How to Cook Burgers on the Stove

Fourth of July. Our backyard again. Second year hosting. Gary brought extra lawn chairs. Linda brought potato salad. Cody brought fireworks from the stand on Highway 169. The Turners and the Morelands, together in a backyard in Owasso, eating baked beans and watching explosions. This is America. This is specifically Oklahoma America. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Brayden lit his own sparkler this year (supervised by Dustin, who treated the sparkler-lighting with the seriousness of an HVAC installation). He waved it in loops and wrote his name in the air — B-R-A-Y — before the sparkler died. He's five and a half and he can spell his name in fire. I did not have this skill at five. I did not have sparklers at five. I had a FEMA trailer and a sheet cake from Dollar General. My son has a yard and a name in fire. The difference is a house and a marriage and a cast iron skillet and ten years of meals.

Harper sat on the porch and read by the porch light while the fireworks went off. She's four and she can actually read now — not memorizing, reading. Sounding out words, letter by letter, assembling sentences. She read the word "sparkler" off the box and said it aloud and I looked at Dustin and his eyes were as wide as mine because our four-year-old just read a word nobody taught her. She taught herself. From cereal boxes and road signs and the labels on canned goods. My daughter taught herself to read the way I taught myself to cook: by watching, by needing, by wanting something so badly that the wanting becomes the learning.

Wyatt slept through the fireworks. He's the sleeper. He's the quiet one. He's the one who will sleep through everything important and wake up for everything trivial, and that's fine, because Wyatt's timing is his own, and his own timing is perfect.

Every year I make burgers on the stove in my cast iron skillet, and every year Dustin asks why we don’t just use the grill, and every year the answer is the same: because this is how I learned, and because it works, and because there is something about that skillet — the same one that’s made a hundred meals in this house — that feels like the whole point. Brayden wrote his name in fire this year. Harper read a word off a box. The least I can do is feed the people who showed up to watch it happen. These burgers are what I made after the sparklers burned out and the kids needed something real.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 22 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs 80/20 ground beef
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon neutral oil or butter (for the skillet)
4 burger buns, toasted
4 slices American or cheddar cheese
Toppings as desired: lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard, mayo

Instructions

Mix the patties. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix gently with your hands until just combined — do not overwork the meat or the patties will turn tough.
Form and press. Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions (about 6 oz each). Shape into round patties roughly 3/4 inch thick. Press a shallow dimple into the center of each patty with your thumb — this keeps them from puffing up during cooking.
Heat the skillet. Place a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil or butter and let it heat until shimmering, about 2 minutes. The pan needs to be hot before the patties go in.
Cook the first side. Add patties to the skillet without crowding. Cook undisturbed for 4–5 minutes until a deep brown crust forms on the bottom. Do not press down on the patties.
Flip and cheese. Flip each patty once. Immediately lay a slice of cheese on top. Cook for another 3–4 minutes for medium doneness (internal temperature of 160°F for well done, 145°F for medium). Cover loosely with a lid or foil for the last minute to melt the cheese.
Rest and build. Transfer patties to a plate and let rest for 2 minutes. Toast your buns cut-side down in the same skillet for 30–60 seconds. Build burgers with your preferred toppings and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

How to Cook Burgers on the Stove — The Meal That Made This Backyard Ours