The Lean-To-Fat Ratio You Need To Make A Burger Like Five Guys, According To Reddit

Who doesn't love Five Guys? Sure, you may need to take out a second mortgage on your house to afford it on a regular basis, but it's still a welcome mainstay in the fast food scene with its overflowing containers of fries, free peanuts (which are no longer self-serve, but can still be requested), and its juicy, delectable hamburgers. But what if you want to make a Five Guys-esque burger at home? Sure, the price of beef is soaring everywhere, but it's still cheaper to do it yourself. If that sounds good to you, what lean-to-fat ratio would be best? According to a former Five Guys employee on Reddit, 80-20 is the sweet spot.

"It's pretty simple really," the comment says. "They just use 80/20 ground beef, unseasoned. Each patty is between 3 and 3.3 ounces. Slap the patty onto a flat top or frying pan until you can see a grey sear forming along the bottom." After flipping, you'll have to make like every other trendy burger restaurant these days and smash the patty, but our heroic poster warns us that's not as easy as it sounds. "This'll probably be there [sic] most difficult step to reproduce as they have a special tool to make sure it gets smashed the perfect amount." Still, getting the right fat ratio is a major part of the puzzle, so you should be able to manage fine.

As it turns out, those Five Guys know a thing or two about burgers, as 80-20 ground beef is an excellent choice for a hamburger's lean-fat ratio. It's a delicate balance that needs to be struck, as more fat means more flavor and more moisture — nobody wants to bite into a dry, bland hockey puck between two buns. With that said, you can also go too far in the other direction. 70% lean ground beef is the minimal amount allowed to be sold by the USDA, but using ground beef with that much fat in it would result in a greasy, soggy mess (and a whole lot of fat to be wiped off your griddle).

An 80-20 ratio is ideal for a lot of ground beef applications, so it's no surprise that Five Guys uses it for its restaurants. If you want to get as close to the real Five Guys experience as possible, it's also a good idea to toast your hamburger buns (a solid idea in general, actually) and caramelize some onions to go on top. You'll have to be patient, though, because as we all know caramelizing onions takes a long time (unless you use this trick to caramelize them faster).