Burger (Wisconsin Butter Burger)

american-wisconsin-butterburger Spoiler alert: The more butter, the better. Nothing beats a Wisconsin Butter Burger. This easy recipe is inspired by Culver's, the popular Midwest restaurant chain known for their iconic Butter Burger. Sear a very simple burger patty (just good, high-quality beef – no extra ingredients needed) in a piping hot skillet to create crispy edges and rich, browned flavour, then serve on a butter-toasted bun – the signature feature of real-deal butter burgers – and top with whatever fixings you love. A homemade butter-lover's feast, ready in 20 minutes or less.

8 Tbsp. butter, softened (114 g)
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 lb beef sirloin, trimmed of gristle and cut into ½" cubes (454 g)
1 medium yellow onion, diced (8 oz; 227 g)
1 Tbsp. water (15 mL)
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1 Tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed (~ ½ lemon)
1 tsp. neutral oil, such as Canola or vegetable oil
4 roll potato rolls

In a small bowl, use a fork to thoroughly blend the softened butter and soy sauce until thoroughly mixed with a uniform colour and texture. On a sheet of plastic wrap, form the compound butter into a roughly 5" long log. Wrap tightly and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes or refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to proceed to the next step, halve the log, then refrigerate one half and cut the remaining half into ¼" dice.

On a parchment paper lined rimmed baking sheet, distribute sirloin cubes and ¼" butter cubes in a single layer and freeze until the butter and beef cubes are firm, at least 30 minutes.

While beef and butter are chilling, slice off 1 Tbsp. (14 g) of the remaining compound butter. (If you don’t have a kitchen scale, just eyeball it.) Refrigerate the remaining unused butter.

In a medium saucepan, melt the portioned 1 Tbsp. compound butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the onions, 1 Tbsp. water and a generous pinch of salt. Stir to combine and cover and cook until onion is soft and translucent, 4-6 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until onion is beginning to brown, 2-6 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice; set aside.

For grinding the meat with a meat grinder or stand mixer with meat grinder attachment: Once beef and butter are chilled, grind them together in small batches to ensure that the mixture remains cold, and taking care to ensure a consistent balance of beef to butter in every batch. If not shaping burgers immediately, you can hold ground beef and butter in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for several hours.

For grinding the meat with a food processor: Working in 2 batches, in a food processor, pulse beef and butter, taking care to ensure a consistent balance of beef to butter in each batch, until finely ground into roughly 1/16" pieces, about 20 pulses, stopping to redistribute mixture needed; return to sheet. Discard any long strands of gristle. If not shaping burgers immediately, you can hold ground beef and butter in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

When ready to cook, divide the ground beef mixture into four (about 4 oz each) balls and shape into 4½" wide by ½" thick patties. Transfer to a large plate, cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Slice the remaining butter into 4 equal slices. If necessary, warm the sautéed onions.

In a 12" cast-iron or stainless-steel skillet, heat 1 tsp. oil over medium-high heat until just smoking. Season both sides of the patties generously with salt and pepper. Carefully transfer the burgers to the skillet and cook until well browned on both sides and cooked through (for medium rare, cook to 135℉), 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer cooked burgers to a plate, lower the heat to medium-low and toast the buns in the skillet, face-down, in two batches if necessary.

Assembly:
Place one patty on the bottom half of a bun. Top with 1 slice of reserved compound butter and a generous spoonful of onion, followed by the top bun. Compress to encourage melting. Repeat. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Cook's Notes:

Be sure to cook the onions in butter and water and then brown them.
Be sure to cook the patties a full 3 minutes before flipping them. These burgers need a good sear to get the flavourful dark brown crust.
When buying sirloin, which is unlikely to come in perfect 1 lb portions, err on the side of buying a little too much, because you will likely lose some to trimming and grinding.
If you really, really have to, you could probably make this burger with store-bought ground sirloin (or the leanest ground beef you can find) and frozen grated butter, taking care to integrate the butter well and to keep the mixture ice-cold until the patties hit the skillet.
Make-Ahead and Storage: The ground beef mixture can be refrigerated in an airtight container or shaped into patties and covered for up to 1 day.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 668kcal (33%) Carbohydrates: 25g (8%) Protein: 31g (62%) Fat: 49g (75%) Saturated Fat: 27g (169%) Cholesterol: 169mg (56%) Sodium: 1328mg (58%) Potassium: 486mg (14%) Fiber: 1g (4%) Sugar: 4g (4%) Vitamin A: 1075IU (22%) Vitamin C: 2.6mg (3%) Calcium: 322mg (32%) Iron: 4.2mg (23%)