Better Burger - Discuss Cooking

Gary Bankston · 06-10-2006, 11:31 PM

Saw Make a Better Burger on the Food Network the other day. Great show by the way. Not everybody is up for Leg of Lamb, but we can all relate to making a great burger. Gave a try to a new idea tonight. Fried some diced up bacon with onions, green and red peppers, then mixed it with some lean ground beef and cooked it on the grill. Wow what flavor. Indeed it was a bit time consuming, but every bite said hey, make me again sometime.

Thinking that this would be a great mix for meatloaf too.

Any other great burger recipe's out there?

SHAMALICIOUS · 01:12 AM

I made some last night. Turned out very well. I used red onions, spring onions, green chillis with the seeds, lemon thyme, fresh coriander, cumin, paprika, onion salt, garlic and ground red chilli. I then basted with Peri Peri sauce and grilled them. They were really nice.

Do try it n tell me what you think

GB · 06-14-2006, 08:00 AM

Here is what I add to my burgers. I use garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt, fresh ground black pepper, smoked Spanish paprika, powdered chipotle pepper, and worcestershire sauce.

bknox · 12:51 PM

I almost always use Worcestershire sauce or even A1. I also love to stuff blue cheese into the center. We also, a couple months ago, had burgers made from Buffalo. Buffalo is excellent as a burger.

One of my favorite things is to crumble bacon and mix it into lean ground beef like Gary does. I will have to try it spiced as well. We are having burgers Friday, I can't wait.

Another suggestion for a great burger is not to ever press them flat. NEVER NEVER NEVER press a burger. Also let it rest like you would a steak. You will notice a huge difference. Maybe I will make burgers tonight. These posts have made me hungry.

Anybody have any intresting toppings for burgers? Giarinare (sp?) is a favorite in our house as well as sauteed mushrooms and pappers.

Bryan

Lizannd · 06-21-2006, 01:08 PM

sauteed mushrooms with swiss cheese.

mish · 06-21-2006, 01:51 PM

Welcome to DC Gary.

Sometimes the more I put in the mix, it falls apart on the grille... here are a bunch of ideas for what to put on the burger rather than in the mix. Serve with avacado fries, YUM.

http://www.recipe-recipes-message-bo...light=cucumber

college_cook · 06-23-2006, 04:42 PM

If you're using a lot of dried spices you may have to be careful about the ability of your burger to adhere to itself while it cooks. Add a little egg to to help it adhere.

Also- something I thought to try next time I make burgers:

I was watching the Alton Brown episode about meatballs, and he explained why great meatballs always include some sort of bread or bread crumbs. When you cook your ground meats, alot of moisture is released during the cooking process (obviously), but you also lose a lot of flavor. Add bread crumbs to your burger mix to soak up the juices of your ground beef as it cooks, and hold onto all of that great beefy flavor!

Something interesting my dad does, that I've not yet been able to duplicate is marinated burgers. Choose your BBQ sauce or marinade of choice and let you ground beef soak up that marinade for an hour or so in the fridge and then form, and grill. Whenever I do this, they seem to fall apart... but the flavor is good.

Goodweed of the North · 06-23-2006, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by college_cook

...Something interesting my dad does, that I've not yet been able to duplicate is marinated burgers. Choose your BBQ sauce or marinade of choice and let you ground beef soak up that marinade for an hour or so in the fridge and then form, and grill. Whenever I do this, they seem to fall apart... but the flavor is good.

Remember that egg you were talking about earlier?

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

college_cook · 06-23-2006, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goodweed of the North

Remember that egg you were talking about earlier?

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

LOL yes, of course I do! I think maybe the marinade interferes with the binding power of the egg somewhat. I think if you added enough egg it would certainly be ok, but you don't really want an egg-burger either....

I don't do marinated burgers often, which is probably why I continue to have toruble with them. If I put some time into finding a good binding agent I think I would be much more successful.