Ingredient Insight - look inside this recipe

Sandwiches bbq hamburger Grill Fourth of July Picnics Spring Summer Superbowl American Ground Beef

for flavor and categorization

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Good Eats

by rbook

I used to get an "all the way" burger as a kid when we visited my grandparents in Elizabethtown NC at a little place called Melvins. It was the best burger I ever had. These are incredibly close and clearly the best burger I've ever made. If you've never had a "carolina style" burger, just try it as written up here....your mouth with thank you!

swibirun
on Oct 24 2007 4:26PM

The cheeseburgers and coleslaw are adapted from cooksillustrated.com, and the chili from topsecretrecipes.com. Slight changes have been made to suit my own tastes.

stiches
on Oct 21 2007 2:02PM

Total Time: 1:00
Active time: 0:20

The cheeseburgers and coleslaw are adapted from cooksillustrated.com, and the chili from topsecretrecipes.com. Slight changes have been made to suit my own tastes. [I posted this recipe.]

roketJsquerl
on Jan 12 2007 4:02AM