A few years ago, we were at the Southampton Princess Hotel in Bermuda and they had a burger luncheon. We ordered the lamb burgers and they were excellent. When our review was carried back to the chef by our waiter, he came out of the kitchen and sat down to talk about the food. He revealed his secret. He said that lamb, although it appeared fatty because of the lumps of fat, was actually rather lean on average because the meat itself was not marbled. He said that to hold the burger together, he would grind in some extra beef fat, but add no egg or bread crumbs. Percentage varied depending on personal preference and the lamb itself, but he used 10% plus or minus.
Since then, I periodically get a boneless leg of lamb at Costco and use half for burgers (I used two whole ones for the Berserkerfest sliders). I save and freeze the big extra chunk of fat I cut out of the middle of a whole brisket for the fat I need to add to the burgers.
The key to my process is to get all the seasonings on the lamb chunks before grinding and then grind twice. You get the right texture and the spices are perfectly mixed in. Today I had 22 ounces of lamb, about 4 ounces of fat, three large garlic cloves chopped and 3-4 teaspoons of spices - mostly Ras el Hanout. There are three kinds of store bought Ras el Hanout - the sweet kind, the spicy kind, an the right kind, which is a mix of both. I got some at the spice counter in the Grand Central Market, which is a turmeric-dominated spicy kind. I added cinnamon, fresh ground nutmeg and fresh ground allspice for the sweet side of it, and then fresh ground cumin, black pepper and anise seed because it seemed like the right thing to do. I FORGOT to grind up some cardamom, but you should do that as well.
Cut the lamb in cubes to fit in the grinder and toss on the spices and the chopped garlic. Add some salt if you want to. Mix well then put it through the grinder twice. You might get away with only one pass through the grinder depending on your machine, but two works far better for me. Seal it up in an air tight container and let the spices develop a close relationship with the meat while it sits in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, preferably a day or two. Grill over the fire. I think this works best to grill to medium rather than on the rare side, but it’s up to you.
I make lamb burgers often but don’t have a real grinder. I find my Cuisinart food processor does a pretty good job if I pay attention to the texture is as it chops. Thanks for the tip about extra fat. Makes sense, though one reason my wife loves lamb is because of how little fat it has. Now you’ve got me thinking that adding in some bacon might make BOTH of us happy.
Made the lamb burgers for the fourth. Actually just finely chopped the bacon with my chef’s knife and mixed it in. Couldn’t tell any textural difference and the flavor impact was major. Terrific idea!!!
I am lucky to have a local grocery store that has a good fat mix and grind. I mix crumbled goat cheese into my burgers with salt and pepper. I have tried many different versions from cookbooks and magazines that put middle eastern spices in, but I still find salt and pepper with some cheese is my favorite.
For toppings, I just use plain hummus or nothing at all.
My recent lamb patties were an 80/20 mixture of lamb shoulder and the fattiest chuck I could find at my local butcher. In addition to salt and pepper, I added some oil from the jar of Mama Lil’s peppers lightly coating both sides and grilled to medium rare. I placed some of the peppers underneath some thick cheese and melted. I hollowed out some toasted potato buns (for the carb conscious in me[neener.gif]), added lightly oiled (of Nola) arugula, bit of Maile and Boom. Amazing. The smokey influence with the oil was great.