RECIPE
HOMEMADE IN-N-OUT BURGER
from Oliver Jones of Los Angeles, CA
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb high quality ground chuck
1 tomato
Iceberg lettuce leaves
Onion
American Cheese
Kraft Thousand Island Dressing
Buns
Salt
This makes six cheeseburgers or three double doubles.
Start with one pound of high quality ground chuck, and divide it into three identically sized balls of beef. Then turn each ball into two wide, thin patties. The trick here is to get them as thin as you can, like 2D if you can manage. Ideally each patty should be ever so slightly wider in circumference than the bun. Wash your hands and then lightly salt both sides of each patty (or you can do that before putting them in the pan).
Clean and slice a tomato. Clean and dry some iceberg lettuce leaves, and slice an onion, if that is how you roll. Also, get the American cheese and the Kraft Thousand Island Dressing (yes that is the secret sauce) out of the fridge.
Pre-heat a dry biggish Teflon fry pan over medium-high heat. Toast a couple buns face side down in the dry pan until they are lightly browned and set aside.
Place the salted beef patty (I do two at a time) in the hot pan for 3 to 6 minutes, patting it down with the spatula to keep it flat. When they are ready, flip them over and place a slice of cheese on each one right away.
While the second side of the burger is cooking, spread a tablespoon of Thousand Island dressing on the bun bottom, then the tomato, then the lettuce, stacked in that order. The burger should be done after about 2 to 5 minutes. I undercooked my first batch and had to use the meat thermometer (they are done at 150).
Place the patty on the lettuce (and the other patty on top of that one if it is a double), top with onion slice, if you want one, and finish it with the other bun half. Then clean off the pan and do it over again twice more.
In the end, you should have a close approximation of a genuine In-N-Out Burger. Or at least an awfully tasty burger.
NOTE: The trick with the buns are not to get really wide or really thick ones. The ones we got were too big, and sort of swallowed the burger, which at 1/6th of a pound are a bit on the small side. Also, I am sure this would work just as well on a grill, just be careful not to burn the buns when toasting them.