By Chuck Martin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

To make the best burger, it makes sense to begin by using the best beef. But brands aside, which beef is best for making a tasty, juicy burger? Ground round, ground sirloin, ground chuck or ground "beef?"

So we gathered our Taste Team for a cookout and asked them to blindly rate six burgers made with different beef blends and lean-to-fat ratios. We also included our own "homemade" burger, made with chuck steak ground in a food processor.

To keep this burger experiment scientific, we made the hamburgers the same weight (51/2 ounces) and grilled them to the same degree of doneness (160 degrees). We also seasoned the beef identically - 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper per pound. the Taste Team sampled the burgers just as they came off the grill, with no condiments.

Results show the team has a taste for the better cut of beef. The panel rated the burger made with Kroger brand ground sirloin as the best, describing it as having a "good texture" and being "very moist." Laura's Lean ground beef finished a close second, followed by Sterling Silver brand ground round from Bigg's.

Although some experts claim the most flavorful burgers are made from 20-percent-fat ground beef, our Taste Team disagreed.

The ground chuck burgers and the burgers made with chuck steak ground at home were made with an 80-20 percent lean-to-fat ratio. But those burgers finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in our Taste Test.

One panelist described the "homemade" burger as "unsavory." Another called it "stringy."

How they stacked up

The Taste Team rated these hamburgers on texture, moistness and flavor. Here are their favorites, listed in order of preference. (Prices given are per pound and may vary.)

1. Kroger "ground sirloin" (84 percent lean; $3.09)

2. Laura's Lean "ground beef" (92 percent lean; $2.99)

TASTE TEAM

• The burger tasters • What to drink? Try a Bloody Mary

3. Bigg's Sterling Silver "ground round" (85 percent lean; $2.79 )

4. Coleman Natural "ground beef" (85 percent lean; $3.99)

5. Kroger "ground chuck" (80 percent lean; $2.09)

6. Kroger "home-ground* chuck" (80 percent lean; $3.09)

* Made from chuck steak and ground in food processor.

Kings of the condiments

Before they began tasting burgers, we asked the Taste Team to blindly rate several brands of ketchup, mustard and dill pickle chips. Those who favor Heinz and French's may be surprised by the results.

Best ketchup: Del Monte. "Tomatoey, not too sweet."

Best mustard: Plochman's. "Tart and thick."

Best dill chip-style pickles: Vlasic. "Great crunch and tangy-tasting."

Famous Cincinnati burgers

In 2001, the Enquirer inducted the first five members of its Greater Cincinnati Hamburger Hall of Fame (two since have passed on to Hamburger Heaven), and then inducted six more in 2002.

The burgers range from the little ones Hyde's brings to your car on a tray that hooks on your window, to the big, juicy burgers at the Heritage, made of free-range beef raised on pesticide-free grass in Indian Hill.

Active members of the Hamburger Hall of Fame:

• Zipburger from Zip's in Mount Lookout.

• Swiss Miss from Frisch's, around town.

• Beefburger at Hathaway's lunch counter, downtown.

• Burgers at Harry's Hometown Diner in Alexandria.

• Little burgers from Hyde's Drive-in in Hamilton

• Garbageburger at Max and Erma's, an Ohio-based chain favorite.

• Greenacres Burger at the Heritage in Plainville.

• Burgers from Arthur's in Hyde Park.

• Cheeseburger at Quatman's in Norwood.

Polly Campbell

Best ways to cook a hamburger

• Season ground beef to taste with salt and pepper before forming patties. Season several hours ahead or the day before cooking. Mix well, cover beef and refrigerate.

• The best burgers for grilling weigh 5 to 6 ounces in their raw state. The patties are big enough to satisfy most appetites, but small enough to cook to a safe internal temperature (160 degrees). No need to weigh each patty, just divide each pound of ground beef into three, roughly equal portions.

• When forming patties, don't over work the ground beef. Shape it into an oval about 41/2 inches across and 3/4 inches thick by tossing it back and forth between your hands.

• To prevent the top of your burgers from puffing up during cooking, the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine suggest pressing the center of each patty down about 1/4 inch. Do this by placing burger patty on a flat surface and pressing the center with your thumbs. Or, use a small jar lid to make a shallow indentation.

• Grill burgers over medium-high heat. (You should be able to hold your hand 5 inches above grill for three to four seconds.) The best grilling method may be to sear the burger for four to five minutes on one side, then turn and sear another four minutes. Turn again and cook until proper internal temperature. Even better, move the burgers after their second turn to a cooler part of the grill. (Total cooking time over medium-high heat should be 12 to 15 minutes.) Cover the grill to cook burgers faster and to reduce flare-ups.

