Hamburgers - Room for improvement


 
LMichaels said:
Many times I make burgers sans buns. One thing, the taste of commercial hamburger rolls has changed to something I don't like much. The other is why do I want to waste my carb load on something I don't like the taste of?
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Somewhere several years ago I read an article that changed how I make burgers. He used mayo which I don't, so instead, to a pound of 80/20 ground chuck add a tbsp of Worcestershire and one egg. Mix, hand form three patties with a good dimple in the middle, refrigerate until time to grill at hot 400+. Use potato hamburger rolls!

The changes for me were those simple ingredients and the potato rolls. One time I added a quarter cup of shredded cheddar and the result was also excellent. High heat is a necessity, so monitor the cook.
 
I use a full chimney let it get good and hot which means most of the coals are halfway gone by the time you're ready to cook but they are ashed.

Do not put Worcestershire on your burgers or in your meat. All you're doing is adding water to them which makes them not char.. in fact it makes them make a ton of steam so much steam you can't see through it....And it makes them cook slow... All that water has to get driven out.

Use meat with a lot of fat content if you want your burgers to be juicy.


The only thing I put on mine is a few shakes of Tony chachere's... Salt pepper garlic red pepper mix. Could they be better maybe but they're good enough.

I've got several Burger presses in the back of cabinets, I never use them. I like to use a little bit more than half pound per Patty and I like to press them out till they're about 3/4"
 
It seems no way we will agree, but that's what life is about. 🤔 My burgers with Worcestershire never steam, but they taste great (maybe it's the egg?). Adding salt to a burger mix is not good. Tony Chachere is half salt itself and is why I started making my own Cajun spice with only a little salt. Salt can always be added afterwards but never removed.
 
RichPB (richlife) said:
It seems no way we will agree, but that's what life is about. 🤔 My burgers with Worcestershire never steam, but they taste great (maybe it's the egg?). Adding salt to a burger mix is not good. Tony Chachere is half salt itself and is why I started making my own Cajun spice with only a little salt. Salt can always be added afterwards but never removed.
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I don't add anything to the burger mix .
I make patties out of ground meat, and sprinkle a little seasoning on outside of them.
Just like is done for steak.... Primarily salt pepper and garlic.
Nothing wrong with salt. And yeah, all seasonings are high in salt. Want to know what I put on the outside of a brisket? 50/50 salt and pepper.

SALT.... Is the number one seasoning we cannot do without. Literally everything would suck without it.Everything.... whether meat or vegetables. Even butter sucks without it ... Even (gasp) bacon sucks without it...... That's why everyone buys it in big 26 oz containers, while everything else is in little bitty 2-3 oz containers. That alone tells you the usage ratio of salt to everything else for everybody.

There's a lot of junk science behind the medical communities recommendations to limit sodium. Sure it makes sense in people with high blood pressure because it makes them retain water which raises their blood pressure.
 
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I've found that a burger is as easy to mess as easily as a steak if not paying attention. But it's only a burger right? No it's not!! A burger is cooking a steak in a different form, and should be treated as such. It's a gourmet item. Not a quick, cheap, fast-food detritus to fill a hunger gap.
I've resorted to buying 6oz+ rib-eyes and have my butcher grind it up medium for me. Cheap, ground beef in plastic containers tastes crap.
I dust the mix with SPOG prior to forming the 3/4" patty, which is done in a lightly oiled, large round cookie-cutter. No stickage. Don't overwork the meat as the burger can become dense when cooked. Wrap each burger in cling-film and into the fridge for a few hours to firm up. I make all the patty's the same weight.
Half a chimney of searing hot coals off to one side, a minute each side to get a crust on them, then move to indirect until +/-150IT, eat immediately off the grill on a prepped bun.
 
My favorite burger for the past 30+ years is made up the road on a griddle in the back of a country store / gas station in Sunshine, Maryland. Best burgers east of the Mississippi.

