Busy day!

[Rich G]

Haven't had one of these frenetic days in the kitchen/on the grill in a while, so today was kind of fun!

Started with a trip to CostCo where I picked up some tri tip, boneless chuck "ribs", country style ribs, and some pork belly. Started things off by grinding up the beef and mixing it together, then the pork. I mixed up four batches of 24 oz beef to 6 oz pork for burgers, then vac-packed the pork for freezing and later use:

One of the batches of beef/pork mix was made up into patties for our hamburger dinner:

Cut the belly in half, squared it up, then put one half in a pancetta cure, and the other in a bacon cure.....vac-packed and into the fridge for a 7 day nap:

On a whim, I decided that I would make the hamburger buns, so found a recipe, and whipped up a batch. Here they are in their second rise after a bulk proof, and shaping into buns:

Burgers went on direct over medium hot coals (snuck a piece of belly on there from squaring it up):

Flipped 'em:

Then brought the finished burgers inside, and plated them up (had sautéed mushrooms and onions on hand, along with the usual condiments):

Buns turned out great. Burgers turned out great. That piece of pork belly was delicious (just a little S&P, and crispified pork fat!) I'm ready to curl up on the couch now......

Hope y'all are having a great Labor Day weekend!

Rich

 

[Clint]

Nice cooks Rich!

 

[Bob Ivey]

Great looking cook Rich. I see why you were ready to curl up. Did the tri tip go in the mix for the ground meat or was that just the boneless chuck and the country style ribs?

 

[Rich G]

Did the tri tip go in the mix for the ground meat or was that just the boneless chuck and the country style ribs?

Bob, the beef was 2lbs of tri tip to 5lbs of chuck for the beef mix. For my burger mix, I took 24oz of the tt+chuck and mixed in 6 oz of the ground pork. I think I'll change that ratio to 22/8 on the next go around, as any flavor from the pork was really subtle. I have to try not to forget to type up my notes from the hamburger buns, though, they turned out just like I was hoping. Not so soft that they fell apart, but not so tough that they were chewy....and, they were the right size so as to not have to high of a bread to burger ratio (after all, it's about the burger!!)

Rich

 

[Gary London]

Those burgers look top class and those burger buns look amazing.

I really struggle to find good burger buns and must try to make some. Can you share the recipe please?

 

[TonyUK]

As soon as you mentioned pork belly I was hooked!

50/50 beef & pork is the only way I go when making burgers. Yours look super!

 

[Rich G]

I really struggle to find good burger buns and must try to make some. Can you share the recipe please?

I adapted a slider bun recipe that I found here http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/49011/123-challenge-slider-rolls-smoked-brisket (at The Fresh Loaf, my favorite bread forum site....)

320g AP flour (can use bread flour) - 100%
183g Milk (I used 2%) - 58%
46g Water - 14%
32g Melted butter - 10%
6g Salt - 2%
2g Active Dry Yeast - .6%

Mix flour, milk, water together until well mixed, then let sit for 30 minutes (autolyse.)
Melt butter, then mix in with flour mixture (work it with your hands, kneading until butter is incorporated)
Sprinkle salt and yeast over dough, and knead it for 5-10 minutes until the dough is silky smooth
Proof for a couple of hours, or until doubled (time will vary depending on room temperature)
Gently "punch down" dough, then divide into 5 even balls
Pat the balls of dough to flatten them somewhat, place on a greased cookie sheet and allow to rise for 45-60 minutes
Brush with egg wash, and top with sesame seeds (I was out)
Cook in a 385 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until evenly browned and an internal temperature of 205

Let cool, slice in half, then top with your favorite burger and fixings!

Modifications that I intend to try on the next batch: cut water, and use 100% milk for liquid; increase butter to 45g for a little more softness.

If you give these a try, let me know how you like them, and if you have any modifications of your own!

Rich

PS: Sorry for the somewhat precise measurements.....I was using baker's percentages to create this formula from a target dough ball size (I added the percentages of ingredients, written as percents of total flour weight.) You can, of course, scale this as needed for more buns.

 

[JRAiona]

You sure we're busy Rich. Those burgers look and sound killer and the buns are awesome.

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

Really well done Rich!

 

[ChuckO]

You can't buy a burger like that. A labor of love, and worth every bite

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Great looking stuff Rich. Those bun look killer. Thanks for posting that recipe. Did the Chicago series have anything to do with changing your avatar?

 

[Rich Dahl]

Great looking burger and buns! Barb and I have settled in on a 70% beef (30% sirloin / 70% chuck) to 30% pork for our burger enough moisture and plenty of beef flavor. We've been looking for a good bun recipe will be giving yours a try this week. I'll let you know if we did any mods and how they worked out.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.

 

[Rich G]

Did the Chicago series have anything to do with changing your avatar?

Cliff, changed the avatar since it's Prostate Cancer Awareness month. I'm not sure what to do about our Giants. Keeping the faith, as always, hoping they will find their mojo (and that clutch hit that they seemed to get on demand in the first half!)

R

 

[Matt Rector]

Fantastic cook my friend! That burger is calling to me.

 

[Tyson]

That looks like one heck of a burger! Looks great.

 

[Barb D]

Rich that burger is to die for, man you nailed that one. Those buns look wonderful and thanks for the recipe will be doing it later this week. Outstanding job my friend.