BURGERS!!!

I either make my own from mince or buy premade patties, either way they are directly from our local butchers.

I didn't always like burgers in the US. Friends raved about In N out but when I tried it blech  .  Best ones I ever had were at Ruby Tuesdays or Del Taco.  Has anyone tried the RT in Cardiff yet?

Dw has often mentioned about the burgers but also found some really good ones. Some of the best are at the Devonshire Cat in Sheffield.

As to them always being medium to well-done, you won't get them any way else and you can't specify how you want it cooked. It's down to food hygiene regulations. Bacteria sits on the surface of the meat and is killed through cooking, so when cooking a steak the fact you've sealed the steak kills that bacteria. The problem with a burger is you don't know which bits of the mince were on the outside of the original piece of meat.
I know it may sound a bit stupid but thats food hygiene regulations in the UK

last year when I ordered a burger from a really classy pub in the UK and asked for it medium, i got a strange look. 

I think this may be a regional thing (? not sure).  I got strange looks when I asked for something medium up in Nottingham in 2010 no matter what (I prefer things mid-rare, but I knew that wasn't going to happen).  I even had a long discussion with my PostDoc at the time who insisted that I should never eat any type of beef in any form other than Well Done (IMO, Well done tastes Burnt!)  I told him I'd been eating burgers/steak/etc that way for my whole life, and the UK wasn't going to stop me!

Come to London in 2011, and the "gourmet" burger is the next best thing since sliced bread!  As cheesebiscuit mentioned, there are loads of burger joints in London these days, with more popping up by the minute.  -->Pretty sure my burger at Patty & Bun was the rarest I've ever had (still raw?!) as it was too rare for me.  (But I think that might have just been down to it having been their opening day and the kitchen guys were a bit swamped, trying to pump through orders as quick as they could)

So yeah, I kinda want to bring my old PostDoc to one of these places to see what he thinks.  Maybe he'll love it! But I'd probably be better of taking him to one of the darker restaurants so he can't actually see his "undercooked" meat

I don't eat too many burgers out, I prefer to do them myself at home in the BBQ.  My next door neighbor and I always have some good banter about bbq'ing with gas vs charcoal.  He says thr because I'm using a gas grill it's not bbq'ing.  Then I remind him that I can have a steak done in ten minutes In the dead of winter without having to tend a fire and smoking the whole neighborhood out.  Besides, everything he bbqo is charred on the outside...I BBQ like a fine artiste.

Rare ground beef goes against all food safety "rules" - although the risk with beed is minimal anyway.

Weatherspoon pubs actually do a very nice 100% beef burger for £3.99 including a drink.  Most places, especially burger vans are disgusting.

Rare ground beef goes against all food safety "rules" - although the risk with beed is minimal anyway.

Weatherspoon pubs actually do a very nice 100% beef burger for £3.99 including a drink.  Most places, especially burger vans are disgusting.

I was going to mention Wetherspoon's as well - they are decent, the "gourmet" ones they do are good.

But anyone in Sheffield - try the Devonshire Cat, DW said it was the best burger she'd had over here.

I don't eat too many burgers out, I prefer to do them myself at home in the BBQ.  My next door neighbor and I always have some good banter about bbq'ing with gas vs charcoal.  He says thr because I'm using a gas grill it's not bbq'ing.  Then I remind him that I can have a steak done in ten minutes In the dead of winter without having to tend a fire and smoking the whole neighborhood out.  Besides, everything he bbqo is charred on the outside...I BBQ like a fine artiste.

I'm with your neighbour on that one! When we were in Florida after Thanksgiving the accomodation we rented had a gas BBq by the pool, and I can see the attraction that I could fire it up and quickly cook burgers etc....but it's still not really BBQ'ing to me and at home I might as well just use the grill in the kitchen.
Then again - when I did a big BBQ last year and was doing loads from scratch I did have to finish the jerk chicken in the oven because the BBQ died down! So a gas one would have been better then!

I dislike Wetherspoons burgers, as they are full of rusk or some other kind of filler, and are way over-cooked.  (I'm another one that likes a pink burger!)

 I have been to Handmade Burger Co twice, and thought they were lovely both times.

Absolutely nothing compares to my amazing home-made burgers though.  My man says so!  
(nothing in them but minced beef, salt, pepper and garlic granules)

ETA:  it was Handmade Burger Co, not GBK I went to.

I dislike Wetherspoons burgers, as they are full of rusk or some other kind of filler, and are way over-cooked.  (I'm another one that likes a pink burger!)
But I have been to GBK twice, and thought they were lovely both times.

Absolutely nothing compares to my amazing home-made burgers though.  My man says so! 
(nothing in them but minced beef, salt, pepper and garlic granules)

They might be overcooked, but there's no rusk or anything in them at Wetherspoons.

They're probably scared to cook them anything but well done because of the risk, however small.  It's ground beef so could have bacteria, in theory.

A 'Spoons burger made the list?!   

I personally found GBK and Byron burgers are good - and can be cooked to whatever I fancy.  More and more pubs are picking up on this "gourmet burger" trend.  The times where I have had issues ordering to my specification is when they are cooking pre-made patties which are just impossible to cook to anything but well done. 

I have had issues order burgers in the US where the restaurants have insisted they cook the inside to a certain temperature, and therefore cannot make a medium or less cooked burger.

After reading this thread, I now have a craving...

They might be overcooked, but there's no rusk or anything in them at Wetherspoons.

The way you state that with such certainty, I feel I should believe you.  But their texture is so awful, that I find it hard to believe there's not 'something else' in there!  They're so bad that I haven't eaten one for a couple of years, so maybe their recipe has changed in that time?

The way you state that with such certainty, I feel I should believe you.  But their texture is so awful, that I find it hard to believe there's not 'something else' in there!  They're so bad that I haven't eaten one for a couple of years, so maybe their recipe has changed in that time?

That makes sense, my husband was saying how awful they used to be.  They've recently changed them to 100% beef and their fries are nice now too, not soggy anymore.

Give them a try again, can't got wrong at the price.

Decent blogsite for burger lovers in the Glasgow area.

http://jamesvsburger.com/

Decent blogsite for burger lovers in the Glasgow area.

http://jamesvsburger.com/

Very interesting!
We've been planning to go to Buddy's for a while...

I think I said this on the other thread, but I think a lot of it is how the beef is ground.  Often when I look at premade burgers at the store they look almost like paste.  Gross.

There is a good place in Cambridge called Bill's.  I'm sure I will find out in a few seconds that it is a chain, just like every place in Cambridge.