Hamburgers


 
Depending on how many burgers I'm planning to cook I'll usually have at least one small area with no coals, sometimes a slightly larger area. I'll do direct until I think they're done and then move to the indirect area until the rest have finished. I generally use a very hot fire so they cook quite fast. If I'm doing more than six it will often take me long enough to get them all on the grill that the first ones are almost ready to flip by the time I get the last ones on. Same thing after the flip, particularly with the time needed to add the cheese. So they usually spend just enough time indirect for me to deal with the rest of them or for the cheese to mostly melt.
 
Well. Fine! I have pork chops ready for dinner and now I REALLY want a burger! Grilled the last two days and the snow returned this morning(@#&$*??) so these will hit the oven, tomorrow is predicted to be more of the same! I need more grilled food!!!
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Well. Fine! I have pork chops ready for dinner and now I REALLY want a burger! Grilled the last two days and the snow returned this morning(@#&$*??) so these will hit the oven, tomorrow is predicted to be more of the same! I need more grilled food!!!
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Yeah, was supposed to grill chicken tonight, but I’m getting ready to fire up the grill for burgers myself. I’d like to try the smash burgers, but don’t own anything cast iron. That’s going to need to change!
 
Brian_D said:
I do 2/3 pound (the other 1/3 reserved & pattied on the side, for the dogs) 80/20 ground beef. Put in a bowl with a couple splashes of worcestershire & a couple pinches of kosher salt. Kneed & formed into 2 balls. I then jam my thumb into the top of each ball & work it around so that I make a round pocket inside each ball. I then stuff with shredded cheese - Sharp cheddar, pepper jack, 3 cheese Mexican blend, whatever we happen to have on hand. Sometimes we have blu cheese crumbles & I'll stuff that in. Carefully pinching the top closed while shaping the ball into a patty seals the cheese inside. I grill the patties, flip & (usually) add more cheese to the top/done side - you can never have too much cheese! If we have a red onion, I'll slice off a piece & put a ring or 2 on top of the flipped burger, & then add cheese. The ring helps the cheese stay put, especially blu cheese crumbles! As the burgers are Grilling, I toast the buns around the outer/cooler part of the grill. And while all the burger action is happening, the better half is baking French fries inside; or if it's too hot, we'll have potato chips & onion dip.
A really nice, crunchy pickle half & some mustard for the burger completes the meal. If the burgers are blu cheese, we use bbq sauce instead of mustard.
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This sounds interesting - I think I'll try your way.
 
I love burgers any which way or form, but I really like smoked burgers for a change of pace.

Tim
 
I follow the Weber Genesis 1000 standard directions: 80/20 fresh meat, pre-heat, turn off the middle burner, other 2 burners to 'medium' setting. scrape the cooking grates, throw the burgers over the middle burner, close lid. Wait 5 minutes, flip, close lid. 5 minutes more, remove. With all the grease smoke that comes off during cooking, I consider them 'smoked'!
 
I'm in the "meat-only" group -- no egg, sauces, spices, vegetables in the patty. I use a Kitchen Aid grinder: 2 passes through the coarse die. Usually mix about 60% chuck (fatty as I can find); 20% brisket cut-offs ( I usually lop about 3" off the thin end of the flat, leave all the fat untrimmed); and 20% pork rib trimmings ( I buy whole racks and trim the flap, ends and breastbone). Salt and pepper before they go on the grill, flip when they get a crust and give them a little less time on side 2. We like medium-rare. A good simple burger is a thing of beauty.

Jeff
 
J Hasselberger said:
I'm in the "meat-only" group -- no egg, sauces, spices, vegetables in the patty. I use a Kitchen Aid grinder: 2 passes through the coarse die. Usually mix about 60% chuck (fatty as I can find); 20% brisket cut-offs ( I usually lop about 3" off the thin end of the flat, leave all the fat untrimmed); and 20% pork rib trimmings ( I buy whole racks and trim the flap, ends and breastbone). Salt and pepper before they go on the grill, flip when they get a crust and give them a little less time on side 2. We like medium-rare. A good simple burger is a thing of beauty.
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I think I'd want to go beyond medium rare if I had that much pork in the mix.
 
Yeah I am ok with a little pork in them but then I consider them sausage patties not burgers. As for any other ingredient? Just good beef minimum 80/20 but even high quality grind myself 70/30 is better imo. And yes I typically never buy ground meat. I buy cuts of meat I like (some chuck, short rib, brisket and such) cut it all up into small pieces and then super chill it and grind it (either on the KitchenAid grinder attachment or in the food processor)
Form into patties, season primarily just salt and grill over direct medium heat
 
use the pulse button as it can turn to paste if you look away ,been a long time since I did some that way,works well but takes a little time as I made smaller batches to cut down run time
 
Yep the pulse button is your friend. Having the meat you select be quite cold but not frozen and also if the meat really fibrous (hard gristle) remove that because the processor won't chop it properly. But overall IMO it does as good a job as a grinder and IMO a little faster overall. Use small batches too
 
Clint said:
I think I might try this, I saw a video where that was done. Any pointers?
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I've done this in the past. Cut the beef into about 1" cubes and stick them in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Do just a small batch at a time. Less than half full. Use pulses of 1-2 seconds.

I found the result to be rather different than store-bought hamburger. Store-bought they usually run it through the grinder twice so it's very thoroughly mushed up. The consistency out of the food processor is more like the little chunks of beef that it is rather than beef that's been thoroughly pulverized. To me it seems like eating a burger made of lots of tiny bites of steak. I prefer it to store-bought, but it's enough additional work that I don't do it very often.
 
My butcher has a good quality 80/20 so I just use that. I usually hand form the patties usually 1/3 of a pound. I season only after I've formed the patties. Mixing the seasoning in, at least the salt makes for a denser burger. You want little pockets for the fat to collect. I prefer grilling them direct over medium heat on my kettle. The flavor of the fat dripping into the fire to me is superior than a griddle can produce. If I use my Genesis 1000 I set all the burners on medium after a preheat.
 
My reasoning for eschewing pre-ground meat is bone chips. I have had so many accidental tooth injuries due to bone chips in burger meat it just scares me to death to eat pre-ground, EVEN from my trusted butcher shop. So that's why I typically buy the meat I want depending on the purpose of it's use (chuck, skirt, short rib, etc) for burgers, or sirloin, brisket, etc for when I want to make tacos/burritos etc. At least I have never chomped on a bone when I grind my own
 
I use a wooden burger press that my dad made for me in 1983. Ground chuck, cooked direct and seasoned with fresh ground pepper and some celery salt.
Every once in awhile if I see tri tip priced right I will grind some and mix 50/50 with ground chuck. I like to taste the flavor of the meat and don't use mustard, ketchup,
or other sauces on a burger.
 
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