Smoking Hamburgers

[eddisabledvet]

Hey guys and gals.....Smokers and Smokies...  ;-)

I am smoking some hamburgers and I read many forums on here but wanted to ask some questions that I did not understand. 

Many of the posts mentioned something about a danger zone and 40 degrees...  I am not sure what this means. 

I smoked mine for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 275 and now I am smoking them at 325.  They are looking good but I want to make sure that they are safe to eat. We bake meat at 320 and it is ok, shouldn't smoking at 325 be ok, if I leave them in the smoker for another 1 and 15 minutes to make it a total of 2 hours and 30 minutes?

I wrapped them in bacon to add some flavor without putting a ton of rub on them.  I wanted to keep it simple and I had some extra bacon left over from the Brisket smoke. 

Thanks

 

[pc farmer]

You will be fine.

Post some q view.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

At those temps you are smoking at Nd the amount of time in the smoker those should be hockey pucks!! You must like well done!

 

[eddisabledvet]

At those temps you are smoking at Nd the amount of time in the smoker those should be hockey pucks!! You must like well done!

I was worried that they would be dry but they weren't.  I was actually surprised at how moist they turned out.  I think the Bacon really helped seal in the juices and yes, they were well done.  I like my steaks medium to medium well, but we like our hamburgers well done. 

I forgot to get Q-Views, sorry, results of my brain injury; I often forget until it is too late. 

P.S.  I smoked some thick hotdogs the other day.  A day or two after the hamburgers and they turned out pretty good also.  The outer skill was done, but we like our skin crunchy so I put them on the grill for a few minutes to put a crust on the outside. 

The hamburgers really absorbed the smoke flavor a lot more than the hotdogs did.  I will never eat hamburgers unless they are smoked ever again.  lol

 

[oldsalty]

Here you brother just did burgers for lunch tasted like bacon burgers only way to go. Good bless our vets.

 

[alblancher]

Why not try meatloaf the same way?  Or make something we call a fatty.  Form the beef into a meat loaf shape and do a tight bacon weave then smoke.  Its all good!   Bacon makes everything taste better.

 

[eddisabledvet]

Here you brother just did burgers for lunch tasted like bacon burgers only way to go. Good bless our vets.

Amen, God Bless All of Our Veterans.  Especially those that Gave All!!!

We ended up taking the bacon off of the burgers because I wrapped them so good that the bacon under, against the burgers wasn't crispy.  But the flavor was amazing. 

 

[eddisabledvet]

 
Why not try meatloaf the same way?  Or make something we call a fatty.  Form the beef into a meat loaf shape and do a tight bacon weave then smoke.  Its all good!   Bacon makes everything taste better.

Hey alblancher, yeah, I plan on trying a meatloaf and especially a fatty soon.  It is only my wife and I so I only smoke about twice a week because we do not want to waste anything we make.  So we eat on each item a few times throughout the week. 

I have to laugh though, the pork loin I did today is already over half gone.  My neighbors smelled the smoker going and found out I was smoking a pork loin.  I even sliced it thin and half of it still disappeared.  lol  The neighbor across the street, their 12 year old son asked his mother if it would be ok for him to come over and ask if he could have some since my next door neighbor's daughter went over there with her plate to rub it in that she had some.  lol  Kids!!!

I love it though, especially when the juices are flowing from the center of it when I cut it.  They did tell me it was the best pork loin they have ever had so I guess I got really lucky with it being my first. 

I just learned what a fatty was the other day so yeah, I cannot wait to give it a try with cheese and bacon or sausage. 

 

[crazyq]

i do my burgers indirect at about 325 degrees and cook em to an internal of about 165 and they are delicious and moist and well done. no complaints from anyone that eats em haha. 

and the good thing about doing them indirect, they don't shrink ANY at all.

 

[eddisabledvet]

 
i do my burgers indirect at about 325 degrees and cook em to an internal of about 165 and they are delicious and moist and well done. no complaints from anyone that eats em haha. 

and the good thing about doing them indirect, they don't shrink ANY at all.

sounds great CrazyQ, I am not sure I know what you mean by indirect?  Can you explain that to me? 

Also, if you want a really fabulous addition to a burger, make up two patties, get some of your favorite cheese, sautéd onions, mushrooms or anything else you like, and layer the cheese and other ingredients on top of one burger.  Then, put the second burger on top of the cheese and stuff and then seal the edges.  Making one burger out of the two patties.  The trick is making sure that there is no areas on the outer sides for cheese to leak out as well as making sure that there is adequate thickness of beef above and below the cheese.  This keeps it from seeping through the top or bottom, even when flipped. 

I did two this way but only used Kraft American slices as that was all I had.  When I took the first bite, the hot runny cheese started coming out, it was fabulous.  I learned that trick from watching a show on the food channel.  I guess there are two restaurants up on Minneapolis/St. Paul that both claim they invented this type of burger.  I don't care who invented it, I just know that mine were delicious and that is how I will eat mine from now on.  Then I put them on toasted onion buns. 

 

[crazyq]

Indirect means not over coals like in a charcoal grill. I either do them in my offset just like when i smoke anything else or i do them in my AKORN cooker with the pizza stone in it as a diverter plate. No need to flip em or move em.

 

[eddisabledvet]

Indirect means not over coals like in a charcoal grill. I either do them in my offset just like when i smoke anything else or i do them in my AKORN cooker with the pizza stone in it as a diverter plate. No need to flip em or move em.

Thanks for the explanation.  I figured something like that but I was not sure if you meant direct and indirect in the smoker.  I was just a tad bit confused, which happens to me a lot. 

I probably would not have had to flip them as I do not flip any other meats I do in the smoker.  I might try it not flipped next time. 

I guess, if I wanted to try indirect heat, I could put the hamburgers on my grill and keep them on one side, while I only turn on the opposite side burner.  I have a 3 burner grill.  Or I could put them in the middle and use the two outside burners...  Kind of what they say to do when you want to use your grill as a smoker because you do not have a smoker. 

Thanks again...

 

[alamoman]

Hey Ed,

You are the man. I don't ususally smoke hamburgers. I normally fry the bacon and cook the patties on the grill. I tried your idea of wrapping them with bacon then smoking them and it worked great. The temperature was good for medium rare and the smoke added nice flavor. I just added some rub and finished with some BBQ sauce. Thanks!!