About half of yesterday’s mince went straight into the freezer as is, but some was destined to be burgers.

These are my Goldilocks Burgers. While I do sometimes buy premade burgers, especially veggie ones, I usually wish I was eating these. I find a lot of bought burgers are just a little to thin and wide, so they don’t quite fit on a standard bun, and don’t give the satisfying bite I want in a burger.

On the other hand, some of the premium burgers are like meaty hockey pucks. They take an age to cook evenly and are smaller in diameter so my first mouthful is always mostly bun.

These split the difference. They’re the right size for the bun and are just thick enough to get a good bite.

I didn’t want to create more washing up, so I worked straight into the tub. Fluffed up the mince to start, so there are no major clumps. This is about 450g. In on top goes

1 tablespoon of Bragg’s seasoning (Lea & Perrins would work too)

1 teaspoon of onion granules

0.5 teaspoon garlic granules

A grind of black pepper

Give a quick mix, then add

1-2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs, and mix well with your hands.

The granules are fantastic for this. I want their flavour, but I don’t want bits in my burger.

The breadcrumbs are a light binder and also help absorb the juices during cooking, keeping them in the burger instead of in the pan.

The first couple of times I made these, I took about a teaspoon of meat at this stage and fried it off to check the seasoning, particularly salt. I knew how big my pinch of salt needed to be after that. These do need salt, but it’s easy to overdo.

Weigh the mix, then divide by four.

I squish with my burger rings but I used to form them by hand. This is just faster.

These were boxed for the freezer in baking paper, careful that they weren’t touching each other.

No doubt a couple will make it to the barbeque at the weekend!