We all know that one person who thinks they make the best burger.

Be it a secret family recipe or just the usual ingredients cooked to perfection — or even if the burger isn’t as good as they claim — the traditional Independence Day grilling tends to fall on the same person year after year.

This year, Dartmouth Week camped out next to Shaw’s on a busy Friday afternoon to ask shoppers how they make their burgers.

Answers varied wildly, ranging from frozen meals to the new fake meat Beyond burger for the vegetarians among us, to bacon-and-spiced flavor bombs — and everything in between.

“I sauté chopped bacon and onions and then mix it into the meat,” said Tammi Pacheco of Acushnet. “It’s good!”

New Bedford resident Matthew Ormond said that he seasons his burgers with adobo, garlic powder, and onion powder. “It just gives it more flavor,” he added with a smile. “It’s just something I’ve picked up along the way to make burgers taste better.” 

Another shopper, who wished to remain anonymous, said that as a vegetarian, her family tends to cook the new fake meat Beyond burgers. “They’re weirdly good,” she said.

“We’re Jamaican, so it’s a lot of spices and seasoning, onions and everything,” said Rochelle Frazer, who was shopping with mom Pauline, the burger chef of the household. “We have it marinate a little bit...And then we put them on the grill.”

Frazer added that the family planned to cook a host of other items along with the burgers. “We’re gonna make seafood boil, and ribs, and pork, chicken,” she said with a grin. “A whole bunch of stuff.”

“This is much more crowded than I care to be in,” said Sharon Easton of New Bedford, indicating the masses of shoppers hurrying to get their groceries home for the festivities ahead.

As for her burger, Easton said she just uses the Weber hamburger seasoning. “I just put seasoning on it, and on the grill, and that’s it,” she noted. “I don’t get any complaints!”

“When you’re making the burger, you gotta make it by hand,” said Gene Frezza from Westport. “That’s the first thing. You don’t buy the pre-made ones. And then you have to add salt and pepper, garlic powder, and celery salt.”

Frezza said that once he mixes it all together and puts a little more garlic powder on it, he grills the burgers for three minutes on each side. But, he added, he also makes burgers in the oven.

“You sauté the burger for a couple of minutes on each side, and then you put it in the oven at 350 degrees for ten minutes,” he said. “And then, when it comes out, it’s like it’s so good you can take a loan out on it!”

“Sometimes I put bacon in it,” said New Bedford resident Brenda Constant. “Seasonings, pepper, salt, a little bit of onion salt. And a little bit of melted cheese. It’s beautiful. Comes out perfect.”

Constant was shopping with her sister and niece. “I’m the cook, she’s not,” she laughed, indicating her sister beside her. “She burns things!”