That is, up until now.

They cook half pound burgers and use fresh ground chuck with toasted Burger King Whopper buns. Whopper buns! They are perfect for half pound burgers because they're wide enough for an 8 oz patty and they're narrow enough to get your mouth around them. You can't get them retail, but they'll sell them to you for 75¢.

I've been trying to perfect my own burger to be at least equal with the "Sunshine Burger" for about fifteen years. Got close but never hit it until last summer - finally.

It's a long story but the gist of it is, for one burger, light a medium fire (say 15 briquets) in your Weber kettle, add your favorite smoke wood chips as you wish, then take your desired amount of ground chuck (4, 6, 8 ounces) and shred it with a fork so that it's extremely loose. Place the pile of extremely loose ground chuck onto an upside-down grillgrate on the Weber placed right over the hot briquets. Push the edges of the pile in with a spatula so that it somewhat resembles the round shape of the burger you want. Cook it on your Weber with an upside down grillgrate (the flat side up). Sprinkle a 50/50 mixture of Dale's Steak (liquid) seasoning and Kraft Italian dressing on top of the pile of raw extremely loose ground chuck (1-2 Tbs) as it sits on the grill grate (seasoning credit Dave at SnS). Place lid on Weber. When the burger hits around 100 F as indicated with your instant read, gently flip the burger being careful not to leave any crusty remnants which have formed on the bottom of the burger. You will find that the burger has magically become a patty! The salty seasoning causes the ground chuck remnants to adhere to each other so that they are no longer loose. Furthermore, when the seasoning makes its way through the loose burger to the surface of the grate, the maillard reaction is pronounced so that you get a nice crusty surface on the burger even in a short time with a relatively low temp. Add some more of the seasoning. Place cheese on the burger as you wish. Cover for a few minutes. Pull the burger at your favorite degree of done-ness. Place on toasted burger bun with your favorite condiments. Wrap in burger wrap. Wait two minutes. Serve. It may take a few practice runs to get it just right. But the result will be an extremely tender, juicy burger with an amplified beefy taste!
 
Mark_E said:
My favorite burger for the past 30+ years is made up the road on a griddle in the back of a country store / gas station in Sunshine, Maryland. Best burgers east of the Mississippi.

That is, up until now.

They cook half pound burgers and use fresh ground chuck with toasted Burger King Whopper buns. Whopper buns! They are perfect for half pound burgers because they're wide enough for an 8 oz patty and they're narrow enough to get your mouth around them. You can't get them retail, but they'll sell them to you for 75¢.

I've been trying to perfect my own burger to be at least equal with the "Sunshine Burger" for about fifteen years. Got close but never hit it until last summer - finally.

It's a long story but the gist of it is, for one burger, light a medium fire (say 15 briquets) in your Weber kettle, add your favorite smoke wood chips as you wish, then take your desired amount of ground chuck (4, 6, 8 ounces) and shred it with a fork so that it's extremely loose. Place the pile of extremely loose ground chuck onto an upside-down grillgrate on the Weber placed right over the hot briquets. Push the edges of the pile in with a spatula so that it somewhat resembles the round shape of the burger you want. Cook it on your Weber with an upside down grillgrate (the flat side up). Sprinkle a 50/50 mixture of Dale's Steak (liquid) seasoning and Kraft Italian dressing on top of the pile of raw extremely loose ground chuck (1-2 Tbs) as it sits on the grill grate (seasoning credit Dave at SnS). Place lid on Weber. When the burger hits around 100 F as indicated with your instant read, gently flip the burger being careful not to leave any crusty remnants which have formed on the bottom of the burger. You will find that the burger has magically become a patty! The salty seasoning causes the ground chuck remnants to adhere to each other so that they are no longer loose. Furthermore, when the seasoning makes its way through the loose burger to the surface of the grate, the maillard reaction is pronounced so that you get a nice crusty surface on the burger even in a short time with a relatively low temp. Add some more of the seasoning. Place cheese on the burger as you wish. Cover for a few minutes. Pull the burger at your favorite degree of done-ness. Place on toasted burger bun with your favorite condiments. Wrap in burger wrap. Wait two minutes. Serve. It may take a few practice runs to get it just right. But the result will be an extremely tender, juicy burger with an amplified beefy taste!
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Very interesting 🤔
 
