70/30 Patties on the Blackstone: The Best Burger You've Ever Had, Plus Three Summer Sides

Whitt's Place 70/30 patties seared on the Blackstone with nothing but salt and pepper, tucked into toasted Adorno Sourdough buns with American cheese and Michael's bread and butter pickles. Add a watermelon feta salad, a red potato salad, and an heirloom tomato burrata salad, and you've got the perfect summer dinner — the burgers cooked out on the Blackstone, so the kitchen stays cool.

This was a proper summer dinner with friends. We set the table, poured something cold, and cooked the burgers outside on the Blackstone — the only thing on the stove was a quick pot of potatoes, which in July is about all the indoor cooking you want. Burgers hot off the griddle, three cool sides made ahead, and nothing left on anyone's plate by the end of the night.

Now, about these patties. Whitt's Place 70/30 patties are exactly what the name says — 70 percent lean, 30 percent fat — and that ratio is the whole secret. All that marbling bastes the burger as it cooks, so you get a deep crust on the outside and a juicy middle without doing anything clever. No fillers, no seasoning blends, no smashing or fussing. Salt and pepper, a hot griddle, one flip — and I will stand by this — the best tasting burger you've ever had.

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 Whitt's Place 70/30 patties
• Salt and coarse ground black pepper
• 4 slices American cheese
• 4 Adorno Sourdough buns
• Michael's bread and butter pickles
• Butter for toasting the buns
• Lettuce, Duke's mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard for dressing (optional)

Instructions

1. Fire up the Blackstone: Preheat your Blackstone or griddle to medium-high.
2. Season the patties: Salt and coarse ground pepper on both sides — that's it. With a patty this good, you don't need anything else.
3. Sear: Lay the patties on the griddle and leave them alone for 3–4 minutes, until a deep brown crust forms. Flip once and cook another 3–4 minutes. Don't press them — that's the juice you came for.
4. Melt the cheese: Lay a slice of American cheese on each patty for the last minute of cooking.
5. Toast the buns: Add a little butter to the griddle, then set the Adorno buns cut side down in it for about a minute, until golden.
6. Build: Bottom bun, patty with cheese, a pile of Michael's bread and butter pickles, then lettuce and whatever condiments you like. Top bun. Done.
7. Serve: Cut one open if you want proof — juicy all the way through, with nothing on it but salt and pepper. Serve hot with the three sides below.

Tips

• Leave them alone: One flip, no pressing. The 70/30 blend bastes itself; your only job is to not interfere.
• The cut test: Slice a finished burger in half and look at the middle — that's what the fat does. Juicy, tender, deeply beefy, with no seasoning tricks required.
• Keep the heat outside: The burgers cook outside and the sides are served cold — the only pot on the stove is for the potatoes, so the house stays cool. This is a July dinner that doesn't punish you for making it.
• Make the sides first: All three sides can wait in the fridge while you cook the burgers, and the potato salad is actually better after an hour's chill.

Bonus Recipe: Watermelon, Feta and Mint Salad

Three ingredients, no dressing, gone in minutes. Sweet cold watermelon, salty feta, fresh mint — it does not need anything else.

Ingredients

• Cold watermelon, cut into bite-size chunks
• A sprinkle of crumbled feta
• Fresh mint leaves, torn

Directions

Pile the watermelon into a serving bowl. Sprinkle the feta over the top, scatter on the torn mint, and serve cold.

Bonus Recipe: Red Potato Salad with Bread and Butter Pickles

Chopped bread and butter pickles are the move here — a little sweet, a little tangy, and they carry the whole bowl. I used Michael's, made right at Whitt's Place, plus red potatoes from the farmers market with the skins left on.

Ingredients

• About 2 pounds red potatoes (farmers market if you can), scrubbed, skins on
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• A generous handful of Michael's bread and butter pickles, chopped
• Duke's mayonnaise, enough to coat
• A good spoonful of Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper
• A splash of milk, to thin the dressing

Directions

Chop the potatoes into bite-size pieces — no peeling — and boil until just tender, about 10–12 minutes. Drain and let them cool a bit. Fold in the red onion, chopped pickles, Duke's, and Dijon, and season with salt and pepper. Add a splash of milk to loosen the dressing until it's creamy, then chill until dinner.

Bonus Recipe: Heirloom Tomato, Burrata and Basil Salad

The title is the ingredient list. When tomatoes are this good, your job is to slice them and stay out of the way.

Ingredients

• Heirloom tomatoes, sliced thick
• Burrata
• Fresh basil leaves
• Balsamic glaze
• Olive oil
• Coarse salt and coarse ground pepper

Directions

Shingle the tomato slices on a platter. Tear the burrata over the top, tuck in the basil, then finish with a drizzle of balsamic glaze, a drizzle of olive oil, and a good hit of coarse salt and coarse ground pepper.

That's the whole evening: burgers off the Blackstone, three cold sides, good friends around the table, and a kitchen that barely heated up. Stop by Whitt's Place for 70/30 patties and Michael's bread and butter pickles — then let the griddle and the farmers market handle the rest.