Burgers

[mgwerks]

I usually do mine in 10 lb. batches of 8-20 chuck. I crumble it into a large bowl, and add seasonings, a little Worcestershire, and 2 eggs. I rough mix it together, you don't want to over-mix or your burgers will be tough. I take my digital scale and weight out 5 oz. balls until it's gone. Math will tell you that 160 ox. (10 lbs) equals 32 patties. I then take the balls and hand flatten them into thinner patties of a size that will shrink to fit a bun when cooked. I know some like weightier patties, but these are ok because the taste so good, and besides, they are thin enogh to have a double! These patties go into the chill chest until the smoker is going.

I actually smoke my patties at low heat, like 200, for about an hour. They turn a delicious shade of pink and pick up grill marks, but they are not fully cooked at this point. I pull them off the smoker, and then they are individually frozen so as not to stick together. Once frozen, they are wax-papered and frozen in bags. You can pop one out any time you want one. The beauty of this treatment is that whether you heat one up in the microwave, on the stove, or even on porpane, they will still taste like they just came off the pit. An added bonus is that they will finish cooking as you heat them back up, but will not be overcooked like so much nuked food tends to be.

 

[curious aardvark]

now thst's a neat idea.

I use 3 oz patties - and they don't shrink at all :-)
I made up a batch of 3 oz grills recently then asked guests how much mix I'd started with. Answers ranged from 6oz to 8 lol
Just shows how much bulk people expect to lose when they cook over fatted foods :-)

I make my burgers from lean brisket and trimmed cooking bacon (yep low fat burgers don't shrink when you cook them - who knew lol). And yeah blue cheese is a good idea. And obviously oat ;-)
I've started pre-cooking a lot of things I do on the grill.
Makes sense timewise if you've got a decent gathering.

i'll have to try a short pre-smoke next time i use the smoker - great idea :-)

I work the other angle and get the cheapest beef I can - I figure by the time I've added the smoked bacon and whatever seasonings I'm using the native taste of the beef is largely irrelevant.

 

[richoso1]

Now that sounds really tasty, call me next time you're grillin'.

 

[curious aardvark]

Just thought I'd post a couple of pictures.

Nothing to compare to burtess monster - but trust me, get the mix right and a 3oz burger does the job :-)
This was the first time I'd used my little plastic burger press as well. Seriously impressed with the results. Do they look professional or what. Added advantage in making identical burgers is that they all cook the same :-)
And yeah, I like ketchup lol

I did write the recipe down for these if anyone's interested. Basically lean brisket, trimmed coking bacon, some grated stilton, seasoning and some oats. But like I say I do have it as an actual recipe. My nieces reckoned they were awesome - and they eat junk food at home :-) (not with me, obviously lol)

If you've not used one - pic of burger press in action. Great bit of kit if you have to churn out a load of burgers fast :-)

 

[1chaos52]

I have not tried mixing in oat or ground pork or anything like that, but it sure sounds like it would work well.

The burgers I have been making recently have gotten good praise though. I have been using 85% beef and making burgers in the 1/3 pound range. I flatten out the beef and put finely chopped red onion in it along with salt and pepper and some bbq seasoning. then ,mush it all together. I also like to put some gorgonzola on it along with some bacon, and sometimes even some caramelized onions.