Been Away for Years - Never Stopped Grilling....


 
Jose Suro

Jose Suro

TVWBB All-Star
Hi All,

Used to post here all the time and stopped when I ran into some health problems, which turned out to be OK, and then I went wild with expensive cars and lots of travel. But I never stopped Weber grilling and BBQing. Last post might have been 6 years ago!

I learned a lot in those years and today I'd like to share something about the Performer charcoal grill grates. Also, last year while on Covid lock-down boredom finally perfected not only the the French mother sauces, but the steakhouse burger as well. I'll stick a pic of our 8-ounce burger at the end. Recipe will follow.

The grate that comes with the Performer grill is not stainless, it's nickel plated. My grates never lasted more than 3-4 months. Rusted, thin, etc. That's all done now. My original grate on a replacement Performer Deluxe ( I finally killed my first one) outlasted the gas burner and the one-touch cleaning blades. I melted the blades because I now grill restaurant style, at over 600 degrees using FOGO charcoal. More on that on another post.

Back to the grill grate. The simple secret is to prep them before and after every cook. The right tools are the secret. Once the charcoal is hot I put the grate on, let it get hot, and clean it with two brushes - this is the secret. First is the Weber heavy brush. This one:

https://www.weber.com/US/en/accessories/accessories-by-category/cleaning/grill-brush-6276/6276.html

It cleans and removes all the heavy stuff. After that one I use the Weber stainless one. That one polishes the grate and takes all the stuff dangling stuff on the bottom of the grate off:

https://www.weber.com/US/en/accessories/accessories-by-category/cleaning/grill-brush-6493/6493.html

These brushes last forever. The stainless one outlived my charcoal grate. But you have to use both!

After I do the cleaning then I oil the grate and cook. Than after I'm done cooking I repeat the brush process above sans the oil. Can't kill the damn grill grates anymore!

And here's a pic of our 8 ounce steakhouse burger and a link to the one critical part needed to build them.

IMG_2518_DxO.jpg


And the critical part to make them-Never compress a burger while shaping it!:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OP9AVNS/?tag=tvwb-20

Oh, and the FOGO charcoal. It gets my Performer to 600 degrees in a few minutes. Also, when I took this picture the original grate was already ~2 years old!
IMG_2516_DxO.jpg


I'll be back on and off with more stuff and to answer questions.

All the best!!
 
BillSmith said:
Looks good! What meats/seasoning do you use in your burger?
Click to expand...
Hi Bill,

I'm going to go over the whole thing here. I am using steakhouse techniques for burgers. Restaurants can't spend half an hour cooking a burger so very high heat is used. A great steakhouse burger is all about the meat flavor, juices, and the crust. The crust and charcoal add most all of the flavor. First, we settled on Ground Chuck 80/20 meat/fat. That and ground sea salt. That's it - nothing else is needed. We've used fancy meats and found there is very little difference in taste (it's all about the crust and cooking method makes that happen).

A lot of people will also add black pepper. We add black pepper to taste AFTER cooking. We found out that because we flame finish the burgers the pepper burns and takes on an acrid taste. I would prefer 70/30 (ground beef) but it's difficult to find good ground beef. The reason is meat labeled "ground beef" can be anything from any part of the animal. That makes the taste unpredictable.

We use a scale to make all the burgers exactly the same size and weight 8-ounces. They then all cook in the exact same rate - no fuzz. This is the scale we use (we cover it with saran wrap so we don't even have to clean it!:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S6F6LHQ/?tag=tvwb-20

I learned how to form the burgers from the video below. The burgers come out at 4.5 inches but shrink down to about 4.25 after cooking. Perfect size on a 4-inch brioche burger bun. The burgers are very delicate because very little pressure is used to form them That's the whole secret. If you press them too hard you get meatballs :cry: (that's why a lot of people make a dimple on the center of burgers. Not needed for that here.) My 4.5-inch ring is taller than the one on the video so I use the same technique as when the chef makes 4-ounce burgers later on the video. Here's the video - linking to it is not working so I put the name below :unsure:

"How to Make a Perfect Hamburger Patty From Ground Beef" by Jacob Burton

You can search for it on YouTube......

I set up the grill with FOGO charcoal on one half grill and tinfoil on the other (to collect grease). The burgers will cook covered away from the fire for ~6-minutes @ 500-600 degrees on the lid thermometer when it is placed right over the fire side, (~85 degrees internal temp). I check the internal temp once, after five minutes.....

Then they will go on direct heat which will immediate flare up that's what you want - fire. Because the burgers are so fragile the grates must be clean and well oiled, and must be set perpendicular to the fire side so that you can gently slide the burger to the fire side without lifting them. Flame cook with lid off for 1 to 2-minutes and flip. I then hit them with a shot of Worcestershire sauce and leave them on the fire for another minute or so (110 degrees internal temp).

