Ingredients
Equipment
Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Serves: 2
Why would you want the drive-thru version when you can beat it in your own backyard? Today Dan takes on a Texas icon — the double meat, double cheese burger with bacon and jalapeños added — using the exact same ingredients from the supermarket. Same buns, same American cheese, same fresh veggies. The difference is all Texas: 1836 Beef Rub worked into the beef, the toppings folded into a secret sauce, and everything cooked in bacon grease on the Blackstone. Then both burgers went to a blind taste test. It wasn't close — ten times the flavor at about half the price.
The Insider Secret: Put the Toppings in the Sauce
Pickles, onions, and jalapeños usually get stacked on a burger — and slide right off. Dan's move: chop them fine and stir them straight into the sauce. That way every single bite gets pickle, onion, jalapeño, and sauce all at once. That's the secret to a great Texas burger.
Ingredients
The Beef
- 1 lb fresh 80/20 ground chuck
- 1 tablespoon SuckleBusters 1836 Beef Rub
The Secret Sauce
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- Small squeeze of yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon dill pickles, chopped
- 1 tablespoon yellow onion, chopped (yellow beats white)
- 1 tablespoon fresh jalapeño, chopped
The Build
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon
- 4 slices American cheese
- Green leaf lettuce
- 1 beefsteak tomato, sliced thin
- Extra sliced onion and jalapeño (for when nobody's looking)
- 2 hamburger buns
- Butter, for toasting
Equipment
- Blackstone or flat-top griddle
- Mixing bowl
- Metal pan or melting dome (for the cheese)
- Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
1. Bacon First Lay the thick-cut bacon on the griddle and cook it off. Why does bacon go down first? Because it's bacon — and that rendered grease is exactly what we're cooking the patties in later. Set the slices aside for the build.
2. Season the Beef Drop one pound of fresh 80/20 ground chuck in a mixing bowl and add a tablespoon of 1836 Beef Rub. Blend it in lightly — you want the seasoning worked all the way through without mashing up the meat.
3. Shape, Don't Smash Split the beef in half and loosely pack two patties, ½ to ¾ inch thick and wide enough to cover the bun once cooked. This isn't a smash burger — it's a hamburger. Loose-packed beef makes a juicier, better-eating patty.
4. Chill 30 Minutes Park the patties in the fridge while you prep everything else. Cold, firm patties hold together on the griddle and cook up better.
5. Mix the Secret Sauce Two tablespoons of mayo, one tablespoon of ketchup — half as much as the mayo — and a small squeeze of mustard. Then the twist: a tablespoon each of chopped pickles, yellow onion, and fresh jalapeño go straight into the sauce. Mix it all up.
6. Prep the Fixings & Toast the Buns Slice the beefsteak tomato thin, break off a few leaves of green leaf lettuce, and stage it all in the fridge until build time. Butter your buns and toast them on the griddle until golden. A toasted bun is non-negotiable.
7. Sear & Melt Crank the Blackstone to high and lay the patties in that bacon grease for a hard sear. Flip once, lay on the cheese — two slices per patty, it's a double-cheese build — and cover with a metal pan to melt it. Take the burgers to 145°F-plus for a nice medium (160°F if you cook it by the USDA book).
8. Build It Toasted bottom bun, a thin, even layer of secret sauce — and a little more on the crown. When nobody's looking, sneak some extra onion and jalapeño onto that sauce. Lettuce goes down first to catch the juices and anchor the patty. Then the cheesy patty, two slices of bacon, a couple of thick tomato slices, and the crown. Boom — a Texas-style burger.
Dan's Tip: Slicing jalapeños? Skip the halve-and-scrape. Stand the pepper up and slice down the sides, working your way around a little at a time — you get all jalapeño, no seeds, and the whole seed core stays behind in one piece.
Round It Out: Want fries with that? Cut a couple of russets into planks, toss them in oil and SuckleBusters SPG, and crisp them up on the griddle while the burgers rest. Heat-seekers: SPG Hot was made for jalapeño people.
The Verdict: Blind taste test against the real thing — and it wasn't close. Same ingredients, half the cost, ten times the flavor. It's the 1836 in the meat, the fresh-sliced everything, and the way the burger goes together. That's the Texas way.
Watch the video
See the full cook — and the blind taste test — here:
- #Beef