The All-American Classic Bacon Cheddar Burger

Preheat your grill to high heat.

In a large bowl, combine beef, salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Use your fingers to mix it together. Try not to be overly aggressive here. The less you handle the beef, the more tender it will be.

Shape beef into 3 equal sized patties, the same diameter of the buns you’ll be using. Use your thumb and put a small indention in the center of each one (this keeps them from puffing up too much in the middle!)

Place burgers on the grill and grill for 3-4 minutes on each side for medium burgers, and 4-5 for medium well-well done burgers. Try to flip only once if possible, and whatever you do, DO NOT press the burgers down with your spatula. You’ll press all those great juices right out of the burger!

When there is about 2 minutes left on the cooking time, add your choice of cheese to the top. To check for done-ness, you can slice a small slit in the top of the burger (not all the way through though). Medium rare burgers should be slightly pink in the middle. Well done burgers should have no pink remaining.

Remove burgers to a plate and allow to rest for a few minutes to allow the juices to redistribute into the meat.

Serve on buns with lettuce, tomato, red onion, bacon, and your choice of condiments.