• Don't press burgers down while they're on the grill. This squeezes moisture and flavor from the beef.

• To keep them moist, cover cooked burgers on platter with foil until serving.

Burger history

Although most believe the name was derived from the German city of Hamburg, where pounded beefsteak was sold by the mid 1800s, everyone agrees the hamburger as we know it is an American creation.

"Hamburger" was listed on a menu from Delmonico's in New York printed in 1834, but we don't know whether it was a steak or ground beef. Hamburg, N.Y., claims two fair vendors created the sandwich in 1885 when they ran out of ground pork. In his new book, BBQ USA (Workman; $19.95), Steven Raichlen asserts that Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Conn., was the first restaurant to grill hamburgers in 1898.

A 1902 cookbook described "Hamburg steak" as beef put twice through a meat grinder and flavored with onion and pepper, says John Mariani in The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink (Lebhar-Friedman; $29.95). "Hamburger steak" was served during the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, and by 1912, ground meat patties on soft yeast buns were served by many restaurants, Mariani says.

The popularity of hamburgers grew quickly after the Wichita, Kan.-based White Castle chain began serving their little version of the sandwiches in roadside restaurants in 1921.

Hamburger recipes

Taste Team member Doreen Schowalter of Mason served these after the panel finished its blind burger evaluations.

Doreen's Indian-Spiced Burgers

4 pounds ground chuck

8 slices bread, soaked in water and squeezed dry

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon garam masala*

1 tablespoon tandoori masala*

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 cup each: finely chopped mint, finely chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix ingredients and form 12 patties. Grill or broil. Makes 12 burgers.

*Masala is a spice blend available at Indian and specialty groceries.

Inside-Out Blue Cheese Burgers

2 ounces blue cheese, such as Maytag Blue

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns

11/2 pounds ground chuck and/or sirloin

Coarse salt and black pepper, to taste

Place cheese in shallow bowl and mash it with a fork. Mash in butter and peppercorns. Spoon butter mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll it into a cylinder about 2 inches long and 11/2 inches wide. Place butter roll in freezer for at least 1 hour. (Can be frozen up to 3 months.)

Unwrap butter roll and cut crosswise into 4 even pieces.

Wet hands with cold water and divide ground beef into 4 equal portions. Pat each portion into a thick patty. Make a depression into the center of each patty with your thumbs and place a disk of blue cheese butter into it. Mold the ground beef around the butter to encase it. Cover patties and refrigerate until ready to grill. Makes 4 burgers.

BBQ USA (Workman; $19.95)

Hamburgers with Cognac, Mustard and Chives

11/2 tablespoons cognac

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

11/2 pounds ground chuck

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix cognac, mustard and chives in small bowl. Add to ground chuck with salt and pepper and mix well. Divide meat into 4 equal portions and form patties. Makes 4 servings.

The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook (Boston Common; $29.95)

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 small red onion, diced

1/2 cup seeded and diced green bell pepper

1/2 cup finely crushed tortilla chips

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons canola oil

Mash beans in large mixing bowl. Add onion, bell pepper, chips, cilantro, chili powder, cumin and pepper flakes and mix well. Shape into 4 patties, each about 1-inch thick.

Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat and cook until crisp on both sides, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Makes 4 burgers.

The Great Big Burger Book (Harvard Common; $15.95)

Cooking safety tips

• Store ground beef at 40 degrees or below and use within two days or freeze.

• Thaw frozen ground beef in refrigerator. Cook or refreeze it within two days.

• Wash hands after handling raw ground beef. Wash cutting boards and utensils after they touch raw beef. Don't re-use any packaging materials.

• Cook hamburgers to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

• Put cooked burgers on a clean plate or platter.

• Serve or refrigerate cooked burgers within two hours.

Survey says:

When asked to name the foods they grill most often, the respondents to a national Weber Grill survey ranked them in this order: hamburgers, steak, chicken pieces, hot dogs and ribs. No matter what the cut of meat or fowl, about one-third of the survey respondents admitted to serving grilled food they dropped on the ground.

Burgers without beef

Our two favorite meatless burgers of the moment are Morningstar Farms "Grillers Prime" (made with textured vegetable soy protein) and Aqua Cuisine Lemon & Dill Salmon Burger.

The salmon burger is sweet, moist and mildly fish-flavored, and the Grillers Prime might fool serious carnivores with its firm, chewy texture and smoky flavor.

Grillers Prime burgers are available at many groceries for about $3.29 (four burgers). Aqua Cuisine Salmon burgers are available at Wild Oats Market in Norwood for $6.99 (four burgers).