Smokey, char-grilled flavor. Why is it missing from my burgers?
- Thread starter M Borner
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RCBaughn
TVWBB Super Fan
Boy howdy first time I tried grilling bacon (earlier this week as a matter of fact) I ended up with pork charcoal. It went from being light brown to black as coal and that was on the warming rack of my gasser. I can only imagine how good it would've been if it wouldn't have burned, but it was my first time grilling bacon so no worries I guess. Bet the smokey flavor it adds is great though. Have to give it a another go and report back on this thread.
Robert McGee
TVWBB Gold Member
I cook my bacon, indirect, on the OTG. It takes a bit (pretty much renders instead of grilling) but it sure is worth the time. There is a rather broad window of perfection. There is NO doubt that bacon really adds to a burger (as well as a nice sweet onion slice and a slice of white cheddar - m-m-m-m-h-h-h GOOD!
At about the 4th of July, I'll add some of the best sweet corn in the western world grown right near here at Ross, Ohio (where they developed Silver Queen). My favorite is a local hybrid, by-color sweet corn. Grilled hamburgers and sweet corn (fresh from the field the same day) and man we're eatin' "high off the hog"...
(or, as my friends say down south, "Walkin' in tall cotton"...
Dale53
At about the 4th of July, I'll add some of the best sweet corn in the western world grown right near here at Ross, Ohio (where they developed Silver Queen). My favorite is a local hybrid, by-color sweet corn. Grilled hamburgers and sweet corn (fresh from the field the same day) and man we're eatin' "high off the hog"...
(or, as my friends say down south, "Walkin' in tall cotton"...Dale53
Robert McGee
TVWBB Gold Member
Bob;
Around here, the field corn grows to over seven feet tall! So, yes, it could be "walkin' in tall corn". I grew up on a farm not far from here (SW Ohio).
Dale53
Around here, the field corn grows to over seven feet tall! So, yes, it could be "walkin' in tall corn"
. I grew up on a farm not far from here (SW Ohio).Dale53
Noel Del Real
TVWBB Member
My burger tip is to treat it like a steak. Turn once and let it rest.
Hi all. I just wanted to bring back this thread and let everybody know the progress I've made on my grilled burgers. To recap, I just can't get that wonderful, bold, char-grilled flavor in my grilled burgers. Well, I've had a salt revelation. Although my burgers aren't the burgers that I covet, I'm getting closer with salt. I also realize that my definition of this "char-grilled" flavor may be a bit vague and nearly impossible to describe in words, but here goes my best attempt.
Say you have 100% ground chuck. Don't do anything or add anything to it, just form it into a patty. Now, throw it onto a blazing hot grill and close the lid. Go ahead and flip the burger when it's ready. Now, here's the flavor I'm missing. Take your finger and swipe some of the melted beef fat off of the spatula that you just used and give it a taste. There you go!! That's it, that's the flavor I'm missing. Actually, the flavor is there, but barely. The flavor just isn't bold enough to be called a great burger.
As I've mentioned earlier in this thread, I've had friends do the exact same thing on a cheap gas grill and that same flavor is delivered in spades. It's the flavor of the charred beef fat that just won't come out in my burgers.
When I grill rib eye steaks, I get that wonderful grilled beef smell from all that smoke. You can almost taste the steaks through the smoke. And my rib eye steaks taste just like they smell when cooking, W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L.
My burgers taste nothing like they smell when they're cooking. I've tried so many different kinds of ground beef and tried dozens upon dozens of methods of cooking it. Still, I fail. Over-salting is as close as I can get.
It brings me back to my very first, basic question; Why can some people take plain, store bought, chub ground chuck and do absolutely nothing to it and simply throw it onto a cheap gas grill and get this stunningly bold, magnificent, flavorful burger, yet I've been stuck for years trying to figure it out?
Regards.
Say you have 100% ground chuck. Don't do anything or add anything to it, just form it into a patty. Now, throw it onto a blazing hot grill and close the lid. Go ahead and flip the burger when it's ready. Now, here's the flavor I'm missing. Take your finger and swipe some of the melted beef fat off of the spatula that you just used and give it a taste. There you go!! That's it, that's the flavor I'm missing. Actually, the flavor is there, but barely. The flavor just isn't bold enough to be called a great burger.
