I just made sweet ass burgers tonight. Fried Onions and mushrooms finely chopped and added to the beef with whole grain mustard, italian herbs, 2 eggs, salt and pepper, dash of soy, and fine chopped cooked bacon. Topped with bacon and swiss cheese. I also had apple chips fuming in my smoke box. Yummylicious burger, and soil my pants delicious. This is not meatloaf folks.
Not sure the reasoning behind it, but Lindaās explanation seems sound. The point is it works. A looser meat patty gives me a better burger 100% of the time.
I do hear ya that on a grill, the concept is trickier and you need to pack it tighter.
Do a test sometime. The ground beef around here often comes in a very loose almost extruded looking block. (in the old days it used to be packed by hand and was more like a tightly balled up loaf) Take a knife and just cut a square patty out. Then take the rest of the meat and pack it tight then form patties. Season aggressively with salt and cracked pepper and throw both on a griddle or pan.
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For my home ground burgers, I use the large die on the Kitchen Aid, and not the small. I also pack the patties as loosly as possibly, as I rely on the chilling in the fridge to hold them together. Todayās burgers were a nice medium rare that were super juicy and not falling apart.
I didnāt say there was anything at all wrong with either ideas. I was actually kinda impressed that anyone would make hamburgers that way. I was laughing at the fact that itās only a hamburger to me.
What attitude?
Iām going to marry my next wagyu truffle burger.
My Carls Jr. 6 dollar bacon cheese burger was falling apart today. I might just share some of these suggestions with them. Iām sure they wonāt be offended since Iām on a first name basis with all the employees. ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
On top.
Tex has already hit the main points with reference. All I would add is think about the basic ground hamburger you get in a US supermarket. 80% lean is a pretty standard blend, with 75% as the ālow endā and 90% is more of a āpremiumā ground beef. Having seen what my grandfather would do to make 75% lean for sale in his meat market, I would tell you that any fat would do to make the burger more tasty.
As stated in the grocery thread, I went to Shop-Rite in Rockaway today and picked up their pedestrain 80% ground beef for burgers. 3lbs made 7 good sized burgers. I just added some dried onion flakes, dried parsley, and worcestershire sauce, mixed, formed into patties, saran wrapped in the fridge for 1hr prior to cooking. They were a huge hit. My family usually does the e-coli frozen patties.
All I like in my burgers is S&P. Iāve fallen in love lately with this Himalayan Pink salt From TJās. I like fresh-cracked black pepper too. Iāve got a little yellow plastic burger shaper/packer that works really nice. It puts out a great +/-1/2lb. patty that I press out a little to 1/4 in. past the bun size. I prefer the 85% lean grind, which is usually round or sirloin by me. I think that the best way to keep your burgers from falling apart on the grill is to leave them alone until they get a nice caramelization and release from the grates. Rick earlier mentioned āflip onceā; I agree. I brush my burgers with a little oil to help this work. I prefer to cook them from room temp. I think they cook through better while still staying med-rare that way. I also found some great pretzel rolls that are delicious. Yum-O.
Does altitude affect a burger? I am at about 2175 ft here in the village.
So what sort of fat content ratio do you look at? I bought a pound and added about 4 oz of the tocino. Maybe I have always packed them too tight. I thought they were dry because the āvealā was so ācoughā inferior.
Finishing up my packing to return to the States tomorrow, so Iāll have lots of chances to test them out. Weāre coming to Dallas at the end of June so maybe weāll get to try some really Great Beef!
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I think most people aim for ~20% fat content, so you were in the ballpark.
5 lbs. of chuck roast and 4 lbs of skirt steaks from Samās club cubed and run through the large disc on the Kitchen Aid grinder. One pass and then right back into the fridge for 4 hours. Pattied them out and went right to a mesquite fire. S&P only.
I would guestimate the fat to lean ratio at about 70/30.
They were rocking.
After which I like to add salt
Iāve been told this in the past and practice it regularly. I take the meat, break enough on for one patty and simply make it round. The less intrusion you have makes for a much more tender burger patty. I also do as the Canadians do and poke my thumb in the center of the patty. Prevents it from bloating during cooking.