Season ground burger to taste with salt and pepper and onion powder. Mix in some chili sauce – I just buy cans of chili sauce, also called coney sauce by some manufacturers.

Make thin patties from the hamburger. On half the burgers, place a cheese slice (to me nothing is better than Velveeta cheese as it melts super and has an outstanding taste)

Now cover each burger with a second patty and pinch the ends together. Wrap a slice of bacon around each burger and skewer with a toothpick.

Grill your burgers until they are thoroughly cooked. When you serve, you might even top with more of the coney sauce.

I was grilling some hot dogs and got out some frozen french fries. I have a perforated aluminum pan I use in one of my cookers and I grabbed it and sprayed it with PAM. I dumped in french fries for 3 of us and hit a little olive oil across the top and sprinkled on Italian seasoning and put it on the grill.

Nice taste! I’m not a big fan of frozen fries but I keep them on hand for quick meals. These were the best fires I have tasted. They had had nice grilled flavor and were just perfect alongside the hot dogs.

Give them a try next time you barbecue.

It doesn’t always have to be this way. Sometimes you need to do nothing more than grill a meat until it’s done. That’s it.

This past Fathers Day I had my family over for a barbecue. Hamburgers are usually on the menu, along with hot dogs. Last year I did some barbecue country ribs. This year I wanted another change.

I bought some Johnsonville sausages. The spices are in there. I got mild ones but you can get them with the heat kicked up as well. I put them on the grill along with hot dogs, while cooking up some killer chicken wings in my slow cooker (I’ll tell you about them another time).

Let me tell you something. I had more raves about the wings and the sausages than you could believe. Everybody loved them. They were all telling me how good they were and I’m thinking – “All I did was grilled them right from the package”.

You don’t always need to be creative in your grilling. Grilling can be very easy when you want. Sure, I love doing my own thing to a steak. But this was nice and easy and I just kicked back and enjoyed.

I never used Johnsonville before. I will from now on.

I actually first had my grandson do some grilling when he was 2 1/2 years old. I put a step in front of the grill, then explained to him how the grill was hot and he needed to be careful. We started with hot dogs.

You can and should grill hot dogs on a lower heat setting in order to keep from burning them. I normally grill them with the lid down but did so at this time with it up so he could watch. He used tongs and easily rolled them over. I think only 1 hit the ground.

The dogs came out excellent and he was excited when he took them off the grill and put them on a serving dish I was holding. He ran in the house and told his grandma he just cooked hot dogs. He told his mom when she came to pick him up.

We did hamburgers next, then he took a try at steaks. Now the steaks get grilled at a higher temperature so I had to watch him carefully, but he did a great job.

It’s important to bond with kids and this is a very good way to do so. He is nearing 5 years old now and he still loves to grill and is learning some more techniques all the time.

In small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients (mayonnaise and Dijon mustard) and set to the side.

Make your hamburger patties, from 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick, depending on the number of servings needed.

Lightly brush the oil onto the cut sides of onion. Place patties and onions on grid and grill at about a medium temperature. Grill 13 to 15 minutes until centers are no longer pink and onions are tender, turning once if possible. If you need to turn again, go for it.

Open the buns or rolls and place on the warming rack or onto the grid if you have no warming rack. You want to lightly toast the inside.

Season burgers with salt and pepper after turning. About 1 minute before burgers are done, top each burger with 2 slices cheese.

Meanwhile, spread equal parts of sauce mixture on top half of each roll or bun. Line bottom half of each roll with lettuce and tomato. Place the cheeseburger and onion in.

Prepare to eat a delicious, juicy cheeseburger.

Hamburgers on the grill are a favorite with most people and they are pretty easy to grill. Here’s a way to season the burgers and give them an extra special taste that will get you some nice comments.

Make sure to take the burgers out of the refrigerator at least a half hour before grilling. Prepare them by first liberally spreading meat tenderizer on them. Yes – meat tenderizer. I use it to get the good flavors it adds.

Next, sprinkle with Accent.

Finally, sprinkle on some black pepper. Some people like their food on the spicy side and others don’t. I like to do about half the burgers with a generous amount of pepper for those who like it hot. The other half I put some on but a small amount. Even my 4 year old grandson, who does not like pepper, likes them this way.

I actually like to do my steaks in this manner as well.

Now, let the burgers sit for a half hour so the flavors have time to take hold.

The grill should be hot when you put on the burgers. If cooking for a crowd, you do have to watch for hot spots and rotate the burgers, but on the whole I like to put the burgers on, grill one side until I see the top and sides of the burgers getting somewhat brown, then flip them. My goal is to do 1 flip. Watch for the juices to begin running clear and the burgers should be cooked to perfection.

Over cook them and you will have dried out hamburgers.

If you have a warming rack on your grill, open the buns and spread some butter and put the buns inside down on the warming rack. Let me tell you something. Doing it this way the buns become very soft in the center and somewhat crispy on the outside and really add to the flavor of the hamburger.

If you are making cheese burgers, put the cheese on once you see the juices running clear and close the lid for only about 30 seconds. The cheese will continue to melt when you remove the burgers.