Smoking then frying burgers??

[pi guy]

So I love the woody charcoal flavor of a burger that's been cooked over coals/real wood. Unfortunately I only have a natural gas grill, but I do have a MES smoker. Most of all I really love that crust you get on a burger cooked on a flat top. I'd like to see if there's a way to satisfy both tastes. Do you think I can put the burgers in my smoker for a short time then transfer right to the flat top for the crust? Would I lose flavor/juice?

I'm thinking the answer is no, but am craving a burger with that char taste and crusty finish.

Thanks.

 

[noboundaries]

Do you have an AMNPS to go with your MES? If so, you could form the burgers, spray them with oil, put them in the cold smoker for an hour with the AMNPS, then grill on the gasser. You'd be safe and would get the smoke flavor.

 

[pi guy]

Do you have an AMNPS to go with your MES? If so, you could form the burgers, spray them with oil, put them in the cold smoker for an hour with the AMNPS, then grill on the gasser. You'd be safe and would get the smoke flavor.

I don't have that unfortunately. I have the kind of smoker with the little round drawer in the bottom to put chips into. So the AMNPS is used to get a cold smoke I take it?

 

[noboundaries]

Should work fine with your setup. Fire up just the chips and cold smoke the formed burgers for an hour.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Yes...The AMNPS was invented because the MES won't make Smoke below 180 to 200°F.
Oak is a good choice for that classic taste. As stated above, at outside temps above 40°F, No More than 1 hours of smoke before Immediately finishing the Burger cook on the Griddle or Grill. We would not want nasty Bacteria growing at a Comfy 70 to 90°F...JJ

 

[jcam222]

I just smoke mine start to finish. I run about 275 to 300 and they are awesome.

 

[Hawging It]

All we do anymore is Smash burgers. I think your idea of smoke before cooking sounds great. For a true Smash burger you keep the meat in a loose ball then smash it flat on a super hot heat source. I use a flat iron skillet heated over charcoal on the Weber Kettle. Lot's of folks on here have a true electric griddle and they love those. I think I am going to try this. Place the meat balls on the smoker with no heat. Just a heavy dose of Hickory pellets in my 12" pellet tube. Then smash em in the flat cast iron skillet. I'm all over this!!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

See you live in a cold climate area so you could cold smoke. Get yourself one of Todd's AmazeN smokers and a card board box, or use your current smoker. That's all you need to cold smoke.

When the temps are at or below 40f° put your burger or whatever meat in the smoker and let the smoke roll. Crack the door if you need to in order to keep the smoker temp down. 1-3 hours is all you need. Then either cook and serve or pack and freeze. I do this with steaks and pork chops during the winter and vac pack to grill during the summer.

We too like smash burgers and this is how we get smoke to flat top.

 

[pi guy]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm definitely going to get the AMNPS now! I always wondered how to do cheese and other cold smoked things, so I'm psyched to get this ASAP.

Is the reason for the 40 degree or lower outdoor temp due to bacteria then? What about if it was a short smoke of say 30 minutes, but outside temp was a little above, maybe 50? And does this just hold true for meat, or would cheese be affected as well?

 

[pi guy]

Also, would you suggest the 5X8 inch or the 12 inch tube smoker for a setup like mine? I have a MES 30 (I think?) LOL