Doing burgers tonite. Processed a beef tenderloin over weekend, took the chain and other bits and pieces along with some added fat I took off a brisket last summer and put in freezer. Processed everything in the new KitchenAid food processor I got for Christmas. Made a little sample in a pan and absolutely DELISH!
 
LMichaels said:
Doing burgers tonite. Processed a beef tenderloin over weekend, took the chain and other bits and pieces along with some added fat I took off a brisket last summer and put in freezer. Processed everything in the new KitchenAid food processor I got for Christmas. Made a little sample in a pan and absolutely DELISH!
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tenderloin with ground bacon mixed in is a next level burger. freeze the bacon pieces first before grinding for best results.

key note is BACON, not pork belly. and if you leave the bacon as knife chopped it won't cook correctly and fully. you must grind it into the beef and cook the burger through to 145/150 or so to ensure a properly cooked burger.
 
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Brett-EDH said:
tenderloin with ground bacon mixed in is a next level burger. freeze the bacon pieces first before grinding for best results.

key note is BACON, not pork belly. and if you leave the bacon as knife chopped it won't cook correctly and fully. you must grind it into the beef and cook the burger through to 145/150 or so to ensure a properly cooked burger.
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Sadly can't do bacon because "da boss" has an allergy to pork and she would become ill. Which is why I did the back fat off the brisket I did this past summer
 
BFletcher said:
You're doing this often enough that, soon, you'll achieve the consistent results that you want. When I do burgers I dump my coals from the chimney after they are well-ashed, or very close to it. With all due respect, I hold the opinion that you dumped yours too soon.

This pic (borrowed from the web) is a good example; you can choose on your own as to whether you want a two-zone pit such as what is depicted here, or a single zone. A two-zone setup is helpful if you experience a major flareup or if you simply need to move your meat from heat that's too intense.

View attachment 63415

You might find this helpful: https://www.kingsford.com/grill-guide/how-to-arrange-your-charcoal/

Or this: https://bbqviking.com/2012/06/07/te...-for-direct-indirect-and-rotisserie-grilling/

Good luck!
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I agree with this. If you dump the coals as you did and they are not tightly grouped the heat will just not follow.
 
I see some serious burger cookers here! My son and I just scrolled through and ogled the pictures. I would just add that store bought ground beef might taste OK or it might taste truly horrible, depending on what your store puts into it.

Also, made the point out that his quantum over-sized burgers came out of a genuine Weber burger press.
 
Here is something called the "Farmer's Daughter Burger" from the small town of Capers Bridge, West Virginia. This burger was awarded best burger in West Virginia three years in a row. It's a griddled burger, of course (you could do this on a Weber but not on a Weber grate). The technique is unique. Start with about 5-6 ounces of high quality ground chuck 80/20. First you form the patty with your hands. Then lay the patty on your very hot griddle or cast iron pan that's at least 400 F and leave it on there for about two minutes. Then you flip it and smash it. Then you immediately flip it back over the way it was before and continue to cook for about another two minutes. When you see rendered fat bubbling up through the patty, flip it a final time and wait another two minutes. Add cheese as you wish. Serve on a brioche bun with mayo, shredded romaine, and pickled onions (I use dill pickle slices). This was my favorite homemade burger for a while, but IMO not quite as good as the Sunshine burger and then also not as good as the burger later developed in post #26. Still an excellent burger and worth trying out.



About — Farmer's Daughter

www.farmersdaughterwv.com www.farmersdaughterwv.com


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