Flannery "rich blend" cooking question

I love the Flannery burger packs but have encountered an issue with the rich blend, i normally like to sear my burgers on high heat then finish in the oven at 500 f, this gives a hard sear with almost a crust like texture to the outside and a soft melty but cooked thru center. The issue with the rich blend is that the fat content is so high that the shrinkage due to fat loss is ridiculous, im guessing 40% by weight or volume. You still end up with a juicy burger but the 16 oz pack results in two maybe 5 oz burgers. I know i could reduce fat loss by cooking at much lower temps but this would probably not create the hard sear i like, any ideas on how to correct this or thoughts on cooking this blend ? btw its only this blend the others are fine with some but acceptable shrinkage

My suggestion would be to cook the patties sous vide, and then do a quick hard sear over a burner. More work, but it would limit shrinkage. Alternately, you could start them in the oven on convection at 250 degrees, and then finish with a hard sear, but that will only make a small difference.

I throw mine on a hot grill and char them on the outside leaving them Med-rare internally. They’re burgers, you are way over-thinking this. Flannery burgers should be very juicy and run down your arms when you bite into them.

Exactly what i do, i want them juicy. With this blend the juice just disappears in the cooking

sear and then finish indirect.

Alan, thats exactly what i did.

Fat loss was still high

I used to do custom blends with Flannery and they were always high in fat content. I cook them like I do a steak as far as doneness is concerned. With this meat I never worry about having to cook medium to avoid sickness. They are always red and juicy inside.

I bought some of this blend too. I’ll have to thaw some out and give it a test drive.

My problem is that i like medium, i dont mind pink in the center but i dont like the beef still rare

That is a problem. [banhim.gif]

Just do what my Wife does when she has me cook all the flavor out of her steaks. Grab the Bullseye Sauce.

Yeah, raw meat has all the flavour !!!

Im a man, i only like my steaks bloody and raw, same as my women !!!

Uh yeah, that’s what I meant. rolleyes

Fun topic!

We have been cooking that blend, including last night!

We got home from a trip and I was to tired to fire up the grill, so I pan cooked 'em.

Lowest heat on the stove top, 4 minutes on side one, then flip and immediately place cheese. 5 minutes of gentle sizzling and we had great crust and medium rare center.

The rich blend is harder to hold together than some burgers, so stove top probably was our best option…no juice loss via any slight separation of the patty.

There was not any noticeable excess “juice loss” in the pan.

Damn, I should have taken pics!

If you like more crust, sear at higher heat for about 30 seconds per side, then finish low and relatively slow.

My son’s new roommate puts butter in the pan, then sears. Too rich for my blood.

Alan,

The obvious answer here is to not use this blend. It doesn’t seem to work for the level of doneness you prefer. I haven’t checked the recipe of this blend, but get one with more meat and less fat.

I’ve gone to cooking these high fat blends as thin burgers in cast iron quick and fast. Just sear them and try to leave just a bit of pink I guess. They end up like a much better shake shack style burger.

Found out I bought the “Adventurous Blend” and not the rich. No data points from me.

The adventurous blend is awesome

All my custom blends included 25% dry aged steak ends in the mix and brisket fat blend (unsaturated fat!). The dry aged steak ends always gave it the nutty aged beef flavor.