As I've mentioned earlier in this thread, I've had friends do the exact same thing on a cheap gas grill and that same flavor is delivered in spades. It's the flavor of the charred beef fat that just won't come out in my burgers.
When I grill rib eye steaks, I get that wonderful grilled beef smell from all that smoke. You can almost taste the steaks through the smoke. And my rib eye steaks taste just like they smell when cooking, W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L.
My burgers taste nothing like they smell when they're cooking. I've tried so many different kinds of ground beef and tried dozens upon dozens of methods of cooking it. Still, I fail. Over-salting is as close as I can get.
It brings me back to my very first, basic question; Why can some people take plain, store bought, chub ground chuck and do absolutely nothing to it and simply throw it onto a cheap gas grill and get this stunningly bold, magnificent, flavorful burger, yet I've been stuck for years trying to figure it out?
Regards.
Last edited:
Steve Cole
TVWBB Super Fan
Post pictures of your next cook to give us an idea about what the starting and ending product is. Maybe someone can spot something that might trigger a suggestion.
I started doing two things this summer that kicked my burgers up a notch.
The first was grilling them at a little lower temp, more of a med-high. I find it easier to get the center cooked to medium, without the outside being over charred. I don't get flare ups as much and it does cook out the juice as much. Also, the extra time on the grill means, more grill flavor.
The other thing I discovered was a bottle of blackened seasoning in the back of the spice cup board. This brand didn't have any heat to it, more like a season salt. It seems to really accent the grill flavor. I think the paprika in the rub soaks up some of the grill flavor.
The first was grilling them at a little lower temp, more of a med-high. I find it easier to get the center cooked to medium, without the outside being over charred. I don't get flare ups as much and it does cook out the juice as much. Also, the extra time on the grill means, more grill flavor.
The other thing I discovered was a bottle of blackened seasoning in the back of the spice cup board. This brand didn't have any heat to it, more like a season salt. It seems to really accent the grill flavor. I think the paprika in the rub soaks up some of the grill flavor.
JSchlegelmilch
TVWBB Pro
I like to take a few smoking chips and put them on dry when I put the burgers on. On my Smokey Joe I will will literally only put on 2-3 chips. It throws enough smoke on the burgers to give it a good flavor without them tasting smoked. Any kind works. I started with mesquite, but with beef I now tend to favor oak.
JasonQuevada
TVWBB Super Fan
with enough ketchup and mustard it all tastes the same!
Clint
TVWBB Olympian
have you tried a garlic burger? I think your grill must be defective 'cause my burgers are always great! (not Wolgast quality but....)
or maybe you're harder on yourself than others (or your nose is closer to the grill and you already smell like part of the flavor), or maybe it's just nice to have someone else cook.
Or maybe you're just too damn appreciative
or maybe you're harder on yourself than others (or your nose is closer to the grill and you already smell like part of the flavor), or maybe it's just nice to have someone else cook.
Or maybe you're just too damn appreciative
John Wheeler
TVWBB Pro
Ribolator at 400-450 and a splash of Stubbs chips. All flavor, no fire, less work!
Great idea!
So, here's my process. We'll start with the meat. It's from Publix, 1 lb. 80/20 ground chuck.
You can tell in this pic. that I don't over-work the meat, you can still see the grinding in the patties.
The weapon of choice. It's a Weber S310. It's not quite a year old but it's been used plenty.
Heating up to the proper temp.
Here, I liberally salted the burgers on both sides just before throwing them on the grill.
On the grill they go at about 500 degrees.
Immediately after throwing the burgers on the grill, I turned the heat down to low/med. and closed the lid.
I had to turn the heat down to low as the grill was approaching 550 degrees.
This is after about 5 minutes, untouched on the grill. These babies are ready to flip.
Nice crust.
Final seconds on the grill.
Off the grill.
So, how's it look so far?
Results?
Not bad! probably one of the better burgers I've ever done. Salt is key. I can tell that without salt, they'd be very bland. The char-grilled flavor is there but not in a quantity that I prefer. I've had unsalted burgers on a gas grill that just exploded with that char-grilled flavor in your mouth. I still can't get there. Still, mine aren't bad, I just can't reach my end goal and I don't know that I ever will. I'm posting all these pictures and processes because everyone needs to know how serious I am about this. I'm still taking pointers if anybody has any ideas why my burgers lack.