Fiddy/Fiddy Burger Question

[Steve_A (Tatoosh)]

The Fiddy/Fiddy or 50/50 for those with better diction, is a blend of ground beef and ground bacon. Normally, I'd ask this over in the grilling section, but since I am dealing with bacon, I wanted to get your guys opinions. What temperature should I cook these to? I sure can't do the rare sort of burger. I'm thinking that I should take these to medium/well or well done. Someplace between 150F and 160F. I do hot finish my bacon when I smoke it, taking it to 150F, but then it goes into the fridge for up to a week or more, occasionally.

I'll be using local (Batangas) beef that doesn't have much fat, but I figure the bacon will help on that. The bacon is my own made and smoked with Hickory. I can select "fattier" pieces so it adds to the overall juiciness. I use MartinF's recipe for my Cure Mix, but substitute maple sugar in for the sweetener.

Now here is the "heresy" part, at least for Weber Grill fans. I will cook these sous vide (vac packed and cooked in a water bath), then deep fry the exterior. I've done this before and my wife, who won't eat burgers generally, will if they are deep fried. So my approach is partially for domestic tranquility. But, in my defense, I will note that the bacon is smoked on a Weber OTG with a Smokenator 1000 insert.

Any advice on temps or any other aspect for the "fiddy/fiddy" burger are welcome!

 

[Jeff A]

With doing these sous vide I would take them to 135 or so in the water bath then deep fry them which should easily carry them to 145 or so, with the bacon being pre cooked I would feel more than comfortable at those temps.

 

[Steve_A (Tatoosh)]

Thanks Jeff, I was figuring on a minimum 145F and maybe a bit more, since i finish bacon at 150F when I smoke it (yeah, yeah ... guys ... I'll admit I hotsmoke my bacon) I want to go to maybe Medium Well? People here in the Philippines bristle at anything approaching pink except shellfish.