Then I flip them again, another shot of Worcestershire, and drag them off the fire and put aged cheddar cheese on them. Cook around another 30-seconds covered and remove to a plate. Internal temp will be around 120 degrees. Total cooking time ~ 7 to 8-minutes.

If you let them sit on the kitchen counter or dining room table for any length of time they will keep cooking all the way to medium well. Plan accordingly to get your correct doneness. I prefer mine chin-dripping juicy so I eat mine at around 125 degrees.

Dressings are a personal preference. That said the burger image in the original post shows what we use. A whole leaf of lettuce on the bottom is a must lest your bottom bun disintegrates in your hands from the juices. My wife spent a lot of trial and error recreating the McDonald's BigMac sauce. She not only succeeded, hers is a LOT better. We coat both buns with it, add a dab of ketchup on top and we're done.

Hope this helps!

Best,

Jose

Next post - Smashed Burgers :)
 
Last edited:
For those here on the forum, I think a lot of what you state in your post is common-place when grilling burgers, or I at least hope so with the years of grilling under our collective belts. The one question I do have, is how do you form your patty in that 4.5" round cutter? I understand pressure when forming a patty is usually mistake #1 (aside from not using the freshest 80/20 you can find/grind), as you stated above, but how exactly do you form/press the burger into the cutter?

Great read by the way for those that want to make the perfect grilled burger! ;) (y)
 
M Craw said:
For those here on the forum, I think a lot of what you state in your post is common-place when grilling burgers, or I at least hope so with the years of grilling under our collective belts. The one question I do have, is how do you form your patty in that 4.5" round cutter? I understand pressure when forming a patty is usually mistake #1 (aside from not using the freshest 80/20 you can find/grind), as you stated above, but how exactly do you form/press the burger into the cutter?

Great read by the way for those that want to make the perfect grilled burger! ;) (y)
Click to expand...
HI Craw, I tried posting the use of the cutter video and it didn't work.

If you google this below it will come right up on the search, or goto YouTube and paste it there and search:

"How to Make a Perfect Hamburger Patty From Ground Beef" by Jacob Burton

Best,

Jose
 
Thanks to all for the warm welcome back! Much appreciated.

By the by, this 8oz burger is really BIG. Kind of burger you don't eat twice a week if you want to fit in your clothes!!
 
Jose Suro said:
HI Craw, I tried posting the use of the cutter video and it didn't work.

If you google this below it will come right up on the search, or goto YouTube and paste it there and search:

"How to Make a Perfect Hamburger Patty From Ground Beef" by Jacob Burton

Best,

Jose
Click to expand...
Doh! 😖 I read that part of your post, but forgot about it. I just watched it, and it's basically the same thing I've been doing w/ my burger press. I'm going to try the cutter though. Thanks!
 
Jose Suro said:
Hi All,

Used to post here all the time and stopped when I ran into some health problems, which turned out to be OK, and then I went wild with expensive cars and lots of travel. But I never stopped Weber grilling and BBQing. Last post might have been 6 years ago!

I learned a lot in those years and today I'd like to share something about the Performer charcoal grill grates. Also, last year while on Covid lock-down boredom finally perfected not only the the French mother sauces, but the steakhouse burger as well. I'll stick a pic of our 8-ounce burger at the end. Recipe will follow.

The grate that comes with the Performer grill is not stainless, it's nickel plated. My grates never lasted more than 3-4 months. Rusted, thin, etc. That's all done now. My original grate on a replacement Performer Deluxe ( I finally killed my first one) outlasted the gas burner and the one-touch cleaning blades. I melted the blades because I now grill restaurant style, at over 600 degrees using FOGO charcoal. More on that on another post.

Back to the grill grate. The simple secret is to prep them before and after every cook. The right tools are the secret. Once the charcoal is hot I put the grate on, let it get hot, and clean it with two brushes - this is the secret. First is the Weber heavy brush. This one:

https://www.weber.com/US/en/accessories/accessories-by-category/cleaning/grill-brush-6276/6276.html

It cleans and removes all the heavy stuff. After that one I use the Weber stainless one. That one polishes the grate and takes all the stuff dangling stuff on the bottom of the grate off:

https://www.weber.com/US/en/accessories/accessories-by-category/cleaning/grill-brush-6493/6493.html

These brushes last forever. The stainless one outlived my charcoal grate. But you have to use both!

After I do the cleaning then I oil the grate and cook. Than after I'm done cooking I repeat the brush process above sans the oil. Can't kill the damn grill grates anymore!

And here's a pic of our 8 ounce steakhouse burger and a link to the one critical part needed to build them.

View attachment 31985


And the critical part to make them-Never compress a burger while shaping it!:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OP9AVNS/?tag=tvwb-20

Oh, and the FOGO charcoal. It gets my Performer to 600 degrees in a few minutes. Also, when I took this picture the original grate was already ~2 years old!
View attachment 31987


I'll be back on and off with more stuff and to answer questions.

All the best!!
Click to expand...
Now that I have seen your cookie cutter I will probably have to try a gingerbread man burger!
 
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