In my younger days I could have been considered to be quite an adventurous soul and when the opportunity presented itself to travel to England with Don Williams I knew, of course, that I would have to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road, in the wrong side of the car in order to really experience life outside of North America.
After spending a glorious month driving around England and Scotland, the “pub” has remained deeply entrenched in my psyche and even after all these long and many years I still get a euphoric buzz whenever I hear the word.
Although I am certain that somewhere in the world there could be bad pubs, bad pub food and even bad pub-goers I have never experienced anything but the romantic greatness associated with the word and this recipe is no exception.

Being in the business of raising great beef I am always pouring over meatish recipes and burger recipes are as wide flung as they come.  Some call for just the basics; salt, pepper and maybe some onions.  The other end of the spectrum calls for chopped black olives, feta cheese and oregano all stuffed neatly into the center of two patties but this one contains a twist, Butter.  Leave it to the genius’s atAmerica’s Test Kitchen to start playing with melted butter and adding it to the meat before it’s cooked.  I know that many burger joints moisten their burgers and steaks with butter just at that ultra critical moment as it leaves the oven but this recipe calls for melting the butter first adding it to the cold meat in order to allow it to mix throughout the meat and then resolidify.

Here was my first attempt which was extremely well received by Brayden, Rhayna and Katie.  I have made this recipe several times since, never changed a thing and put the same delicious burger before hungry carnivores.  I really love recipes like that.  Simple and foolproof!
The pub sauce is a must.  Don’t skip it.  It’s easy, quick and keeps in the fridge for a good month.
From America’s Test Kitchen – Juicy Pub-Style Burgers
Serves 4
2 lbs ground meat – anything from burger to sirloin (See note)
4tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
Salt and pepper
1ts oil
4 hamburger buns
1 River Cottage Farm Pub Sauce

1.  Place oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Drizzle butter over ground meat and add 1 ts pepper.  Gently toss with a fork to combine.  Divide meat into 4 patties, lightly packing the meat. Gently flatten the patties ¾” thick and about 4 ½” in diameter.  Refrigerate patties until ready to cook.  Patties can be refrigerated, covered, for up to one day)

  1. Season one side of patties liberally with salt and pepper.  Using spatula, flip patties and season other side.  Heat oil in 12 inch skillet over high heat until just smoking.  Using spatula, transfer burgers to skillet and cook without moving for 2 minutes.  Using spatula, flip burgers and cook for 2 minutes longer.   Transfer patties to rimmed baking sheet and bake until burgers register 125 degrees for medium-rare and 130 degrees for medium, 3-6 minutes.
  2. Transfer burgers to plate and let rest for 5 minutes.  Transfer to rolls and add desired toppings.  Serve and enjoy
Note: ATK used hand ground sirloin steaks which were trimmed and cut into ½ pieces and processed in a food processor.  I have always used ground beef and the burgers turned out perfect.